THE DEATH RATE.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1487, 9 July 1912, Page 4

THE DEATH RATE.

INTERESTING MUNICIPAL CHARTS. Attached to the annual report of the Sanitafy Inspector (Mr. James Doyle) this year is a< highly-interesting chart, which demonstrates at a glance the undulations of the death-rate in Wellington city and suburbs during' the last 21 rears. -This has been drafted by Mr. Doyle, with tho object of demonstrating that, with the exception of occasional years, when something in the nature of an epidemic has accelerated the death-rate, the movement generally has been in' the nature of a steady decline, and in that regard tho inspector naturally claims that tho vigilauco of his stall has not been without effect. .'.'..

The chart gives tho year, the total population, of city and tho boroughs of Karori, Onslowj Miramar, and Eastbourne, and quotes in each 1 case fire deathrate per 1000 of population. In 1800, when tho population numbered 35,035, tho death-rato was 12.64 per lOno. The next year there was a drop in the population to 31,021, and owing, to tlio prevalence of typhoid fever, Hie rate leapt up to 11.01. Then .the lino zi(,'-zags from 13.43 in 1893 down to 8.91 (the lowest on record) in 1900. The year 1902 (a fever year) saw <a big jump to 12.24; thence it declined steadily to_ 9.19 in 1906. Tho following year Wellington was visited b.v a mild epidemic of scarlet fever, which sent the rate in that year up to 11.28. It declined just as suddenly in 1908 to 9.10, and from that sunk to 8.95 in 1910, rising in last year to 10.08. Another chart shows the death-rate lino traversing a chequer-board in five-yearly periods. With the exception of two slight rises in the 1898-1902 and the 1901-5 periods, the line shows a steady decline from 12.87 per 1000 of population in 18904 to 9.52 in 1907-11. The charts are interesting records which reflect credit on tho city, and the compiler.