INTERESTING FIGURES

Hokitika Guardian, 27 October 1931, Page 2

INTERESTING FIGURES

LIFE IN NEW ZEALAND. Interesting statistics in reference to the lifle of New Zealanders can (be gleaned from tiie official year book, which assures its readers that at the age ol one year, having negotiated the stage of measles and teething, the infat boy has added about three years to his expectation ol life, but toe g..l only 1.6 years. lie can assume that 65.052 years remain to be enjoyed an . she 67.033. NARROWING DOWN. Naturally as the years roll on the period narrows down somewhat. Having arlived at the knowledgeable age ol live years and kicked the dust of kindergartens from bis feet the youngster is reduced to 62.1(1 years ot life —exactly .593 years loss than when his screams first arrived to add to the worries of the household. The girl can look for 64.050 more years. At ten years the boy is reduced to 57. i 26 yeais and at fifteen to 53.135 years. A youth of twenty can calmly contemlate- another 48.662 years and the young woman 46.026 years. At thirty, when most of them should have embarked on the stormy seas of matrimony, the husband can expect another 39.981 years of household chores, but his wife promises to outlive him by near'y two years—4l.76l years, At thirty-five the odds are about even. The father has 35.730 years ahead and the mother 37.191. AT MIDDLE AGE.

With the. advent of almost midd’e age. forty years, there- remain 31.560 for the lather and 33.225 lor the wile. Things get progressively worse in the future. After fifty he has 23.508 years ahead and she 24.913, at sixty 16.030 and 17.286 and at seventy only 9.096 and 10.570. After that few would be interested having convincingly disproved the statistician’s calculations. But the statistician is far from satisfied. At eighty, he tells us, the man has 5.372 years more on earth and the. woman 5.780 and at ninety 2.311 and 2.524 respectively. In a last burst of confidence the statistician gives the information that at the age of 100 wo cannot look for more than .750 year’s enjoyment in the world, that is if we are men. If we are women we have .167 years longer to live. Beyond that the- figures do not carry us. CAUSES OF DEATH. Inexplicable though it may seem the causes of death do not include the entry “living too fast.” Posterity could quite reasonably object. lhe«causes are most y given under long Latin names and then only in wide classes. In 1020 diseases of the heart Were responsible for 2523 of the total deaths, cancer for 1374, accidents for 725. apoplexy and cerebral haemorrhage for 634, Bright’s disease for 537, and tuberculosis of the respiratory system for 524. Of the 524 persons who died from tuberculosis of the respiratory system, 380 or 72.1 per cent, were born in the Dominion. In addition to the 524 there were 118 deaths from other forms of tuberculosis. Senility caused death in 544 cases, pneumonia 464 and diseases of the arteries 428.