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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5248, 18 January 1878, Page 2

The New Zealand Gazette of yesterday contains the Registrar-General’s report on the vital statistics of the boroughs of Auckland, Thames, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch. Dunedin, aud Hokitika. The returns are as follows ;

The deaths of persons not residents oi uue boroughs, occurring at hospitals, have been excluded in all cases. The estimates of the population are calculated on the number, of inhabited houses in each borough, as shown in returns supplied by the municipal authorities. The births were 51 fewer than iu November. The deaths were 23 more in number than the deaths in November. Of the .deaths, males contributed 67 ; females, 62 : 76 of the deaths were of children under 5 years of age, being 53-91 per cent, of the whole number; 50 ot these were of children under 1 year of age. There were 6 deaths of persons of 65 years ot age and over ; 2 ot these persons were males and 4 females ; 2 females of 77 and 88 died at Auckland ; 1 male of 70 at the Thames-; 1 female of 67 at Nelson ; 1 male of 83, and I female of 63, at Christchurch. Of zymotic diseases, the deaths were 45 ; constitutional, 23 ; local 44 ; developmental, 15 ; violent, 1 ; unspecified, 1 ; total, 129. At Wellington there were 41 deaths of persons under 5 years of age, and 18 of persons over 5, of whom under 5 years of age 25 died of zymotic disease, 4 constitutional, 2 local, 9 developmental, 1 violent ; and of those over 5 years of age, 3 zymotic,’ 2 constitutional, and 13 local. The death rates for December were higher at Auckland, Wellington, Nelson, and Christchurch than for November, but at the Thames and Dunedin they were lower. There were no deaths at Hokitika. The increased mortality at Wellington for December, which is remarkable, is chiefly owing to the prevalence of whooping cough, dysentery, and diarrhoea, aud to the large number (15) of deaths of children, from inanition, mesenteric disease, premature birth, teething, and debility. There were also, at the same town, 3 deaths from alcoholism, and 1 violent death. The number of deaths from zymotic diseases in the boroughs was 45, and bore the large proportion to the total mortality of 34'88 per cent. Of a total of 16 deaths from whooping cough, 15 occurred at Wellington and lat Dunedin. The 19 deaths from dysentery and diarrhoea were distributed as follows:—Auckland, 4 ; Wellington, 7 ; Nelson, 1 ; Christchurch, 7. Croup caused 2 deaths at Nelson. The death from scarlatina was at Auckland, this complaint causing no deaths at Dunedin, which is satisfactory to notice, as it proved more or less fatal during each of the preceding 18 months at that town.

The returns of the Customs revenue at the several ports of New Zealand during the quarter ended 31st December last are published in t.he New Zealand Gazette of yesterday. From these it appears that the revenue at the undermentioned ports was as follows:

The total Customs revenue of the colony for the year 1877 ia sec clotvu at £1,213,179, and for 1876 £1,206,791.

Boroughs. TS-ti-mated population Jan, 1877 Total Births. Total Deaths. Proportion of Deaths to the 1000 of Population. Auckland .. 12.024 44 IS 1-50 Thames 4 466 16 3 •67 Wellington.. 16.130 69 59 3-66 5, 54 21 9 1*62 12,815 34 23 1*79 Dunedin 23,365 50 17 *73 Hokitika 2.905 7 — Total .. -, . ,247 129 —

1877. 1878. Auckland .. £106.242 .. £200.401 Napier .> 40,267 30.SL2 New Plymouth 7825 8500 Wanganui 21.500 24,703 Wellington .. 170,069 101.009 Nelson 32,817 30,301 Hokitika 33,808 31.094 Lyttelton 200. «57 180,300 Dunedin 352.223 351,909 Invercargill 33.030 33,031