“WHITE MAN’S GRAVE”

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 188, 29 October 1927, Page 11

“WHITE MAN’S GRAVE”

FIGHT AGAINST FEVER IN WEST AFRICA REMARKABLE PROGRESS British Wireless—Press Assn. —Copyright i RUGBY, Thursday. Only two officials died of yellow ■ fever in the whole of British West Africa in 1926. In Sierra Leone —which has been called “the white man’s grave” j —out of 246 European officials only one died last year, and he did not die of yellow fever. No case of yellow fever among European officials have been repotted since January 1 this year in British West Africa. These facts are contained in a report ! issued by the Colonial Office. It says j the average number of European officials employed in 1926 was 3,588. Of these 31 died, 105 were pensioned (40 on the ground of ill-health) and 29 were invalided out of the service. The death-rate was 8.6 per 1,000, compared with 12.1 in 1925.

In the 24 years as to which exact statistics have been kept, the average length of service has steadily risen until now, in the case of officers who have been pensioned on account of illhealth, or invalided out of the service, it is actually 10 years, three months. A comparison with 20 years ago is highly significant. In 1906, out of an average number of 1,553 European officials, 33 died after an average service of three years, 10 months. The death-rate was 21.2 per 1,000, and the invaliding rate 61 1 per 1,000 after an average length of service of only two years, four months.— A. and N.Z.