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169
3 deaths were uncertified by a medical man or coroner. Inquests were held
in 262 cases. 598 persons (residents and non-residents) died in hospitals or other
public institutions.
Of the total deaths, 744 were of infants under one year of age, forming 256
per cent. of the whole deaths, as against 26.36 per cent, last year. Measured by
the proportion of deaths under one year to registered births, the infant mortality
was equal to 169 per 1000, being an improvement of 6.5 over last year, London
remaining the same, viz., 154 for both years.
The chief causes of death at this age were: diseases of the respiratory organs
146; premature birth or debility at birth, 154; diarrhœa and enteritis, 76;
"marasmus" and syphilis, 72; convulsions and teething, 68; tubercular diseases, 64;
while 33 infants were suffocated in bed with their parents. I have made a note of
the days of the week on which these children were found dead, and I find that 16
of them died during Saturday night, 12 on Monday and Tuesday (6 of these being
on or the day alter bank holidays).
Between 1 and 5 years of age 520 took place. The total deaths under 5 were
1,264 against 1,385 last year, being 446 and 45.5 per cent. of the total deaths in
their respective years. Between 1 and 5, respiratory diseases, measles, whooping
cough, and diphtheria were the cause of the largest number of deaths.
Of the 1,564 remaining deaths, 117 took place between the ages of 5 and 15;
593 above 60 years of age, 39 of these being over 85. 854 deaths therefore
occurred between the ages of 15 and 60; pulmonary consumption and diseases of
the respiratory organs being responsible for a large proportion (45.4 per cent.) of
them.
Shoreditch having a larger proportion of artizans than other metropolitan
parishes, it is desirable that an enquiry extending over a number of years should
be made into the causes of death in persons over 15 years of age. These might be
found either to be due to the nature of the employment or to the conditions under
which it was carried on, and in either case might lead to steps being taken to
improve matters. I have during the past year noted the occupation and cause of
death of each male between the ages of 15 and 65, and of females when they had
an occupation of their own recorded; but as Dr. Ogle, the head of the Statistical
Department, points out, comparisons are of little value unless account be taken of
the age distribution of the persons in each group. Until the Census figures are
disclosed, this important information cannot be obtained, and it cannot be ascertained
whether those engaged in the various occupations in Shoreditch are more or
less healthy than the average workers in the same trades throughout the country.
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