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9
At the date of the census the inhabitants of the
Parish averaged 95.1 to the acre, 105.8 in the
northern half, and 75.8 in the southern. On the
estimate for 1897, these averages are 101.9, 116.7,
and 75.3 respectively. In 1891 each house had an
average of 8.1 occupants in the whole Parish, 8.9 in
the northern half, and 6.6 in the southern. The
averages for last year cannot be given, owing to the
changes in the manner of making up the rate books,
and the want of exact information as to the numbers
of houses pulled down and constructed. The increased
number of flats lately erected cannot have failed to
attract a considerable number of inhabitants to the
Parish, as well as to alter the density of the population.
In the decennium 1841-50, each inhabitant of the
Parish had an average area of 0.035 of an acre, which
space had shrunk to 0'009 of an acre in 1897. Such
a diminution of "elbow room" offers greatly increased
facilities for the spread of infectious disease, and demands
an unremitting attention to sanitary details
in order to minimise those conditions inimical to
health which are naturally associated with a dense
aggregation of individuals.
BIRTHS.
During the fifty-two weeks constituting the statistical
year, 3,010 births were registered in the Parish,
2,586 in North Paddington, and 424 in South. The
birth-rate for the Parish was 23.84, that for North