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hence the corrected birth and death rates are larger
than those given for these years, for example: the rate
of 9 9 for 1910 should be 111.
The number of inhabited houses as returned by the overseers
was 6,277 in 1911 and 6,342 for 1912, which gives a mean
of 4 9 inhabitants per bouse for the former year and 5.1 for the
latter. The return made in the year 1901 was 5.6, so that,
although the number of occupants per house had decreased in
the 1901-11 period, still the suggestion from the figures would
be, that a scarcity existed in 1912, or that the earning power
of the population had decreased. The latter consideration for
obvious reasons is not the correct explanation.
It is a point of interest to note, that except for the census
year, the population in the above table was calculated on the
number of houses occupied, and not on the basis of a rate of
increase. At the beginning of the 1901-11 period, the number
per house was 5 6 and 4.9 at the end, so that the populations
for those years have been over-estimated, hence the birth and
death rates should be bigger by 12 per cent. from 1906 onwards.
If this correction is applicable then the death-rate for
the year 1912 becomes the lowest on record for the district.
Certain other possible sources of error have already been referred
to in the report for 1911.
The following figures would seem to show the demand for
house accommodation is more pressing in the West Ward than
in the other districts. The populations are calculated on the
decennial rate of increase as given by the census for the whole
district.
1912.
North. South. East. West. Total.
Inhabited houses 857 1,508 2,655 1,322 6,342
Population 4,348 7,331 12,671 8,171 32,521
Density per house 5.0 4.8 4.7 6.1 5.1