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4
Men vobis ultima verba: laus Deo !
Town Hall, Edmonton, N. 9.
To the Chairman and Members of
the Edmonton Council.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I herewith present my 15th (and last) Report on the health and sanitary
circumstances of this urban district. It refers to the year 1920.
At the end of April, 1921, I had completed 15 years' service as Medical
Officer of Health, 9 years as School Medical Officer and 3 years as Supervisor
of the Maternity and Child Welfare work in Edmonton, but I reserved my
resignation until to-day in order that my friends and employers, the Ratepayers,
should not be financially embarrassed, in the absence of my annual reports, by
the withholding, or loss, of grants from the Government
On an occasion such as this, one is warranted in publishing some reminiscences,
but neither time nor space will permit me to tabulate the number of
instances in which my advice as to improvements in the public health, maternity
and school medical services has been ignored by past and present Councils,
although I have advocated some for 15 years. A perusal of my past Annual
Reports will bring most of them to my readers' notice.
On the other hand, I will quote some vital statistics of years ago in comparison
with those recorded in this report, which comparison will justify a claim
for myself and staff that, notwithstanding many difficulties and obstructions,
our work has had praiseworthy results in saving the lives of thousands of future
Edmonton citizens and making their surroundings more endurable.
Year Rate Year Rate Year Rate
Infant death-rate per 1,000 births 1898 195.84 1905 128.00 1920 67.67
Total death-rateperi,oooinhabitants ,, 16.81 ,, 1334 ,, 9.17
Zymotic „ „ ,, ,, 5.08 „ 2.36 „ 0.58
N.B.—Without going further back than 1905 and comparing the figures
with 1920, there are marked decreases, e.g.:—
Infant death-rate a decrease of 60.33 = nearly half.
Total death-rate a decrease of 4.17 = nearly one-third.
Zymotic death-rate a decrease of 1.78 = over three-fourths,