Negro Vital Statistics.
It is a fact that the death rate among the colored people of the United
States is greater since than before the war, and that it is far in
excess of the white race, often doubling it.
Consumption and pneumonia are the diseases which are mowing down
the ranks of our colored population. "In Charleston, S. C., the
number of deaths from consumption for 1882-5 were 830 colored to 234
white; Memphis, Tenn., 471 colored to 323 white; Savannah, Ga., 391
colored to 212 white; Nashville, Tenn., 330 colored to 232 white. The
mortality from pneumonia for the same period stands: Charleston, S.
C., 219 colored to 85 white; Memphis, Tenn., 262 colored to 159 white;
Savannah, Ga., 166 colored to 60 white; Nashville, Tenn., 155 colored
to 100 white. The difference is also excessive in heart diseases,
dropsy, scrofula, venereal diseases, and, when prevalent, from
small-pox."
"In Savannah, Ga., in 1885, 7 whites and 114 blacks died without having
a physician in attendance; in 1883, 6 whites and 145 blacks. Moreover,
the fact should not be ignored that numbers of negroes are also the
victims of empiricism and experiment. Some poor negroes are undoubtedly
sacrificed for the benefit of science." This is the case all over the
country.
Scrofula is said to be more fatal to mulattoes than to Negroes, and
more deadly to both than to whites. It is seven times greater among
colored than whites.
I believe, also, that the prevalence of scrofula among the Negroes is
promoted by the immense quantities of meat consumed by them, to the
exclusion of a sufficient quantity of vegetable food. I am led to this
conclusion for two reasons: firstly, so far as I have been able to
ascertain, scrofula is rarely found among the native Africans, whose
diet is purely vegetable; seldom do they eat meat. Again, from a recent
medical journal, I learn that the Esquimaux, whose diet is exclusively
meat, usually die between the ages of 30 and 45, and among them
scrofula is exceedingly prevalent.--_Conrad._
The number of still births is greater among colored than whites. This
is due to many causes. Among them exposure of the mother, poor living,
and lack of attention during the period of gestation.
Huntsville, situated in Northern Alabama, is renowned as a healthful
place. The colored people thereabouts are in fair circumstances. The
death rate for the part of the year 1887 to November 1, reveals a
startling disparity between the races: There were 42 deaths among
the whites and 98 among the colored; 4 whites and 13 colored died of
consumption; still born, 1 white and 6 colored. The colored death rate
is 39 per 1000, allowing the colored population to be 3000. But it must
be remembered that the winter of 1886-7 was the severest for nearly a
half century.
"But the greatest disparity in the death rates of the two races is the
number of deaths under five years. Here there is, indeed, in the negro
race, a woful 'slaughter of the innocents.' The death rate of Negro
children is always more than double that of the white, and from that to
even four times as great." May not the unskillful midwife have much of
this laid at her door?
A well informed writer says: "More than half of the deaths under five
years among Negro children, is caused by trismus nascentium.[A] To
well-meaning but ignorant old women can be laid this 'slaughter in
hecatombs' of children. Unwholesome food also has much to do with the
deaths of infants and children, especially in summer. There is a woful
need of training schools to educate nurses, and similar institutions
throughout the South. Skilled female physicians (colored) are
peculiarly fitted for lessening this infant mortality."
Another strange thing with regard to Negro statistics is, that more
women than men become nonagenarians. With the whites it is the reverse;
more single males than single females die; more widows than widowers
die; more females than males die of consumption; more males than
females die of pneumonia. The cause of some of these facts is plain.
Only one Negro in 1,037 becomes insane, while one in every 434 whites,
according to good authority.
A writer in _The Sanitarian_ for June, 1887, says that many deaths
among the Negroes are caused by indifference to personal cleanliness
and medical attention--many dying without applying for medical aid. The
same writer gives the following:
"In the following table is given the total death-rate per 1000, and
also the death-rate under five years of age, in Charleston, S. C.,
Savannah, Ga., Nashville and Memphis, Tenn., for the years 1883-85. The
upper figures give the white rate and the next the colored:
Charleston. Memphis. Nashville. Savannah.
1883. 21.60 15.19 18.68 20.47
47.13 35.83 31.29 39.57
1884. 23.68 18.80 16.77 19.54
44.63 41.66 26.94 42.21
1885. 17.64 16.56 14.69 12.9
38.49 36.96 27.07 34.4
Rate of deaths under five years:
Charleston. Memphis. Nashville. Savannah.
1883. 5.88 3.75 5.65 7.59
21.03 13.91 12.44 18.01
1884. 6.48 4.47 5.46 6.54
16.52 15.63 11.55 16.68
1885. 4.45 4.67 4.37 4.23
14.38 13.46 10.78 13.70
"The per cent. of increase for the total population from 1870 to
1880 was 30.08--white, 29.30; black, 34.67. To show the relative
increase between the two races at the South, I take from the last
official census the three Southern States--Tennessee, Alabama and
Mississippi--which may be accepted as a fair criterion for the rest of
the South. Rate of increase in these, taken as one State--white, 23.90;
black, 33 per cent. It is still more apparent, in South Carolina,
because it is less affected by immigration from other States, and shows
more accurately the natural increase. There it is 45.33 for the blacks,
and for the white population, 35 per cent."
Comment on Negro Vital Statistics.
The foregoing facts are very startling and should arouse every
intelligent Negro and every friend to the race, to devise a way by
which this awful wave of death shall be checked. The history of all
civilizations presents seeming unaccountable vital statistics. All
races passing into civilization have increase in both birth and
death rates. But the case of the Negro in the United States is one
deserving profound study. It presents many seeming contrarieties,
hardly met elsewhere. The question naturally arises, What shall be
done to check this harvest of death? Begin in the school room. Teach
the children sound sanitary principles. Begin in the pulpit. Let the
minister constantly call attention to this matter and advise a way
out of it. Begin the work in all the societies of the race. Establish
and maintain schools for nurses and to teach the general principles
of housekeeping. The demand is great for competent colored male and
female physicians--especially female, as the work must be largely
among the women of the race. An organization for the promotion of
the sanitary condition of the Negro should be started, and its work
vigorously prosecuted. They must be induced to seek better houses,
better clothing, better food, and have better care of their bodies.
I have known men who would get up every rainy night in the year, and
pull their beds from under a leak in the roof, or who would lay abed
and the wife set pans and buckets on them to catch the water, rather
than bestir themselves two hours in patching the roof. Then I have seen
some handsome looking women, most handsomely attired in beautiful white
dresses or costly cloaks, hats and feathers, and I have often wondered
where they would find a decent place in their homes for those articles
when they returned from their perambulations or from the church or
party. The old root doctor must be driven out by the lash of the law.
The idea, advanced by some writers, of shutting the Negro up in the
lower valley of the Mississippi, or his natural tendency in that
direction, is narrow and illogical. Why should the Negro huddle there?
I confess that a large per cent. may forever remain there, but there
is no natural or legal reason for assigning the Negro any particular
locality in this cosmopolitan Republic. Driving him to the unhealthful
localities of certain cities is the cause of much of this unnatural
death rate. God has made man to inhabit any part of this great globe,
and there is no part of it in which any race can not live, though it
may require generations for adaptation and acclimatement. For monetary
reasons I would be glad if the Negro would not only own that whole
region, but monopolize its staple production, as I have before said.
But at present there is not the slightest drift in that direction.
General Vital Statistics.
From 53 to 85 per cent. of the population marry under the age of 30
years. The per cent. is lowest among rich, and highest among poor
families.
Men marry at a later period than women. The average age for men is
27-9/10, for women 25-7/10 years.
There is no reason why children should die, except it be found in the
violation of the laws of nature, by foreparents.
Carpenters and country laborers live longer than any other laborers.
The average life, after the commencement of intemperate habits,
is 21-7/10 years for beer drinkers, 16-6/10 for spirituous liquor
drinkers. It is thus seen that distilled liquors are most dangerous.
It is shown that the death rate among soldiers, even though they are
well provided for and remaining in barracks, is enormous. It far
surpasses civilians. Lung diseases and cholera are twice as fatal to
soldiers as to civilians. This large death rate among soldiers is
due to overcrowded barracks, sameness of diet, and want of healthful
exercise. The mortality in the navy is nearly double that in the
merchant service--all being of disease.
Mortality is affected by population, location and climate.
It is a mistaken notion that mild winters are fatal to human life.
Extremes are always harmful.
Sanitary and Medical.
All dwellings should be well lighted and ventilated.
Never stop up your grate or fire place in summer.
In and around all dwellings should be kept clean, and lime should be
freely used.
Do not crowd people in a room, for lung troubles will surely follow.
Each person requires a certain quantity of fresh air per minute, and
too many persons in the same room will cut off this necessary supply.
Take all of the out door exercise you can get, and stay as much amid
the wholesome air of the country as you can.
Do not buy cheap food, because it is cheap, but always have an eye to
quality. Musty meal, tainted meat and other half decayed and decaying
food have carried many a person to a premature grave.
Be careful about your drinking water. Use that of the best wells and
springs. Never use water which has stood over night in a bed room. It
is so much poison.
See that your food is properly prepared, as health depends largely upon
the observance of this rule. Boiled, stewed or roasted food is always
preferable to fried. Have plenty of vegetable food, and as little
animal as possible.
All bed rooms and bed clothing should be constantly thoroughly aired,
whether used or not. So should parlors.
Let some member of the family thoroughly post himself on all matters
pertaining to buying and cooking food, the laws of health, &c. In fact
these things should be discussed daily in the family that all may
understand them.
The meal hours should be the jolliest of the day. All at the table
should combine in jest and joke, as well as in giving valuable
suggestions and information. The children should take part also.
You can not be too careful about your dress. Have respect more for
comfort than for fashion. Teach your children this principle, and
it will not be long before finger and earrings, dangling chains,
bracelets, and such other relics of barbarity will be thrust aside by
common sense. The lowest savage bedecks his person with trinkets and
gewgaws.
The average festival and night meeting where people huddle together
are fruitful of disease. The inhaling of this bad air is equal to a
serpent's bite.
Carry method into your life and home. Have hours of prayer, reading,
sleeping, conversation, writing, working, &c.
More people die of want of sunlight and pure air than of any other
cause, even war.
When a person's clothes catch fire, smother the fire with blankets or
clothing.
From a few drops to a teaspoonful of coal oil is a splendid remedy for
croup, colds in the breast and like complaints. Saturate sugar with the
oil and it is easily taken.
A weak gargle of salt and water is a good remedy for sore throat.
Colds in the head may be cured by bathing the feet in very hot water
and wrapping them well. A little mustard added to the water will prove
beneficial.
A teaspoonful, each, of salt and mustard in water will prove effectual
where poison has been swallowed. It must be taken at once.
Dash water into the eye to remove dust. Don't rub the eye.
Burns and scalds may be relieved by dipping in cold water or flour.
If you are severely cut, tie a string tightly both below and above the
wound until the doctor arrives.
Very ugly warts have been cured by small doses of sulphate of magnesia,
or three grains of epsom salts taken morning and evening.
Mix 5 grains of carbolic acid and one ounce of glycerine. Rub the scalp
thoroughly at night and wash out in the morning, and your worst case of
dandruff will be cured.
Clean stoves when cold with any stove-polish mixed with alum water.
It is said that snuffing powdered borax up the nostrils will cure a
catarrhal cold.
Ceilings that have been smoked by a kerosene lamp should be washed off
with soda water.
Drain pipes and all places that are sour or impure may be cleansed with
lime water or carbolic acid.
Strong lime may be used to advantage in washing bedsteads. Hot alum
water is also good for this purpose.
Lemon juice and sugar, mixed very thick, is useful to relieve sore
throat and coughs. It must be very acid as well as sweet.
To sweep carpets use wet newspapers wrung nearly dry and torn to
pieces. The paper collects the dust but does not soil the carpet.
It is said if feather beds and pillows be left out in a drenching rain
every spring and afterward exposed to the sun and air on every side
until dry, they will be much freshened and lightened.
Medicine stains may be removed from silver spoons by rubbing them with
a rag dipped in sulphuric acid and washing it off with soapsuds. Stains
may be removed from the hands by washing them in cold water, to which a
little sulphuric acid has been added; use no soap.
Some Noted Colored Women.
The Philadelphia Press, of last Sunday, contains the following
concerning a few notable colored women of the country: Colored women
have hardly had opportunity to do much that is sensational, but
still there are several who have earned a solid reputation. The most
prominent colored women in Washington, in the best sense of the word,
are teachers--such women as Miss M. B. Briggs, professor of English
in Howard University, a most talented woman; or Josephine T. Turpin,
of the same school, who is a frequent contributor to newspapers; or
Lucy Moten, who is the efficient principal of a big training school;
or Mary Nalle, or Marian Shadd--all highly cultured women, respected
and esteemed by those who know them. In the ranks of prominent colored
women of Philadelphia, there is the skilled woman physician, Dr.
Caroline V. Anderson. She is the daughter of William Still, a wealthy
colored merchant, and a regular graduate of the medical department
of Howard University, and enjoys a big practice. Then there is Mrs.
Fancy Jackson Coppin, the lecturer, who devotes most of her time
to the Institute for Colored Youth, and Mrs. Gertrude Mossell, who
used to conduct the women's department on the New York Freeman, and
who has written for the Philadelphia Press as well as for papers
published in the interest of the Negro race. Mrs. Mossell is, also, a
member of the Woman's National Press Association. Mrs. Frances E. W.
Harper, the temperance lecturer and writer, has also been a resident
of Philadelphia. Among colored women who have become more or less
renowned in the arts and professions, must be mentioned Mrs. Nellie
Brown-Mitchell. She is a musician with a mechanical turn of mind. She
has invented and patented two or three appliances now in common use by
musical instructors. Equally well known in another branch of the fine
arts is Edmonia Lewis, the sculptor. She is an Afro-Indian, and was
born in New York state, but now has her studio in Rome, where she has
plenty of commissions and has done some fine work. "The Old Arrow-Maker
and his Daughter," is one of her best known productions and is owned
in England. Ida B. Wells--"Iola" whose suit for damages under the
Mississippi laws for being forcibly thrust out of a passenger car in
Memphis by three or four white men, brought her before the public a few
years ago--is probably the best known of colored women journalists,
and Mrs. M. E. Lambert, of Detroit, is a poetess of genius. There
are two colored women in the ranks of the law, Miss Florence Ray, of
Brooklyn, and Mrs. M. S. Cary, of Washington. There is at least one
colored minister, the Rev. Mrs. Freeman, of Providence, and there has
been one woman at the head of a newspaper published in the interest
of Afro-Americans, Miss Carrie Bragg, who for sometime edited the
Lancet at Petersburg, Va. Nor would it be difficult to pick out a dozen
colored women in the country whose property in the aggregate might be
expressed "on information and belief," by seven figures. In such a
list would come the Gloucesters, the rich boarding house keepers of
Brooklyn; Miss Amanda Eubanks, of Rome, Ga., whose white father left
her $400,000; Mrs. Mary A. Wilson, a wealthy Florida woman; Mrs. Mary
Pleasants, of San Francisco, who made something more than $35,000 in
government bonds, owns a ranch and has some real estate; Mrs. James
Thomas, of St. Louis, who is worth something like $300,000, and whose
barber shop, the "Lindell," is the most luxuriant in the country, and
Mrs. Catherine Blake, who owns the Kenmore Hotel at Albany, which is
reputed worth $150,000. Miss Blake, a wealthy young colored woman of
Nash, N. C., has taken the prize for the best production of cotton at
all the State fairs, and several other Afro-American women with ample
incomes are doing solid industrial work.--_Chr. Recorder._
There are many noble women throughout the South who have done great
work for the race, and whose names should be added to the above number.
If Dr. Simmons, who wrote that excellent book, "Men of Mark," will get
up a similar work of our "Women of Mark," he will find fully as much
meritorious material among our women as he found among the men.
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