Show OAI LAKr Iii rfH 1t r = The National Board of Health bulletin issued on June 17th has been received Besides the usual statistics it contains mortuary tables of the principal cities of the Union for the five weeks from April 30th to June Cd both days inclusive and as in previous reports Salt Lake holds a high and satisfactory position posi-tion as to health Out of 184 cities and towns representing every section sec-tion of the united States 150 show a much larger percentage of total mortality than this city fortysix of the 150 reporting more than double the number of deaths per thousand of population There has been no census of Salt Lake since that of 1SSO and in making up the table the population is estimattd at 22000 which is very nearly correct Of course the number of deaths are correctly stated being returned by the city sexton Our total annual death rate per 1000 based upon the figures for the five weeks indicated is 119 whereas many run above 30 the majority being above 20 The lowest percentage was returned by Kingsbury New York 61 and the highest by Cedar Keys Fla 487 Of children under 5 years of age while 69 towns show a lower death rate than Salt Lake 114 were much higher The lowest percentage of children under 5 years is in favor of La Porte Indiana being be-ing 13 while St Augustine Florida Flor-ida shows a percentage of 231 The rate in Salt Lake for the five weeks was 45 and of the 184 cities reported 48 return a percentage double or more than that of our own The HER LD does not desire to convey the impression that as soon as one lands in Salt Lake he becomes free from disease and can defy death In publishing this in formation monthly from official bulletins as this journal has been doing lately the purpose is merely to counteract the libelous libel-ous reports circulated by maliciously ma-liciously disposed persons and prints to the effect that Salt Lake is among the unhealthiest cities on b the continent The official figures steadily prove the contrary to be true for this city is actually among the healthiest in America Its percentage per-centage of total mortality is far below be-low the average and infant mortality mortal-ity which is persistently asserted to be outrageously high here is really extremely low when compared com-pared with that of most American cities If comparisons were made with places with populations equal to that of Salt Lake this city would show itself to be almost at the head of the list in the matter of a low rate of infant mortality Besides the fact should not be lost sight of that the percentage of children to population popu-lation is greater here than in any city of its size in the Union The HERALB proposes to give these important facts monthly for the special enlightenment of those people peo-ple who are determined to say nothing noth-ing good of the place At the same time the efforts of the authorities and the public generally should be earnestly directed towards not only keeping the death rate low but reducing it still lower The rate will necessarily be increased during the next three months but it maybe may-be kept down if proper regard be paid to the simple and wellknown laws of health especially that in regard re-gard to cleanliness |