400
It will be seen from the above table that the death-rate of the Colony shows a marked reduction during the past ten years, when compared with the rate for the previous decade, but there can be no question that, with such a young adult population as exists in this Colony, the death-rate can be very much further reduced by improvements in the conditions under which the bulk of the popula- tion are housed.
The total number of deaths among the Chinese community was 6,471 which is equal to a death- rate of 24.1 per 1,000, as compared with 24.4 per 1,000 during the previous year.
The deaths registered among the Non-Chinese numbered 302 of which 228 were from the Civil population, 59 from the Army and 15 from the Navy; this is equal to a death-rate of 20.4 per 1,000.
The nationalities of these deaths were as follows:-British and American 119, Indian and Malay 103, Portuguese 40, Japanese 11, German 11, French 10, Norwegian 5, Italian 2, and Austrian L. The total death-rate among the white races was therefore 15.2 per 1,000 as compared with 12.4 per 1,000 in 1899, and among the coloured races it was 30.2 per 1,000 as compared with 28.3 per 1,000 in the previous year.
The following table gives the causes of the 59 deaths occurring in the Army:-
Malarial Fevers,
Pneumonia,
Bronchitis,
Phthisis,
Enteric Fever,.
Dysentery,
Appendicitis,
Syphilis,
Alcoholism,
Acute Nephritis,
Bright's Discase,.
Drowning,
Rupture of Liver,
Fracture of Skull,
Heat Stroke,
Mania,
4
Soldiers.
Wives and Children.
13
Malarial Fevers,
7
3
Bronchitis,
1
1
Phthisis,
1
1
Gastro-enteritis,
2
1
Diarrhoea,
5
Scrofula,
1
1
Debility and Inanition,
4
3
Fracture of Skull,
1
1
1
3
1
2
1
1
Total,....
··41
Total,..
.18
The average age at death of these soldiers was 27 years.
The fifteen deaths occurring in the China Squadron which were registered in this Colony were as follows:
Enteric Fever (H.M.S. Argonaut),
(H.M.S. Goliath),
Bronchitis (H.M.S. Centurion),
Phthisis (H.M.S. Argonaut),
Peritonitis (H.M.S. Undaunted),
Gastro-enteritis (H.M.S. Aurora), Asthma (H.M.S. Undaunted),
Heat Apoplexy (H.M.S. Dido), Drowning (H.M.S. Isis),
(H.M.S. Humber),
(H.M.S. Tamar),
Poisoning by CO2 gas (H.M.S. Goliath),
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
The average age at death was 30 years.
Total,............15