| Year | Average Strength | Average Deaths per annum | Proportion of Deaths to Strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1847 | 178 | 14 | 7.90 per Cent |
| 1848 | 166 | 9 | 5.42 per Cent |
| 1849 | 171 | 9 | 5.26 per Cent |
The great mortality of 1848, occasioned by the shipwreck of 21 policemen in the typhoon has very much enlarged the general average for the three years.
| Prisoners in Gaol during Year | Cases of Sickness | Deaths | Proportion of Sick to Strength | Proportion of Deaths to Strength |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,252 | 134 | 6 | 10.70 per Cent | 0.48 per Cent |
| Category | Total Number of Persons | Total Number of Cases of Sickness | Total Number of Deaths | Proportion of Deaths to Strength |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Civil officers of Government, Police, &c. | 221 | 55 | 9 | 4.07 per Cent |
| Prisoners | 1,252 | 134 | 6 | 0.48 per Cent |
| Total | 1,473 | 323 | 15 | 1.02 per Cent |
| Year | Number of Persons Employed | Number of Cases of Sickness | Number of Deaths | Proportion of Sickness to Strength | Proportion of Deaths to Strength |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1845 | 775 | 501 | 27 | 64.64 per Cent | 3.48 per Cent |
| 1846 | 847 | 655 | 28 | 77.33 per Cent | 3.3 per Cent |
| 1847 | 833 | 280 | 20 | 33.61 per Cent | 2.4 per Cent |
| 1848 | 1,333 | 418 | 45 | 31.85 per Cent | 3.4 per Cent |
| 1849 | 1,473 | 323 | 15 | 21.93 per Cent | 1.02 per Cent |
| Total | 5,261 | 2,177 | 136 |
N.B.-Military and Naval Forces not included in this Table.
| Average Number of Persons employed | Average Number of Cases of Sickness per Annum | Average Number of Deaths per Annum | Average Proportion of Sickness to Strength | Average Proportion of Deaths to Strength per Annum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1032.2 | 435.4 | 27.3 | 45.77 per Cent | 2.78 per Cent |
| Number of Europeans, including Women and Children | Number of Deaths, including Women and Children | Proportion of Deaths |
|---|---|---|
| 987 | 64 | 6.49 per Cent |
| Year | Entire Population | Number of Deaths | Proportion of Deaths per Cent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1847 | 23,872 | 282 | 1.18 |
| 1848 | 24,514 | 384 | 1.78 |
| 1849 | 29,507 | 192 | 0.65 |
The Census, from which the statistics as exhibited in the preceding table (No. 12) have been deduced, was taken under the supervision of Mr. May, the Superintendent of Police. No method could have been adopted more calculated to ensure accuracy than the one resorted to by him, and there is no doubt that it has produced a result which is the nearest attainable approximation to truth.
Mr. May himself allows for inaccuracies arising out of the unsuitable period at which his inquiries were made, many persons being then absent from the colony to celebrate the New Year.
The population of this city is every day affected by immigration, and although the adventurous and unknown strangers who visit the colony for a short time will swell the numbers of the living, they contribute nothing to the records of the dead; nor is it possible to obtain any account of their destinies.
The Chinese hold very solemn superstitions relating to death. Their bodily relics are the property of their surviving friends, with whom it is a religious obligation to preserve and deposit them within the precincts of their feudal birthplace; consequently, with every man who is not indigenous to this island, the first care in the event of sickness is to depart to his own country, that his ashes may in case of death be deposited there. Many instances of this kind must annually occur amongst persons who are unknown to their survivors here. Notwithstanding this source of error in the returns of general mortality, which will constitute a certain and invariable average, the proportion of dead to the living will in comparison with other years, if the calculation of population be corrected (for there is reason to believe that it has not been less for the preceding two years than it is estimated for the last), bear the same relative percentage as it does in the various sections of the population, and thus, uniformly with the rest, show a gratifying diminution in the number of deaths for the last year.
It may be said of some of the foregoing tables and calculations, that they are not strictly correct, and this remark applies especially, and perhaps alone, to the calculations embracing the entire population. Precisely the same causes of inaccuracy have existed in the two previous years, and there can be no doubt that they will always possess an average and uniform proportion to the truth. This fact, indeed, is made apparent by a comparison with the sectional statistics, which are known to be accurate.
We learn that, in reference to every class of persons, the last year has been remarkable for its exemption from endemic diseases, and for a low scale of mortality. It is a most gratifying discovery to make, yet it may be the cause of lulling us into a sense of fancied security, and of concealing from us the dangers which surround us. They are dormant, but not destroyed. The sources of malaria and filth are hardly fewer now than they were two years ago. There exist now, as heretofore, sinks of decomposition and laboratories of poisonous gases, but the atmospherical agencies for bringing them into dangerous affinities have been wanting. It is well to consider this fact, and to believe it, viz., that the atmospherical influences are beyond our control, but we can abate the evil of animal and vegetable decomposition. Is it wise to wait for the warning voice of a desolating epidemic, when we know in our security what it can only teach us in the helpless and despairing times of our peril?
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COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON |
9
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :---
TILLIC.O.
TIT
133
HONG KONG.
124
REPORTS EXHIBITING THE PAST AND PRESENT
TABLE No. 6-Showing the Average Strength of Police in 1847, 1849, and 1849, and the Proportion of Deaths to Strength.
per som,
Average Strength Average Deaths
per annum.
Proportion of Deaths to Stimgth
178
14.66
per Cent 7.90
STATE OF HER MAJESTY'S COLONIAL POSSESSIONS. 125 TABLE NO. 10.--Showing the Average Rate of Sickness and Mortality for the period of the last Five Years amongst persons employed by Government, including Prisoners.
Average Number Avenge Number Average Number
of Persons
of Deaths per employed per
Aunum. Assum
of Claes of Sickness per
Aubur
Average Proportion of Average Pro-
Number of Cases of purtion of Deaths Sickness to Blength [to Strength per
jer Anuum,
Anaam.
1032-2
435
27.3
Per Cect. 45.77
Per Crat
2.78
The great mortality of 1818, occasioned by the shipwreck of 21 policemen in the typhoon has very much ealarged the general average for the three years.
TABLE No. 7.-Showing the Total Number of Prisoners in the Victoria Gaol during the Year 1919, the Number of Sick and Deaths, and the proportion of Sick and Mortality to Strength.
Prisoners in Gaol during Year.
Proportion of Deaths to Strength,
Caves of Sickman
Deaths.
Proportion of Sick tu Strength
1,252
134
6
10.70
per Cent, 0.48
TABLE NO. 11-Showing the fixed European Population in Hong Kong during the Year 1849, and the Proportion of Deaths.
Number of Deaths, including Women
Number of European, including Women
and Childres,
and Children,
987
64
Proportion of Deaths,
Per Cent 6.49
The statisties of the gaol will always afford a striking difference between the strength and the deaths. The numbers in the first coluni show the gross number of persons in gaol in the year. They include those who are remanded as well as those who are committed for trial and convicted. A remand very often entails as imprisonment of only 12 or 24 hours.
The committals and convictions during the last year, were 1,084; taking this number as the basis of the annual population of the prison, the result will be as follow: :—
Strength
Proportion of sickness to strength Proportion of deaths.
1,094 12.36 per cent.
0.35
Р
There can exist no doubt that the prisoners in Victoria Gaol are remarkably exempt from was a troublesome and fatal disorder in the di-ca-e. For many years" hospital gangrene
prison. Two prisoners died from this cause in the early part of the year, but inasmuch as I regard them to be cases appertaining to the previous year, I may safely say, that during the Jast year not a single case has occurred, and I attribute its eradication to the sanitary precau- tions which have been taken, with a special sion to its prevention.
TABLE No. S-Showing the Number and Proportion of Cases of Sickness and Deaths to all those Employed by Government, including Prisoners, in 1849.
Total Number
Tutal Number of Persubs.
of Caves of Sekarss
Total Number of Deaths
Proportion of Deats to Strength.
¡er Cent.
Civil officers of Government. Police, &c.
. 55
166
18 171
9
Prisoners.
1,252
134
1,473
323
15
1.02
TABLE NO. 9.—Showing the comparative Sickness and Mortality for the last Five Years amongst Persons employed by Government, including Prisoners in Gaol.
Proportion
of Sickness to of Deaths to
Streo,th. Strength.
Year.
Number of Persons Employed.
Number
<f Cases of
"
(Number of Deaths.
Prosorti D
Sickness
Per Cent.
Per Cent.
1845
775
501
27
61.64
3-48
1840
847
655
28
77-33
3.3
1847
833
280
20
33.61
2.4
1848
1,333
418
31.85
3-4
1849
1,473
323
15
21-93
1.02
5,261 2,177
136
N.B.-Military and Naval Furces sot included in this Talde.
TABLE No. 12-Showing the entire Population of Hong Kong, and Proportion of Deaths in 1917, 181%, aml 18-19 respectively.
Year.
Estire Population.
Number of Deuths.
Propaation of
Death
Per Cent,
1847
1848
1849
23,872 21.514 29,507
282 384 192
1.18
1.78
0.65
The Census, from which the statistics as exhibited in the preceding table (No. 12) have been deduced, was taken under the supervision of Mr. May, the Superintendent of Police. No method could have been adopted more calculated to ensure accuracy than the one resorted to by him, and there is no doubt that it has produced a result which is the nearest attainable approximation to truth
Mr. May himself allows for inaccuracies arising out of the unsuitable period at which his inquiries were made, many persons being then absent from the colony to celebrate the New Year.
The population of this city is every day affected by immigration, and although the adven- turous and unknown strangers who visit the colony for a short time will swell the numbers of the living, they contribute nothing to the records of the dead; nor is it possible to obtain any account of their destinies.
The Chinese hold very solemn superstitions relating to death. Their bodily relics are the property of their surviving friends, with whom it is a religious obligation to preserve and deposit them within the precincts of their feudal birthplace; consequently, with every man who is not indigenous to this island, the first care in the event of sickness is to depart to his own country, that his ashes may in case of death be deposited there. Many instances of this kind must annually occur amongst persons who are unknown to their survivors here. Not- withstanding this source of erior in the returns of general mortality, which will constitute a certain and invariable average, the proportion of dead to the living will in comparison with other years, if the calentation of population be corrected (for there is reason to believe that it has not been less for the preceding two years than it is estimated for the last), bear the same relative per centage as it does in the various sections of the population, and thus, uniformly with the rest, show a gratifying diminution in the number of deaths for the last year.
It may be said of some of the foregoing tables and calculations, that they are not strictly correct, and this remark applies especially, and perhaps alone, to the calculations embracing the entire population. Precisely tlie same causes of inaccuracy have existed in the two pre- vious years, and there can be no doubt that they will always possess an average and uniform proportion to the truth. This fact, indeed, is made apparent by a comparison with the sectional statistics, which are known to be accurate.
We learn that, in reference to every
prs-
What inference then is to be drawn from the whole? class of persons, the last year has been remarkable for its exemption from endemic diseases, and for a low scale of morality. It is a most gratifying discovery to make, yet it may be the cause of lulling us into a sense of funtless security, and of concealing from us the dangers which surround us. They are dornaut, but not destroyed. The sources of malaria and tilence are hardly fewer now than they were two years ago. There exist now, as heretofore, sitks of decomposition and laboratories of poisonous gases, but the atmospherical agencies for bringing them into dangerous affinities have been wanting. It is well to consider this fact, and to believe it, viz., that the atmospherical influences are beyond our control, but we can abate the evil of unimal and vegetable decomposition. Is it wise to wait for the warning voice of a desolating epidemic, when we know in our security what it can only teach us in the helpless and despairing times of our peril?
(HONG KONG.
99
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