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TFo. 399, KovEKBEB 14,1857.] THE LHADER....
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THE HEALTH OF LONDON. De. Letheby's USTi...
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AN INDISCREET APOLOGIST. Wet-em" we repo...
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The Attlantic Telegraph.—The long and mo...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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; ; The City In Ra-Gs. Somu Day, We Supp...
suitGmDEBBtiiA . The eight footmen , however — -are they men or automata ? la it credible that those pagan figures , with rose-coloured legs , are human ? If not , what right has my Lord Mayor Cardeit to thrust his idolatry into the presence of the metropolitan police ? Under any circumstances , "why should City antic [ uarianism . uncoil itself in the thoroughfares of the West-end ? The absurdity was tolerable when it was half enacted on the
water ; but it has now taken possession of the Strand ; the job-horses of the state-coach kick and pull across the approach to one of our principal railways , our law-courts are blockaded , and our streets flooded with pickpockets , and all because a worthy alderman is appointed to an eminent office in the City for the space of one year . Of
course no foreigner is e intelligent' unless it be an article of his creed that England is governed—1 . by the Lord Mayor of London ; 2 . by the Queen ; 3 . by Parliament . At these follies we smile ; and yet we liave onr Juggernaut— our November procession — compared with which the installation , of the Eoyal White Elephant of Siam is a respectable ceremony .
Tfo. 399, Kovekbeb 14,1857.] The Lhader....
TFo . 399 , KovEKBEB 14 , 1857 . ] THE LHADER . 1095
The Health Of London. De. Letheby's Usti...
THE HEALTH OF LONDON . De . Letheby ' s USTinth Annual Uepoxt of tlie Sanitary Condition of the City of London has just been issued . As it is a valuable supplemeut to some observations and statistics we advanced a short time since on the health of the ' ¦ .. ¦ . ¦ me tropolis , ' . Sve append to our former statements a few facts and figures furnished b y this indefatigable medical officer . It appears tliat out of a population of nearly 130 , 000 souls , there died in the course of the year ending Michaelmas last , 2904 persons , being , with one exception , the smallest proportion of deaths on record , or just 9 per cent , below the general average . Such is the desirable result of
those sanitaiy measures which have been within the last few years projected and vigorously enforced . But the ' effects of this health-survcillanco are still more apparent on a-further-analysis .. In . the central district the improvement has been to the extent of 13 per cent , above the general average , and in some places it has reached to 38 per cent . ; whilst in others it haa only amounted to 7 , and even 3 per cent . Still the proportion shows well when compared with other
cities , or even the rest of England . The rate of mortality for the whole kingdom is ascei ' - tained to be 22 . 8 for every 1000 souls ; in laa-go cities , such as Manchester , Bristol , Birmingham , Liverpool , 25 . 2 G ; for the City of London it numbers only 22 . 3 for every 1000 . We have shown , on a former occasion , how preponderatingly numerous nre the deaths which tako place amongst children u p to the ago of five years . This statement is
confirmed by Dr . Lkthuhx ' s Eeporfc . Of 1000 Avho died last year , 400 did not reach tlieir fifth year ; the least mortality occurred between that period and the age of twenty ; tlie greatest between the fourth epoch of life , that is , from forty to sixty . Taking the period from ton to thirty-five years , it appears tliat tho advantages are greatly in favour of City life , though at the other ages tho proportion of deaths within the walls of London is much larger than in the rest of England
, Wo are also enabled to form a valuable comparison-of tho influence of occupation upon health . According to the lloport , we find " that butchers , poulterers , fishmongers , shopkeeper * , and merchants have died at tho rate of only from 15 to 10 per 1000 , while tailors and weavers , shooumkoivs , printers , and compositors have died tit the rate of from 20 to 2 tf per 1000 ; wine merchants , publicans and waiters , porteryand messengers at
the rate of from 24 to 26 per . 1 O 0 O ; blacksmiths and gasntters , painters and glaziers , dyers , bargemen , and ¦ watermen , from 28 to 30 in the 1000 ; cabmen , draymen , ostlers , carmen , and stablekeepers , at the rate of 31 per 1000 j clerks and needlewomen at from 34 to 35 per 1000 ; and , lastly , the hardworking class of carpenters , masons , and labourers , at front 43 to 45 per 1000 . There is , however , another method of testing the influence' of - occupation , and that is by ascertaining in which professions or calling the greatest longevity is attained ; for taking ,
as we are authorized to doj the figure 51 as the mean age at death among the adult population , we find that each , class has its particular longevity . For instance , the merchant , shopkeeper , and domestic servant will live , on the average , to be nearly 57 years of age ; the butcher , poulterer , and fishmonger , to be about 53 ; the painter and dyer , the costermonger and hawker , the bargeman and waterman , fall below tlie mean standard , surviving only to the age of 48 or 49 ; the printer and compositor to 45 ; and the baker and confectioner to 42 . The wives of
cabmen and publicans succumb , it appears , at the age of 41 , whilst the poor needlewoman sinks , under the pressure of confinement and unremitting application , at the early average age of 40 . These are instructive figures , and suggest curious inquiries . It is not our intention , however , at present to enter into any farther analysis or comparison of them , or draw the inferences that seem so obvious .
We see that , according to the proportion of deaths which occurred last year with the prop'brtion of previous yearSj no less than 286 lives were saved . This happy result inust , of course , be attributed to the efforts of tlie sanitary officers to improve the habitations of the poorer classes and enforce attention to cleanliness and decency , as well as to the introduction of other accessories of domestic
comfort . There is one other feature in the Beport to winch it is worth while to draw public attention . We allude to the particular malady which belongs to special classes . From the table before us we learn that phthisis or consumption seems to be the chief disease of needlewomen , printers , bakers , cabmen , and policemen ; fever prevails most among domestic servants , needlewomen , and cabmen ;
bronchitis and pneumonia among labourers , painters , butchers , costennongers , and hawkers ; brain diseases among porters , publicans , watermen , and bargemen ; and liver complaints among publicans specially . These facts are not without their significance . It shows forcibly how closely habit and disease are connected , and also indicates how much might be effected , how much risk avoided , by prudence and self-control .
We have already described what is being done to carry out the plans of our sanitary reformers . The work is not slackened under the eye and hand of Dr . Lethebt . Although no spot is impregnable to the attacks of insidious epidemics , we are assured that every efibrt is being made to put the City into an effective state of preparation in case a visitation of cholera should take place ; and this not by any extraordinary exertion , but by simply carrying out the orders of tho
Board—removing the filth that ferments in our narrow and crowded streets and alleys , improving the water supply of tho diilcrent houses of the poor , and inducing habits of cleanliness . Should any symptoms of the epidemic appear , Dr . Lrtiikuy is ready with his plan of defence . " One thing , " he says , " I would force upon the attention of tho parish authorities . It is , that they should bo ready for tho appointment of a houao to house visitation , under tho direction of their district
medical officers , directly the first signs of the disease are with u » , for experience has shown that the diarrhoea which precedes an attack of cholera is mostly susceptible of cure . " As it is , we may congratulate ourselves on the health we enjoy and the longevity to which we attain over our ancestors . Coming down to the latter end of the seventeenth century , when pretty reliable data could be obtained , we find that the expectancy of a man ' s life at the age of 30 was only to about 56 ; at the present time it is to 63 . Could we go back further , there is little doubt we should
be able to draw a still more favourable comparison between the present age and the ages which preceded us .
An Indiscreet Apologist. Wet-Em" We Repo...
AN INDISCREET APOLOGIST . Wet-em" we reported last week th « afterdinner exultation of the Junior Lord at the failure of the launch ,, at Mill wall , we were far from Imagining that he would be rash enough to fall into the trap which w had laid for official apologists . But to our infinite surprise and amusement the Junior Lord has actually been rash enough to haunch himself into print . Here are his very words , as we find them , in a snug corner of last week's Examiner ;—"If the miscarriage in the attempted launch of tlie Great Eastern had happened in one of the Queen ' s yards , the current strain of observation vrould have been , 'How differently they manage these things in the private yards ; ' and the Admiralty would have been ad .-vised to take-a lesson , from Messrs . Mare and Co ., Mr . Green , or some other great builder , & c . & c . " Truly we had not believed the c Thoma . 3 Rajlkes , Esq ., ' of Whig circles capable of such delightful naivete . If the Whigs must have a skeleton at their feasts , by all means let him be a well-fed one !
The Attlantic Telegraph.—The Long And Mo...
The Attlantic Telegraph . —The long and most tedious process of winding this enormous length , of cable from out the holds of the Agamemnon and the Niagara has been completed , and the Atlantic telegraph , like a monster snate , is about to hybernate for the winter at Plymouth , in the Keyham-yard . A large shed has here been specially biiiltfor its reception ; itisone hundred and twenty feet by fifty wide , and divided into four water-tight compartments ; so that the perfect insulation of the whole length can be tested under water whenever it may be deemed advisable . The Agamemnon will go into harbour * and the Niagara has returned , to America , -where various alterations suggested by the
experience of the late attempt will be made in her internal fittings , that no mechanical aids or conveniences may be wanting to the proper accommodation and paying out of her portion of the coil . It is expected that she will return to this country in the early part of next year , again to bear her part in the great undertaking under better auspices , and , we most sincerely trust , with better results . In the meantime , during tho whole of tlie winter , Mr . Whitehouse , the chief electrician of the company , ¦ will ba engaged in a variety of experiments
upon tho cable . There seems an unusual demand just now for submarine cables , no less than five or six cables for different places and Governments having been lately completed . Nearly all of them have been made by Glasso aud Elliott . One was for the Swedish Government ; one for the Danish , to connect Denmark -with Sweden ; one to connect Ceylon and Colombo on the main land ; and one to join Kurrachee with Calcutta In neaily all these cases the conducting wires have been formed in tlie same manner and of the samo sized wires as in tho case of tho Atlantic telegraph . —Times .
Cnuncii and State . —There are two points connected with tho Established Church that may continue for some time to occupy the attention of the religious public . Tho first has reference to Oxford , and the second to Exeter Hall . The Town Council of tho city of Oxford , it will be remembered , determined some time since to dispense with tho old-fashioned oath of fealty r or submission , to the University , and the University authorities have intimated to the Corporation that tho
onth must be taken . The Corporation , by a unanimous vote , ways it will do nothing of tho kind , and thus tho remonstrance of tho University fal l * to tha ground as a dead letter . With respect to Kxetox Hall , Lord Shal ' tesbury has been more obedient to ecclesiastical inllucmce . Largo placards at the door on Sunday night announced to largo crowds who read thorn tli « t , iu consequence of t . ho mandate of tho parish ininintor forbidding the Sunday evoning sorviics , the . so services could not , bo held until tliu law had decidoil whether they could thus lift suppressed . —Monthly , stui \
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 14, 1857, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_14111857/page/15/
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