Deathrate

At ages under 25 years, the deathrate declined sharply. The decline in the deathrate for children under 15 years resulted from the lower diphtheria, scarlet fever and whooping cough rates; among adolescents the lower tuberculosis mortality was the chief factor back of the lower rates.

It is a striking fact, though seemingly little recognized, that the deathrate in the United States has been barely holding its own since 1920, in spite of all the advances in sanitation, medicine and surgery that have taken place.

During the decade birth and death figures were related to this quite unrepresentative population with the consequence that Salem showed birthrates of over 60 and deathrates of corresponding elevation in gross contradiction to recognized facts.