43

A.—4,

Deaths of Samoans in Western Samoa during 1923.

Of the thirty-four deaths shown as occurring during the first week after birth, the majority occurred during the first few hours of life, and must be regarded as the natural result of Native methods of midwifery in cases of difficult labour. It will be noticed that of the 1,398 deaths, 719 were of children who had not reached the age of two years. This is again referred to elsewhere in this report. Nine women died in childbirth. Epidemic Years. —A comparison of the returns for 1923 with other years when the country suffered from epidemics may be of interest: —

Approximate Cost of Paper. —Preparation not given ; printing {700 copies, including graphs), £52 10s,

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Place. Male or | StillFemale. ; births. Ige in Weeks. Age in Months. Total, 1 to 11 Months. ; i 1. 2. 3. 3. 4. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. [ Savai'i Male.. 4 Female 5 4 1 2 4 2 4 3 3 2 5 2 3 2 13 4 8 2 9 12 9 8 5 3 6 7 09 47 1 1 Total 4 9 1 3 6 7 17 10 17 8 13 116 7 5 21 Upolu Male.. 10 Female 7 17 8 2 3 3 4 1 8 5 5 5 8 6 11 14 14 7 13 15 10 10 19 17 12 13 26 14 127 106 3 Total 17 25 3 7 I 13 10 14 25 21 28 20 36 25 40 233 5 Total Western Samoa i Male.. 14 Female 7 22 12 3 2 4 4 6 5 2 12 8 8 7 13 8 14 16 27 11 21 17 19 22 28 25 17 16 32 21 196 153 Total 21 34 3 6 10 7 20 15 21 30 38 38 41 53 33 53 349 Place. Mali Fern eor lale. .geli i Yean i—l 'ear ti 10 'ears. Tots 1 to Yeai 10 rs. Death! over 0 Ycai )f Age, Total Number of Deaths. Agi sta 3 not ited. 1. 2. 3. I *. ! 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Savai'i .. .. Male .. 73 18 5 2 1 Female .. 42 15 14 5 1 Total .. 115 33 19 7 2 Upolu .. .. Male .. 119 30 9 10 4 Female .. 82 33 15 5 7 18 15 33 5 II 2 5 7 5 1 4 4 3 3 2 2 4 2 109 88 197 171 91 80 12 S 4 283 226 509 30 33 10 5 8 11 4 8 3 9 3 2 2 3 192 . 175 124 106 7 II 472 416 Total .. 201 63 24 15 11 63 19 888 18 12 12 5 367 230 IS Total Western Male .. 192 48 14 12 5 Samoa Female .. 125 48 29 10 8 Total 317 96 43 22 13 48 48 12 10 9 16 8 11 (i 5 2 301 215 15 755 9 4 5 264 180 15 643 5 4 2 5 301 264 215 180 15 15 755 643 96 24 19 15 9 7 505 401 30 1,398 r i DEATHS BY ] MON^ THS. Jan. Feb. Mar. j April. May. June. I Jul; Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Total. Males .. 72 07 54 58 71 104 Females.. 56 51 62 44 63 91 71 63 104 91 2 12 68 51 41 32 II 31 37 40 27 30 755 643 Total .. 128 118 116 102 134 , 195 204 119 73 75 77 57 1,398

Year. Population. i Births. Deaths. Excess of Births over Deaths. Excess of Deaths over Births. Epidemic. 1907 .. .. .. 33,354 1911.. .. ■• 33,039 1915 .. .. ■• 35,554 1918 38,093f 1923 .. ... .. 33,685 1,389 1,453 1,611 1,509 1,564 1,827 1,451 8,437f 160 175 374 Dysentery. Dysentery and measles.* Measles. Influenza. 6,928 1,701 1,398 303 Dysentery (shiga). * Measles first visited Samoa in 1893, ai figures are available. Its second appearance was t As far as can be Judged from the r being approximately 1,300. nd caused a la] sin 1911. :ecords availab :ge humber of deaths, but as records were no' kept at that time, no definite Ie, both these figures are coi istdorably ovcre itimated, the figure for deaths