CHANCES OF LIFE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15594, 28 April 1914, Page 5

CHANCES OF LIFE.

THE LAWS OF AVERAGE.

[from orn owx correspondent.]

Sydney, April 22. The mysterious laws of average in respect to the chances of life were explained the other day by Mr. R. Teece, the actuary of the A.M.P. Society. "The least chances of dying," Mr. Teece told a Sunday Times interviewer, "occur between the ages of 13 and 17. After that the chance of life decreases regularly until it vanishes. In other words, a man's probability of dying within the vear increases gradually from the age of 14. Of course, I am not touching the period of infancy, where the risk of death is as great as it is in extreme old age. 'there is a, phenomenon worthy of remark here If you reach the age of 50 you may expect to" live another 20 years. 'I hat brings vou to 70. At 70 you would still have the expectation of living another eight and a-half years-to 78. At 78 you could consider yourself good for another jj ve _jf you were up to the average. At 83 you would still have three years further expectation ; ami at 90 still another two years. At 40 a man would have 27 years" in front of him, as against 30 years at 50. You see the idea'; At 67 he would have another 10, and so on." The American tables give slight variations on these figures. "Too old at 40" has often been heard about as an American motto. 'the American mortality tables state that at 40 out of 100.000 people alive at the age of 10 there would be 78,106 living and 765 would die that year, the expectation of life being 28.18 years. At 10 years in America the expectation of life i.„ 48.72 years, at 20 it is 42.20 years, and at 30 it is 35.33 years.