Untitled

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 7681, 15 January 1886, Page 2

From the Registrar General’s Report on the vital statistics of New Zealand for the month of December, 1885, we learn that the births to the four cities were as

follow :—Auckland, 85 ; Wellington, 72 ; Dunedin, 62; Christchurch, 35. The deaths were Auckland, 50 ; Wellington,« 37 ; Dunedin, 29 ; Christchurch, 15. f The respective death rates per 1000 of population were : Auckland, 1 73 ; Wellington, 159 ; Dunedin, ITS; Christchurch, Q'9l. Among the smaller towns Nelson, Xapicr, and Lyttelton have the heaviest death rate, Wanganui and New Plymouth the smallest. The Registrar General appends the following remarks which apply only to the four “The births in December ~#e’re 254; against 271 m a decrease of; 17. The, deaths in December were 131; against ,‘74 in November, an increase of; 57. There were 11 deaths of persons,of 65 years and upwards : four males ■()£ 70 (2) and 65 (2), and two females of 67 and 65, died at Auckland ; a male of 81, and two females of 74 and 67, at Wellington ; a male oi 72 at Christchurch ; and a male of 66 at Dunedin. The deaths from specific febrile or zymotic O.laaiiMg increased in number from 8 In November to 24 in December, attributable tthie&y to the larger number o't, .’from diarrhbtal diseases, which were 14 in December.against '2 ih S ovember. These deaths in December were chiefly those of infants. Of these deaths, 10 occurred in AiVchland, 3 in Wellington, and 1 in Christchurch. The mean temperature in Auckland was 4’6 degrees hotter, in Wellington 2 - 6 degrees hotter, and in Dunedin o'7 of a degree hotter, in December than in November. Two deaths occurred from typhoid fever one in Wellington, the other in Dunedin. Constitutional diseases abo.caused a largely-increased mortality in December, the number of deaths having been 31 against 12 in the previous month. Phthisis cafisad 18 deaths In December against Bin November. Three deaths in December WeVe attributed to 'cancer. The deaths from local diseases amounted to 82 in December against 41, in November. Among thjo dineaisoti df the nervous system, and infantile convulsions were more fatal. Diseases of the heart caused 10 deaths against 6 in November ; and diseases of the respiratory system, 12 deaths in December against 6 in November.”

A feEfru&N is gazetted, oSf the Customs receipts la .detail for tile month of December, 18£6, 'and the total revenue under that* head collected during the year 1885. The first thing which strikes one in the former, return is the continued falling off in the duties on spirits. The persistent decrease under that head is very satisfactory to note,, from a moral viewpoint* at any rate, theta is also a reduction Sh wineS, othet than Australian, frhlch exhibit an increase, as also do ale, beer and tea; but coffee, cocoa* and sugar, 6n the other hand,.have fallen off materially. So, too, have cigars and tobacco, also goods by weight, bub ad valorem and miscellaneous duties display a fair increase. The total receipts for the quarter were L 3700 less than those for the corresponding period of the preceding year, the decrease bein'£ due to Auckland, Dunedin, dnd the small ports. Wellington showed & large and Lyttelton a small increase. The returns for the year 1885 exhibited an increase of L 15,500 over 1884, the total for the year 1885 being L 1,428,809, Wellington displayed an increase cf L 30,000, and Auckland of L 7500, bub this was reduced by the falling off at Lytteltoff, Ddneain, and the smallet ports to the sum above quoted.

The official meteorological statistics for the month of December bring out very prominently the deficiency of rain which has been experienced. The rainfall in Wellington was I*ol inch, as against an average of 3 64 for former years ; in Auckland it was 0 55 of an inch, as against an average of 3 23 inches ; and in Dunedin 0 99 of an inch, as against 3*24 laches, Moreover, rain fell on fourdays fewer than the average in Wellington and Auckland, and two days fewer in Dunedin. But with this extreme drought there was a very low temperature for the season. In Wellington the mean temperature of the air was 59*3, as Compared with an average of 61*0 for previous years ; in Auckland it was 63‘6, as against 65 3; and in Dunedin 54*8, against 56*2. This represents a very chilly temperature for midsummer. The greatest heat in the shade recorded in Wellington was only 7ldeg, and Auckland 76‘5. In Dunedin the thermometer rose as much as lOdeg higher than in Wellington, viz., to 81deg. This, however, is a very mild degree of warmth compared with the 97'5deg in shade, experienced in London during the summer before last. A low night temperature was also recorded in Wellington, the minimum being 43.3; while in Dune-

din it was as low as 40deg. The Auckland minimum was 50.5 deg.

The returns of emigration and immigration for December and for the whole of last year are published in the Gazette. During the month 2184 persons arrived in the Colony and 959 left it. Of those arriving 962 came from the United Kingdom, 634 from New South Wales, and 384 from Victoria. The great bulk of the departures were for New South Wales and Victoria, 402 leaving for the former and 384 for the latter. For the twelve months the total number of persona arriving was 16,199, of whom 7241 were from the United Kingdom, 4059 from New South Wales, and 3042 from Victoria. There left the Colony 11,695 people, of whom 1857 ■ were for the United Kingdom, 4308 for Victoria, and 4325 for New South Wales. It will thus be seen that in the exchange with, the Old Country we gained 5384 people, but in that with New South Wales we lost 249, and with Victoria the large number of 1283. There was a gain of 684 in the exchange with Tasmania and other places. The following were the numbers of arrivals and departures at the principal ports : Auckland, 6069 arrived and 3547 left ; Wellington, 2941, arrived and 2377 left ; Dunedin, 3163 arrived and 60 left; Invercargill, 3755 arrived and 4688 left. The ■ return under the last heading of course includes people for and from all the Southern part of New Zealand, and makes Invercargill, or rather the Bluff, appear a much busier place than it really is. ■