THE STRUGGLE OF THE SEXES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 8557, 27 July 1889, Page 6 (Supplement)

THE STRUGGLE OF THE SEXES.

(Philadelphia Times.) In 1860 there were fifty millions of people in the United State*, and aboutßß2,ooo more males than females. That was only because more males were born; the females live the longest. Of the centenarians, 1409 were men and 2607 were women. The boys start outnearly a million ahead and are in the majority until the sixteenth year, when the girls area little more numerous. Sweet sixteen is anumerous age, anyhow. After that, first one and then the other is in the majority, the girls gradually gaining after 36 and leaving the men far behind after 75. To balance this longevity of the females, in almost every State a few more boys are born; not many more, but almost always a few. It is astonishing to see where the census gives thousands and hundreds of thousands of boys and girls under ono year old, there are, with one or two exceptions, always a few hundred more boys, and only a few hundred more. In only six at the 49 States and Territories are more girls born, and in these States they are very slightly in excess from 11 to 80. These exceptions are Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Louisiana, Montana, and North Carolina. The fact that the females are in the majority in all the origiral 13 States but Delaware and North Carolina, especially in Massachusetts and New England, has created the impression that there is something in the climate or in the people that produces more women than men. This is a popular but egregious error. In Massachusetts there were, in 1880, 437 - more boys than girls under one year of age. The males are in the minority in almost all the Eastern States because many of the young men go West. All over the West there is an excess of men, and those who are not foreigners have been withdrawn from the States further East. In the new States and Territories this is most noticeable. In Idaho, for instance, there are twice as many males as females, but the male infants are only a little in excess of the females. The West is drawing heavily on the manhood of the East. From this all the old States have suffered. Massachusetts seems to have lost more than any. There are parts of Northern Ohio which are portions of New England removed. Massachusetts shows the loss and Ohio shows the gain. Another curious fact is that while all over the country more boys than girls are born, in cities and towns there are more girls. Between the ages of five and seventeen inclusive there are 4680 more girls than boys in New York County, 1703 more in King's County, 2725 more iv the City of Baltimore, 1013 more in Suffolk tOouDty, Massachusetts (Boston), 2009 more in Cook County (Chicago), Illinois; 2131 more in the city of St. Louis, 1971 mere in Philadelphia County, and 2633 more in the parish of Orleans. All theso cities, except New Orleans, are in States where more boys than girls are born. In Georgia there are 137 counties, and in all but 26 of them there are more boys than girls. These 26 counties include the 11 large towns and cities. Strange that not one of the cities should be left out. Stranger still, the excess of girls is about in proportion to population. Savannah leads off with 528 more girls than boys; Atlani-i, 385; Augusta, 304; Macon, 154; Colum' is, 121; Cartersville, 123; Rome, 50; Ath.ijs, 50; Albany, 16; Griffin, 11; and Americus, 7. Savannah, though she has a somewhat smaller population than Atlanta, has a larger excess of girls. Ihis seems to be peculiar to old cities. It is so with Baltimore, New Orleans, and New York. The excess is greater in New Orleans than anywhere else. Is -this a peculiarity of the French ? The facts present a question worth studying. Are there fewer men in the cities than in the country ?

—The process of tanning by electricity will I be prominently brought before the public at the Paris Exhibition by the French tanners and leather manufacturers, who have taken j up the invention, and have worked it successfally for nearly a year. ' —The work of clearing away the snow J from the streets of Berlin during the late | winter cost the municipality about 500.00 C marks, or £25,000. Only in two years during the last decade has this expenditure been exceeded. —A water famine in Jerusalem lately caused severe suffering. A letter of thanks for a cheque sent from London as a donation for water for poor Jem- says Miat in the Jewish quarters alone 900 children had died. —At the last meeting of the Public Health Committee of the Corporation of Dublin, Sir Charles Cameron reported that one genuine case of leprosy had occurred in one of the hospitals of that city. The patient is 57 years of age. —Mr Gladstone considers yew the most difficult tree to fell; next come beech and asbs Oak, though very hard, felk well • but the. easiest of all is Spanish chestnut.