There is no more striking phase of the local Negro problem, than that shown in [table number XXIII]. These figures disclose the astonishing fact that the death rate among Negroes in this city during the first seven months of 1917, was forty-eight percent greater than the birth rate. In other words, while in the city population as a whole, the number of deaths was thirty percent less than the number of births, the number of deaths among colored people was forty-eight percent more than the number of births; thus, for every one hundred persons born in Pittsburgh in 1917, there were seventy deaths, while among the colored population, for every one hundred children born, one hundred and forty-eight persons died.

These figures seem of sinister significance to the Negro race. Even when taking into consideration the facts that the migration is largely that of single males, rather than that of families, and that because most of the women here are doing some work outside the home there is a definite policy of limiting their birth rate, there still remains the fact that even during the entire year of 1915, while the birth rate of the entire city population was practically twice the death rate, the excess number of births over deaths among colored people was only twenty-nine in a total of over five hundred.

TABLE NUMBER XXIV

Ages of Persons who Died Within the First Seven Months of 1917.

Under 1 year87
Under 5 years43
From 5 to 1216
From 12 to 2024
From 20 to 3069
From 30 to 40101
From 40 to 60138
Over 6049
TOTAL527

TABLE NUMBER XXV

Causes of Deaths of Children Under 5 Years of Age.

Burns 1
Malnutrition 4
Syphilis 4
Tuberculosis Meningitis 3
Pneumonia 51
Tuberculosis 5
Enteritis 21
Premature 9
Meningitis 2
Bronchitis 4
Influenza 2
Asphyxia 4
Hemorrhage 1
Convulsions 6
Diphtheria 2
Rickets 1
Heart Disease 8
Mumps 1
Poliomyelitis 1
TOTAL 130

That the infant mortality rate among colored people is much higher than among the white groups, is generally believed and it is not surprising to find that the mortality among Negro infants in Pittsburgh is much greater than the infant mortality rate for the entire city. Figures for the year 1916-17 were unobtainable. The records of the Department of Health show that during the year 1915 one hundred and four children per thousand born in Pittsburgh, died in their first year.

There were three hundred and fifty-six Negro births in the first seven months of 1917. During the same period eighty-seven Negro children died under one year. Of this number fifty-nine had been born between January and July 1917, which means that one hundred and sixty-six children per thousand die in their first seven months. This clearly indicates that the death rate of Negro infants is far above the death rate of white infants. [Table No. XXV] also shows the cause of deaths of children under five years of age who died within the last seven months. At least half of these deaths were due to preventable disorders, as is apparent from the figures in the same table.