a moving picture show and the "movies" know no class lines. The 

 County Fair is another event that draws its patronage from nearly the 

 entire county and from all classes. 



SOCIAL WELFARE 

 Public Health 



The county health officer has the general oversight of the public health 

 for all of the county, except the Olney District and the town of Takoma 

 Park. The Olney District has its local board of health, chartered by the 

 State Legislature; the town of Takoma Park is under the supervision of 

 the health officer of the District of Columbia. (For principal causes 

 of death see Tables Nos. 12 and 13 and note, Appendix page III.) 

 The vital statistics for the county (Olney included, but Takoma Park 

 excluded) are as follows for the year 191 1, January i to December 31 

 inclusive: 



Birth rate, white (per 1,000 inhabitants) 14.8 



Birth rate, colored (per 1,000 inhabitants) 15 .3 



Death rate, white (per 1,000 inhabitants) 7.8 



Death rate, colored (per 1,000 inhabitants) 14.5 



The birth rate, it will be noticed, is rather low, but the death rate is 

 also low. The death rate for the United States, year 1910, was 14.7 

 as against 9.7 for Montgomery County (both white and colored popu- 

 lation). This low death rate bears out the observation of the inves- 

 tigators that the average length of life seemed unusually great. It is 

 also significant that the death rate of the negroes is almost double 

 that of the whites, while the birth rate is only slightly higher. 



The County Alms House 



This is located on the Falls Road a mile and a half from the town of 

 Rockville. The building contains seven rooms and two halls with a 

 basement; there is a room for white women and another for white men; 

 one for colored women and one for colored men; one for married couples; 

 one for a crippled colored woman; one for tramps (in the basement); 

 there are two dining rooms, two bath rooms and two toilets. The 

 farm contains 140 acres, and has been poorly worked heretofore. 

 The inmates do not help in the farm work, being either physically or 

 mentally incompetent. At the time the investigators visited the Alms 

 House it contained 24 inmates, 12 white (6 male and 6 female) and 12 

 colored (also 6 male and 6 female, including 3 children). Under the 

 present management, the place is well kept and the inmates are given 

 proper care and good treatment. 



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