Geographic Notes 



401 



■winds in the eastern part of North Amer- 

 ica are from the west — from the land; 

 hence the severity of climate of the east- 

 ern part of the United States and Can- 

 ada — great cold in winter and great heat 

 in summer. The prevalent winds in the 

 western part of the United States are 

 from the ocean, and hence, as in the 

 case of England, its climate is mild. 



Another persistent error is found on 

 many maps, which represent the main 

 system of the Cordillera as running in 

 a direct line to the Arctic Ocean just 

 w^est of the mouth of the Mackenzie, 

 whereas it has been shown that the 

 mountain system follows the coast of 

 Alaska, forming the ' ' Backbone of the 

 Alaskan Peninsula, ' ' including the great 

 mountains of St. Elias and McKinley. 



THE DEATH RATE IN THE UNITED 

 STATES IN 1900 



THE records of death in 1900 were 

 registered by census enumerators 

 in an area including somewhat more 

 than one-third of the population of the 

 United States. These returns show 

 that the death rate in this registered 

 area was 17.8 per 1,000 of population. 

 The area for which records were ob- 

 tained included Connecticut, District of 

 Columbia, Massachusetts, New Hamp- 

 shire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode 

 Island, Vermont, Maine, and Michigan, 

 and 53 cities of 8,000 or more popula- 

 tion in other states. The population in- 

 cluded was 28,807,269, or about 38 per 

 cent of the entire population of the 

 United States. 



The death rate in 1890 for an area 

 somewhat less was 19.6 per 1,000, so 

 that apparently the death rate in the 

 United States has decreased 1.8 per 

 cent in ten years. It must not, how- 

 ever, be inferred that all this decrease is 

 due to the improved health and vitality 

 of the American people. Mortality sta- 

 tistics must necessarily be always uncer- 

 tain. Probably the records of -death at 



no census were so efl&ciently and thor- 

 oughly registered and verified as at the 

 census of 1 900 ; but a difference in re- 

 sults is the necessary consequence of a 

 more perfected registration — that is, the 

 difference of figures in the percentages 

 of death rate in 1890 and 1900 does not 

 necessarily imply an increase or decrease 

 in the death rate, but may be the result 

 of a more accurate registration. It is, 

 however, gratifying that the difference 

 in percentages is in the nature of a con- 

 siderable decrease. 



The Census Bulletin (no. 83) treating 

 of the mortality statistics for the year 

 1 900 contains a multitude of interesting 

 tables, but the figures must for the most 

 part be taken with due allowance. For 

 instance, St. Joseph, Mo., is recorded as 

 having a death rate of only 9.1 per cent 

 per 1,000 in 1900 ; St. Paul's death rate 

 was 9.7, though ten years before it was 

 half as much again, 14.9 — a remarkable 

 advance in the healthiness of the city ! 

 On the other hand, Charleston, S. C., 

 would appear quite unsafe to live in, 

 for its death rate, 37.5, is four times 

 that of St. Joseph. Natchez, with a 

 death rate of 39.7, is even more un- 

 healthy than Charleston. 



CHILE'S DISPUTES WITH PERU AND 

 BOLIVIA 



THE Pan-American Congress has 

 aroused attention to the long- 

 standing disputes between Peru and 

 Chile and Bolivia and Chile. After the 

 overwhelming defeat of Peru and Bolivia 

 by Chile in 1883, Peru was forced to 

 surrender unconditionally to her con- 

 queror the province of Tarapaca, which 

 is larger than the states of Vermont and 

 New Hampshire combined. Peru was 

 also compelled to surrender the province 

 of Tacna and Arica for ten years, at the 

 end of which period the people of the 

 province were to decide by a plebiscitS 

 whether they would continue allegiance 

 to Chile or resume their allegiance to 



