> Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 16:27:31 -0700 > From: "Jean Dalrymple" <motherd@theriver.com> > 1900 Life > > >>The average life expectancy in the United States was forty-seven. ... > >>More than 95 percent of all births in the United States took place at > >>home. The latter contributed to the rate of infant (and mother) mortality, which contributed significantly to the former. > >>Drive-by shootings-in which teenage boys galloped down the street on > >>horses and started randomly shooting at houses, carriages, or anything > >>else that caught their fancy, were an ongoing problem in Denver and > >>other cities in the West. So it isn't a recent phenomenon, but "drive-by" doesn't seem to be the proper description. > >>Some medical authorities warned that professional seamstresses were apt > >>to become sexually aroused by the steady rhythm, hour after hour, of the > >>sewing machine's foot pedals. ... causing many to take up the profession? > >>There were about 230 reported murders in the US annually How does the national per-capita murder rate of 1900 compare with now? Bill McCray Lexington, KY