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Page:Siberia and the Exile System Vol 1.djvu/321

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THE PROVINCE AND THE CITY OF TOMSK
299

in a single year, not only "a first-class sanatorium," but a village of 4000 inhabitants.

In a foot-note below will be found a tabulated statement of the cases of sickness and death which occurred on the convict barges between Tiumén and Tomsk in the fifteen years beginning with 1870 and ending with 1884. I copied the figures myself from the manuscripts of the official reports, and so far as transcription is concerned, I will guarantee their accuracy.[1]

It will be seen that during this period there has been, on the whole, a steady improvement in the hygienic condition of the barges, and a corresponding decrease in the sick- and death-rates. The mortality now is chiefly among children,

  1. Sickness and Mortality on Convict Barges Between Tiumén and Tomsk — Ten Days.