de this area and the bordering counties, the highest rate is in
Franklin, of which the city of Columbus is the county seat; but of the
Eighteen Counties, seven have a higher rate than Franklin. In Clermont
County it is 164, in Scioto 169, in Lawrence 172, in Ross 175, in Gallia
184, while in Pike it is no less than 216,--far larger than for any other
rural county in the State. In Hamilton County, in which is the city of
Cincinnati, and which is adjacent to Clermont County, the rate of 217 is
probably due to the large colored population.

It will be observed, therefore, that in no less than two-thirds of the
Eighteen Counties the rate of death from this preventable disease is
excessively and indefensibly high.

The number of illegitimate births in the Eighteen Counties is likewise
excessive. (See Map 2 and Table A, column 2, pages 28 and 37.) The rate
per 100,000 population for the State is 43.9. Of the 28 counties whose
rate is above the average, 19, or 68 per cent, are either in the Eighteen
Counties or the counties bordering upon them. No less than thirteen, or
more than two-thirds, of the Eighteen Counties have an excessive number of
illegitimate births. Outside this area and the bordering counties the
highest rate for any county is 61, but in ten of the Eighteen Counties it
is greater than this. Whereas the rate for the State is less than 44, in
Athens County it is 65, in Noble 67, in Scioto 73, in Gallia 76, in
Hocking and Monroe 78, in Ross 87, in Pike 89, in Lawrence no less than
113, while in Jackson it is 123, or the highest rate in the State.

It will be noted that these figures cover the counties in which are the
large cities as well as the rural counties. But in Hamilton, containing
the city of Cincinnati, the rate is only 66, in Franklin, containing the
city of Columbus, it is 56, and in Cuyahoga, containing the city of
Cleveland, it is only 50.

Illiteracy also, in the Eighteen Counties, is excessive. (See Map 3 and
column 3 of Table A.) The per cent of illiterate males of voting age for
the State in 1910 was 4.2. There are 29 counties in which that number was
exceeded. Of these, fourteen are among the Eighteen Counties, and five
border upon them. In Brown County, the percentage is 4.3, in Washington
and Noble 4.5, in Monroe 5.4, in Adams 6.9, in Athens and Ross 7.4, in
Scioto 7.7, in Gallia 8.1, in Vinton 8.4, in Hocking 8.6, while in Pike it
is 10.7, and in Lawrence 11.6.

Among the remaining ten cou