Death Draws Back

The U.S. death rate set an alltime low in 1948, the National Office of Vital Statistics reported last week. There were 1,444,337 deaths--i.e., 9.9 per 1,000 population, compared with 10.1 in 1947 and 10.0 (the previous low) in 1946. Markedly lower were deaths in childbirth (down 17%) and from syphilis (down 8%). But both heart disease (the heaviest killer--one-third of all deaths) and cancer slightly increased their toll.

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