Chapter II.]

AGE AND LENGTH OF SERVICE AS AFFECTING THE ARMY IN INDIA.

23

Composition of 100 deaths at the
earliest and latest periods of Indian
service.

   Of the total of 2,792 deaths above represented, exactly 1,000 occurred in the first and
second years of Indian service; and among men whose residence
exceeded ten years, there were 409 deaths. It is interesting to
compare the composition of the deaths of these two classes:—

Composition of 100 Deaths of men in the first and second years in India, and of men whose
residence exceeded ten years.

   Enteric fever heads the first column and. takes the last place in the second; and the posi-
tion is reversed in the case of heart disease, which caused 18 per cent. of the deaths of the
old men.

Invaliding in relation to length of
Indian service and to age, and to both
combined.

   Forty-eight per cent of the Invaliding from the Army of India occurs in men who have
been under five years in India; and in the past six years,
the percentage has varied only between 46 and 51,—a very
limited range. Of 14,177 men invalided from 1871 to
1876, 6,790 were of four years' Indian service or less; 24 per
cent., or 3,403 out of the whole, had served from 5 to 7 years; and the remainder 3,984, or 28
per cent., were men who had passed more than seven years in the country.

   I have placed below the results for each year of the period 1871 to 1875 in the Three Pre-
sidencies, to make the facts conspicuous; for it is a matter of serious moment that so large a
proportion of men break down in the first years of their residence, necessitating a large annual
supply of recruits to fill the vacancies, and who, in turn, succumb to the same influences. Where
the ratio of invaliding per cent of the total in the early years is exorbitant—for example, in
the Bombay Presidency in 1871 and 1872,—it is necessary to refer for the explanation to the
previous column, "invalided per 1,000 of Strength," which shows that the excess was due not to
the large number invalided, but to a large proportion of men of short. service in India happening
in these years to be on the strength of the Army of Bombay.

   These are the general results for the Armies of the Three Presidencies:

Invalided per cent. of the total invaliding at the different periods of Indian Service, 1871—75.

   Of 5,724 soldiers who broke down in the five years 1871 to 1875 in the first four years of
residence, 3,071 were men of one and two years' service, and 2,653 were invalided in the third
and fourth years; 2,965 were young men of 25 and under, and 2,759 were over this age.

   The details on the results of the period, are given in this statement, in which the age and
length of service of the men invalided is shown in combination. It shows that of all invalided
in the first four years, 73 per cent. were under 30, and 84 per cent. below 35; of all
invalided in the fifth, sixth or seventh years, 70 per cent were under 35; and even of the
oldest class, 41 per cent. did not exceed the age of 35, which, as we have seen, is the limit
beyond which only 14 per cent of the whole Army continues to serve in India.

Invaliding of the Army of India 1871-75, in relation to Age and Length of Service in India shown
in combination.