Official Organ Of the Slavonic Benevolent Order Of The State Of Texas, Founded 1897. BENEVOLENCE
VOLUME 56 — NO. 42
BROTHERHOOD
HUMANITY Postmaster: Please Send Form 3579 with Undeliverable Copies to: SUPREME LODGE SPJST, FOB 100, TEMPLE, TEX 76501
OCTOBER 16, 196$
FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK Convention Proceedings and ByLaws. Printshop personnel are preparing the booklet form of the convention proceedings from the 20th Convention, and they should be ready in a week or ten days. Eliminating errors, both in the original copy and those made here, has been quite a job, but we pride ourselves on the fact that the final product is very readable, in good English, with very few, if any errors. The next big job involves the bylaws. The first installment of these appears in this issue of the Vestnik. There are some discrepancies that appear in these that will have to be resolved before we print the final booklet version. With the mail as light as it is these clays, we hone to get all of these in just a few issues. Please bear with us. No. 1. Killer. Statistics from the State Health Department tell us that heart disease is still the state's leading killer in 1967, with about twice as many deaths stemming from various heart ailments as were caused by cancer. Heart disease took 29,643 lives in Texas in 1967. Cancer took 13.954 lives. StrOkes were the third leading
cause of death, claiming 10,014 deaths, followed by accidents (6,665), diseases of early infancy (3,067), pneumonia (2,945), generalized arteriosclerosis (1,544), diabetes mellitus (1,457), murder (1,013), and cirrhosis of the liver, 980. Divorce and Birth Rates. An Institute of Life Insurance analysis of latest government figures indicates that the na tion's marriage and divorce rates may climb higher this year, while the birth rate may still be falling, and the death rate shows no noticeable change. Nearly two million marriages may occur this year — probably the most since the nationwide rush to the altar just after World War II. The marriage rate is approaching' 10 per 1,000 population, and will likely be the highest in at least 15 years. The family responsibilities of married men present by far the greatest need for life insurance protection. Of all the "ordinary" life insurance issued to American men, 83 per cent is purchased by married men. And ownership of life insurance runs significantly higher among husbands with children than among those who are child-
SPJST
less. The upswing in marriage apparently has not yet reversed the downward trend in births. The number of babies born this year may drop below 31/2 million for the first time since. 1946. Experts say one factor behind the declining birth rate is that women seem, to be marrying later and postponing children longer after marriage. The decline may also indicate that American families are getting smaller. But, regardless of what future direction the birth rate may take, the upward trend in marriages means that the actual number of births is.: likely also to turn upward before top.. Latest figures show women's age at first marriage as 20.5 years, compared with 20.3 years in the early 1960s. The median age for roan is unchanged at 22.8 years. (Ici on -white brides and grooms tend to be a halfyear or more older at I t marriage than their white count:A:par Czech Library to Temple. Permission was granted at the last Supreme Lodge meeting for us to move the Czech Library that I started about 4 years ago here in West to empty offices in
BY-LAWS IN THIS ISSUE - PART I