, 1884-07-23
A CITY DIRECTORY.
The Perplexing Labor Involved in
Its Compilation.
The Work of tho Canvnssor-GettIng
the Names Down Correctly
Various Tricks and
DodgeS
rst. Paul Pioneer Presal

Very few people who pick up a compact
city directory containing It's tens or hundreds
Of thousands Of names, ure aware Of the per
plexing labor involved In the compilation of
such a book. 1t Is one of the misfortunes
of directory compiling TINT it cannot claim
the undivided attention OF trained canvassers.
1t is necessary, TO any degree Of accuracy,
that the book shall be made upin b shortest
possible time.
WORE OF THE CANyAssER.
The first work which preseats itSelf 30 the
publisher is to procure the services OF a num-
Der OF competent men TO do the ~canvassing.
The men once secured, they have 10 be drilled
into the form Of writing names Selection ia
also made to cover actions OF the city where
there b q preponderating German or other
foreign-langungespeaking population. The
city Is divided into districts, each district be-
ing clearly defined on a map, and checked
when the canvass has been completed When
the canyasser has been sufficiently Instructed
in his duties, he is armed with a package of
slips OF paper about six inches long and ALT
tie more than inch wide. Then, he
goes forth and commences his work.
lie makes suro what street be Is
on, writes the name of the street at the OK
IRENE right hand OF the slip of paper, steps up
toa house, knocks or rings the bell, and while
waiting for the response puts down the num-
Der OF the house at the left, and then asks
who lives there, and What his occupation may
be, which, when given, Is written at the left
OF what has boon already written. II the
house is vacant, he 50 writes on the slip. II
be gets no response and the house "a obviously
occupied, he adds to his memorandum al
ready written of the street and number C.B.,
which indicates call back, and C. f.,
which indicates canvass fully. These slips arr
turned In, and are the guide for other at
tempts 10 secure the desired Information. 1t
may cost one trip; 1t may cost half a dozen,
but these call back slips have to be filed upat
whatever cost
GATHERING THEM IN.
After the name of a head OF q family occu-
plying a house is secured, tho question Ia
asked, Are there my other males over Is
years of age living in the house or boarding
hercf' The response may be yes or no-if In
the affirmative, the namesare added as the
one before. C~nnvassers find with each sue
ceediry year that the desired information Il
secured with creator ease than the year be-
fore. People are coming to understand that
the directory does not mean the taxgatherer,
and 10 appreciate tho advantages OF having
their names correctly presented in the book.
Errors Will creep In, however, and tho most
fruitful sourra of omission Is the failure Of
the person encountered at each house to say
that another family, as Is possibly the case,
Is living In the house, or to name boarders,
or dodgers. Servant gh-ls, who respond TO tho
call OF the canvasser. are also often badly In
formed and tell but little, and that little more
or less Incorrect
II the name pronounced, In a more or less
broken and indIstinct English. defies the skill
of the canvasser TO place on paper, a letter Ia
asked for bearing the name. The Scandina-
VANS always hive them or newspapers bear
Ing the print | name at hand, and the intri-
cacie8 of the names Of other foreigners are
mastered with such ingenuity as the anrasser
may possess. The boarding-houses too,
always present mora or less trouble to the
canvassers. With fcw exceptions, no regis
ter OF the names OF boardeH are kept, and to
the proprietor even the guests are often
known only by their given name, II even by
50 much as that. Sometimes the proprietor
will make u point to procure the names, but
oftener the ~canvasser has to do his work
when the boarder come TO thar meals. The
high-toned places usually offer even more
difficulties than the cheap ones, because the
boardcrs are known simply as Mr.. So-and-So,
and the occupation seldom inquired into II
the bill is promptly paid.
THE SOURCES OF INFORMATION.
But this class of people are usually OBJ
tained for the book in another way. After a
canvass Is made In the residence portion Of
the city it is made in tho business section.
Every store and every Office Is visited, and
the occupants all recorded, names first, oc-
cupation, resl1ence or boarding placs after
ward. Tho upper stories OF business blocks
arr secured. The names of all employees o!
prominent manufacturing institutions taken,
and in this way two chances taken Of procur-
ing the full and correct information. This
double assurance If often secured only at the
cost OF repeated visits, either 70 residence or
Office, and the result is a vast pile of the lit
tic narrow slips of paper. Onco completed
the work Of compilation commences. The
slips are sorted alphabetically and then re-
sorted alphabetically for three, four and five
letters. In this process the duplicates secured
by the canvass in business houses and manu-
factories are detected and thrown out II the
duplicates show a difference in data, the can
vasser makes new investigation to determine
which is right and which Is wrong.
SCHEMES TO DEFEA
1t isn't always possible, even with the ut
most zeal and care, TO include all the names.
1t Is a curious fact tina some people resort to
the expedient of giving a fictitious name, or
refusing to give the name altogether. The
people who object to ave their names In the
directory and who give fictitious names, gen
orally belong 10 the clnss who have creditors
50 numerous hat they do not want 1t known
where they reside. Frauds OF this kind are
not easily detected, but they are de-
tectcd now and then, and it does the
soul OF the cnnvasscr good TO be able TO In.
clude the lodging party in the directory
with all the information possible to DO given
Canyassers detect some curious cases of ig-
norance. lisa very common thing for a
wife not 10 know where her husband works,
nor what kind of work he does. One can
vasser was considerably d~isconcertsd not long
ago TO find a woman who did not even know
what her husbands given name was, though
she had lived with him for something like ton
years She was laconically advised 10 take a
day OFF and ind out. All sorts OF ~pronuncia-
tions are given to the same name, and moth
ing but experience and adeptness in decipheT~