Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1889-08-23
THE NEXT CENSUS.
AiOMENTOUS TASK OF COUNTING
THE PEOPLE.
IL Will Require n Force of rover TO-.
600 Men and Cost $S.o0o,OOO
Curious Facts In I,clo
ton to This BigJob.

In 4 big room in the attic of the III
terror Department ut Washington is one
Of the most interesting collections in the
possession OF the Government, and yet
there are not hundred people in the
city who know of its existence. In this
room are thousands of leather bound
books of all sizes, lcttercd on the backs,
us the case may he, s'First Census"
"Second Census" etc. These books are
the original returns made by the cnumc-
rators i'll taking every census from the
year 1890, when the first census was
taken, down To 1880, the year of the last
census.
Prior to the year 1850 only The names
ol the heads OF families were taken, but
whcn the census Of that year WAS col
lcctcd the name Of every individual in
the United States was enumerated. This
room consequently contains the name of
every man, woman and child who has
been born or who has lived in this coun-
try since the first day of June, 1880
do not think many people know of this,
and ut some time il may bc of the great
est use TO lawyers aud others who are en-
gagged in the search for missing heirs.
ana who want To ascertain whether II Ger
tain person was living ut II particular
time
Preparations are now well under way
Tor the eleventh census, and the ire.
mcndouS amount Of executive ability that
is required Of the Superintendent To start
the machine cannot be appreciated by an
outsider unless he has some practical
knowledge of the task.
The fact that there are to-day Is 900.
600 more people in this country than
! there were in 1880 is in itself an assur.
nncc that the work Of the eleventh census
will he much greater than WAS that of
1850.
Another fact will also attest 10 the
{ magnitude of the eleventh census, and
that is that il will be II centennial one and
therefore one of the greatest importance.
1t will also he the census Of the greatest
nation on earth, as neither in Russia nor
in China. the most populous countries in
the world, is II census of any importance
ever taken
The first duties of the Superintendent
are to district the entire country, prepare
tory to making II count, with view Of
making complete, satisfactory and nc
curatc enumeration of the population.
Congress allows the Superintendent
IT'S supervisors, and besides these II
goodsizcd army of assistants, numbering
some ~, 900 people all told, to assist him
i'll the work. With the exception Of the
| First Assistant Postmaster General no
officer Of the Government has such
large force under his immediate direction
us the Superintendent Of the Census
This districting of the country is left
entirely TO the discretion of the Supcrir-
tcndent, who may give an entire State
us, for instance, New York-to one
supervisor, or he may divide one State
among four, five or six supervisors, nc
cording 10 the population, the territory
to DC covered and the general features OF
the country. Suitable men for the posi-
ton Of supervisor have to be obtained,
mcn who are thoroughly acquainted with
The country for which they are TO be held
responsible.
The duties Of the supervisor are SINH
lar to those Of the Superintendent, al
though on Il smaller scale, and are almost
as mlltitndinous and varied. They have
10 rcdistrict their division and recon-.
mend to the Superintendent FOR appoint
meni suitable men, called cnImcrators, of
which there will be about 1000. In
; 1880 there were SO, 000, and with IN cs
! timatcd increase OF IS 900. 900 in the
population, il is very probable that fully
40, 600 men will be required to take the
! census of 1890.
These cnumcrators having been duly
| cd l,,t
mdablc book of Instructions, consisting
of thirty pages, and proceed 10 take the
census. This book of instructions is pre-.
pared by the Office in Washington, and
covers almost every case which is likely
10 arise when the cnumcraior is engaged
in his arduous lahors Their duties com.
mcncc on June 1 1890, and in cities have
TO end i'll fifteen days, and in the country
within thirty days.
Those who think the duties of an emu
mcrator are easy, and who accept the
place with that idea, will be doomed 10
disappointment. 70 give some idea OF
the various schedules which these emu
mcrators have to carry around with them
from house to house IL is only necessary 10
mention some of them:
Schedule of population, schedule Of
agriculture, schedule OF manufacturers,
schedule OF mortality and vital statistics,
to say nothing of supplementary aud
special schedules relating to the deaf,
blind, insane, criminals and INDECENT,
manufactures, banks and every other con
ccivnblc branch of business. An adj
ditional schedule to those formulated
ten years ago is Il schedule relating to
veteran soldies and sailors, their widows
and children. Also as to the number Of
mulattocs, quadroons and octoroons 10 be
found in the country. And in case
superintendent Porter decides not TO col
lcct the statistics of recorded indebted
ness of the country by special agents this
information will also be collected bv the
cnumerators. Should this not be done
by the latter employees il will ncccssitntc
IL personal visit by special agent to every
county seat in the country. AS there are