New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-06-03


list, who informed me that was as sane on many
points as any other man. Crippled malnieo
! had glass leg year ago. That "ouiu H"'e
made an interesting and unique item
DON'T KNOW" A SENSIBLE ANsWLN
LAS for the question about chrome diseases
person NAV have a chronic disease ana noD kho"
it. The physician makes it his business 10 Ne'p
from a patient the knowledge that ne is suffering
from a chronic disease and an example III O"'
working of the human mind III relation TO tne
body is found in the fact that II man Is In III,
formed that he has chronic disease nc uoua 10y
dies in short tame Inc sale "nS Ns rso ,'',
question is that you don't Know. VI coulse, !"
man can't say he doesn't know about q mort
gage For refusal to answer the penalty can
be enforced The United States "ovefn ,,, t6e
very strong, and the courts usually side WIN .ne
Government AS | understand IT, tines" ples'io
are statutory, enacted by Congress vi course
Congress did not know what it was dong wheh l,
enacted them Ii enacted them III "a lump, ana
concluded that the census expert knew wnat was
proper But it passed upon them ana IncS are
now law The Constitution gives tie rlgnt 10
rnumerate the inhabitants of the United states
once in ten years Take the statute and the Coil,
sttution together, and rather tank our irlehu
with Brights disease. curvature of the spine or
a mortgage on his farm will have to answer
In the district where Mr.. Depew lives the work
Of the collectors Of population ana SOCIAL
hardly fair to insinuate that they acted under fear
If meeting 1.-The gentleman they left the schedules
venience, and viii collect them in day or two.
Many of the best known NEWCOMERS whose city
homes are in Fifth-ave., will be inaccessible to the
New-York enumerators. The Vanderbilts are all
in Europe or in the country. Jay Gould's house
is closed and dozens Of other houses in the neigh
borhood of Mr.. Gould and the Vanderbiits are
shut up for the summer. The enumerators whose
ASSIGNMENTS bring within their districts big chart
table and benevolent institutions have the easiest
time Of all The man; tSr instance F y, who Po WAS
Catholic Orphan Asylum, at flfty-iirst-St ana
Fifth-ave, spent the whole day in copying the
information he wanted from the registers of the
institution
WHERE THE WORK is HARDEST.
The enumerators who have to toll among the
masses" may we'll envy their fortunate fellows
who ring the dOor-bells of hrownstone fronts
The classic Bowery Houston, Hester, Division
and Essex sts., along Avenue b, and all the litte
crooked, narrow side streets, where the standard
OF English is the undefiled dlaAjt OF de fourI
Ward, which Is III continual strife with all SORTS
of "reminiscences of the confusion of the builders
of Babel, harbor CLASS of citizens ana PROBATION
ers in citizenship whose Ideas OF the census,
when they have any ideas OF 1t, are strange
and original. They persisted yesterday III mis-
taking the census men for the city directory men.
Some Of them greeted the enumerator with the
enthusiasm which they bestow on doe-givlng
agents OF the charitable Some hailed HIM with
that other kind of enthusiasm. which is kept IN
for over-zealous life insurance canvassers,
gas men, and other invaders of domestic privacy
All regarded him with curiosity, mingled with
scorn. II doesn't take Pied Piper TO attract the
children Of the Bowcry and ESSeX-st., and troops
of boys and girls in the picturesque costumes
of their native heath made the march OF the
enumerators from house TO h0Ise spectacular
However. the only trouble that the enumerators
in the Bowery district had TO contend against,
so far as could be aSoertained. was dense dark
ignorance and broken English, which is easier for
on enumeration TO endure, though, than broken
head
One would have thought that the fact that Cicle
Sam was lnqulrlng INTO the CONDITION OF MS
ton Of the children who have adopted him, would
have caused some little Sur among the citizens OF
that salubrious quarter known as the " Bend.
But it did not. The people of the Bend' know
as little of what happens in the CITY Of Ncw-lOrk
they do of the current affairs Of Iceland. No
one In the a Bend" knew that the census was
beat was aware of the fact. Some OF the most
prominent merchants of the Bend expressed
entire ignorance of the nature of the census
Some, when the matter was preached by Trb-
une reporter. thought II was sort OF private
business directory. The words census enumerator
seemed to be so fun of fearful import and mys
terry that several protested chat they had done
nothing, and hurried into their rooms indignant
at the mere suggestion that he might have called
The lid Assembly District is one of the most
depressing districts in the city for the census
merator. Ech Of the tenment-houses in this neigh
borhood is as full OF perspiring, miserable human,
ity as ant-hill is full of examples of patience
within its limits Mott, Hester, Mulberry and BaX-
ter SITS, and others Of like character cha Ter
trct presumably at work. They certainly
were not wasting their time on the streets.
yesterday But, of course, one family residence
in Mulberry-st. calls for nearly half days work.
There not only Chinese, japanese, Greeks.
Italians, and Polish Jewt. but there are numbers
of citizens whose tongue is English, but with
whom it is not easy to carry Oh conversation
without slang dictionary.
After man has spent the whole day there ne does
not feel disposed to quarrel with the schedule
for asking personal questions. but is rather i'll
clined TO think that few additional queries as
TO the date of the last partial or complete I'M
mersion for instance. would be in order. and the
statistics thus obtained should form the basis OF
legislation for the establishment Of a sort Of
annual baptism with liberal provision of horse
brushes and soap.
IGNORANCE THE WORST OBSTACLE.
In some cases. however. the people seemed 10
regard the census-takers enemies, and the
CATERERS of statistics had great difficulty in eX-
planning the object of the questions so that the
more ignorant ones could understand them. II
seems strange that so many of the people in tene-
ment-houses should not have heard of such
thing as the taking of a census, after all that
has been published concerning II lately. but II
is a fact that the enumerators were compelled TO
make detailed explanations In lnnumeraDle IN
stances before they could obtain answers TO the
questions.
A Russian Hebrew named Strenenski, in Green
wich-st., refused to answer a single question
He simply told the enumerator that what he
wanted TO know was nobodys business but his
own. A laborer named Kelly, who lives in
rear tenement house ia Rooscvelt-st. and is much
Of humorist in his own estimation, gave some
queer answers 10 the questions He declared he
Chinaman, hundred years old, and
widow with five motherless children. OF course
the enumerators do not pay any attention 10 such
absurd replies although in the case Of Mr.. Kelly
the answers might indicate that he is curiosity
wxrth being put on record on his own dc,crp-
ton. German named Richter. in Oak-st.. asked
as many questions as the cnumerator did. What
for you want 10 know all dot beesness?" he
asked. and when the purport of the census was
explained to him he had even more curiosity
than before. Like great many other liquor
store keepers his place is owned by brewery,
and he turns certain proportion Of his
profits TO the owner in payment Tor the fixtures
ard stock He insisted that this obligation was
not q mortgage incumhrance he is in reality
paving for his place on the instalment plan.
Antonio Centurini. Italian who speaks little