Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-04-22

AUTOMATIC COUNTING MACHINE ExP1cTrp TO
DO THE WORK OF ELEVEN oLxRKs.
A portion Of the actual work Of tabulating
the returns Of the eleventh census was begun
today. OF course no returns have % yet been
received Of the statistics Of population, as the
enumeration Of the people does not begin
until June /. The number Of deaths and other
facts in connection with vital statistics have
been collected in various portions Of the
country and now these returns have been re-
ceived at the Census Office and they are being
tabulated.
PUNCHED IN CARDS.
Instead, however, of receiving the long
schedules containing the facts in regard to
each individual who has died during the past
year or five years, the census officials are get
ting from the special agents in the field stacks
of postal card These cards appear to be
perfectly blank and far as any written in
scriptlon goes they are blank. Each one, how
ever. Is found to ue punched with round holes
and each one of the punctures means
something. At one side Of the card
two or three holes means that the card relates
to death in a certain district or ward in a
certain town and state. What is known as a
proof card, where each no o is properly labeled,
tells the story of the card to the out
slider. These cards have been punched
by the special agents and their assistants in the
various parts of the country and have been sent
to the Census Office for tabulation. The punch
ing portion of the electric tabulating machine
adopted by the Census Office was supplied to
the agents of the census Office.
THE TABULATiNa MAC rsE.
As has been stated in THE STAR this ma
chine records on small dials by means OF in
terruptions of electric currents the class of
facts punched out on the cards. In addi-
ton there is small box at one
side of the machine d vided into COM
partments with a metailid lid over each
Each compartment is named after certain
class OF facts and then the lid is connected with
the machine by an electric current For exam
pie, today the work was begun of asserting the
cards received by sanitary districts and wards
One compartment was named ward and the
other b. When the card was placed on
the machine and the handle brought down q
needle-like projection passed though the holes
in the card, thus indicating a ward. Then
the current was broken, the cover few open
and the operator was able to place the card in
the proper compartment
When the cards are taken out and placed in
a pile certain holes must correspond or else
it IS known that a mistake has been made
After the cards have been assorted they will be
tabulated to show in each district how
many whites and colored there were, which
were native and which foreign born and of the
former class how many had both parents born
i'll this country and how many one or both
parents foreign born. OF the total
population how many had mother
born in the United States or in England or in
any of the dozen other countries that are on
the list. In this way series of answers to
some forty questions will be quickly and accu-
rately tabuated
EQUAL TO ELEVEN CLERKS.
IT is stated that if these machines do the
work that is expected one machine will be
equal to eleven clerks, with the chances of &C.
curacy on the side of the machine.
Under the contract made with the Census
Office the inventor furnishes eight machines
to do the tabulation of the vital statistics and
fifty when the population schedules are re-
ceived.