Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-06-19
VIEWS OF POSTAL OFFICIALS ON 1T.
Mr.. Mexican Thinks 1t is a Good Idea and
Says 1t Could be Done Without Much
Extra Work on Them.
COULD ALSO PUT POLICEMEN TO WORK.
Supervisor Oliver Asked to Name Districts Not Re-
ported, and Refused.

keep one eve on Supervisor Oliver and the
other on the people they do not enumerate,
has occurred to a number OF city officials,
particularly those connected with the police
department. The posto flee authorities are
not adverse to taking hand in the game,
and say when business is not heavy they
could take full census of the city without
imposing much extra work on the letter
carriers.
The idea was suggested by an official who
does not wish his name used at present, and
saws a postofice census is taken in European
cities each year, with great success. He
says in London the letter carriers are started
out with their pouches of mail on a certain
Monday morning, and at each house on
their routes they leave a printed blank, to
be filled in BY each person who slept in the
house on Sunday night.
NO PEDIGREE WANTED.
Only about half dozen questions are
asked, and the long preamble about chronic
diseases and questions not having any bear
ing on the information at issue, are entirely
unknown. The idea of having the names
of the people who slept there on Sunday
night is to prevent the duplication of names.
Postmaster Mexican was asked yesterday
what he thought of the scheme, and in re-
ply said:
''It could be done very well, but not at
the present time. A number o. our carriers
are of, and the work is very heavy. 1 do
not know anybody that could take can
vass better than the letter carriers. They
know everybody on their routes, and they
! 81 hun
other class of men.
ave now have q list of nearly every
person in the city from IA years upward.
Each carrier has book which ne is re-
quired to keep, and in it, in alphabetical
order, is arranged the names of every person
who receives mail on his route. This list is
accurate, and as the people move about we
keep track of them. If a man moves from
one letter carriers route TO another the
change is made in both books. In this way
we are enabled to tell within a minute or
two where a letter can be delivered to any
resident of the city. 1t is not generally
known that we have this list, but we have.
How easy it would be for the carriers to
make a complete census. They would catch
almost every man, woman and child in the
city. Mr.. Oliver is doing the best he can,
but the men doing the work are not the best
fitted for it.
WHAT COLONEL HUDSON THINKS.
Colonel 7. j. Hudson, Assistant Post
master, said Yesterday, in speaking OF the
necessity of accurate census returns SO far as
the actual population is concerned: IAN
excellent plaa is that adopted by the Brit
ish Government. A census is taken of
every person who sleeps in each house on a
specified Sunday night. Several days De-
fore each letter carrier is provided with
blanks, one of which he leaves in every
house on his route. These blanks the house
holders must fill in completely and truth
fully, or suffer a heavy penalty. The tol-
lowing week the carriers gather up tine
flled-In blanks, and they are turned in to
the bureau in charge of the census"
Inspector McKelvy, of the Southside po-
lice district, thought that the patrolmen
could take the population census in one
day. There are 60 patrolmen on the South
side and each one could take his own beat
1t would require very short time to enter
house to ask how many males and females
resided there and then step to the next
house. Each policeman knows his beat and
the people living on 1t pretty well, and
would have no trouble in securing the de-
sired information.
Supervisor Oliver was in a comfortable |
frame of mind yesterday. The census re-
turns, he said, were coming in regularly |
and were being shipped to Washington. Mr.. |
Oliver believes that his enumerators are do |
ing good work. He finds fault in very few |
cases. He say that he only asks that the |
people will deler judgment until the work |
is finished. He declines to make guess at |
the population of Pittsburg. Anybody else, |
he says, can guess as well as he. The totals |
IL,
when all are in Mr.. Oliver will be able to |
give the figures.
THE LIST NOT COMING.
The Supervisor was asked Yesterday to |
furnish a list of the districts which have not |
been turned in and accepted as finished. He |
said that he had not the time to do it. as it
would require nearly an hour. Besides that,
he had other reasons for not giving such a
list for publication.
There have been great many complaints
because Marshal Harrah is at Williamsport
and does not deputize somebody here to
serve warrants for Supervisor Oliver. Three
warrants against persons who have refused
to answer questions put by the enumerators
are lying in the Marshal's Office. However,
they will be served to-day. Mr.. Oliver yes |
terday received a telegram from Marshal |
Harrah authorizing him to deputize some |
person as United States Marshal 10 serve |
the warrants. Word was at once com-
munlcated to United States Clerk Gamble, |
and he will have the deputy's commission |
ready this morning. Mr.. Oliver said that |
he would have some member of the Pitts |
burg police force commissioned as the |
deputy so that brass buttons might go be- |
hind the warrants.
Mr.. Oliver freely acknowledges that the |
time has been too short and the pay inad- |
equate for the census enumerators. He says:
al think it would have been better if the
enumerators had been paid SO much day,
and given premium jor getting over a GER
tain number OF names. In that case, of
course, they should be required to work SO
many hours day, say nine. 1t Is pretty hard
work for man to perform his work as an
enumerator and at the same time try TO run an
afternoon and morning paper. 1t will not be
necessary to devise any scheme for taking
census again. We will have it correct when
we have finished"
A WONDERFUL PHENOMENON.
A fieak struck the census Office yester-
day. young lady from the Southside
called to say that she was afraid she had
been put down too young. She was away from
home when the enumeraJor called on her aunt
She said she would come into possession Of a
neat little fortune when she became q, and
she thought that her aunt, who now has con-
troll of te legacy. was trying to make her
appear younger than sne really Is.
duruIurs OI dlsapproval can be heard on
every side in Allegheny. General dissatisfac-
tion is manifested by people in all walks OF
life The citizens unhesiI atingly condemn the
yorl, of the census takers tone of strong
condemnation pervades the remarks OF ALL
They declare the information acquired bY the
enumerators totally incomplete and unrelia-
bic.
Ex-Postmaster John A. Myler said: II have
not seen any census eDumeraTor yet who asked
me any questions. Whatever has been put
down as my record is not as thoroughly accurate