The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-03-21

Ii Sprang Up Like Z Mushroom,
But win do Immense Work
SOME CURIOUS QUESTIONS.
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wonderful fInid aeeus. for the first time N
the history Of he world, the population al
! e1uutry win b. enumerated in the year OF
oar Lord i4D, snyx Washington dispatch
Three months from the present date the
census bureau vii hare thrown into the
fsstd A army al 1900 men. which VII
swssp ths United states clean of informa-
tton on prsfty nearly every Imaginable sub
net thst he's statistical bearing. Then
sieiuee d facts viii begin 70 pour into the
Two hugs ofzcss hare. where 1000 clerks
win b Indusariously engaged in sitting and
resolving shsm into ineligible shape
A. IL superintendent himself says.
the STORY told By the reports Of the agents OF
she bureau VII follow the least important
Individual In this vast land from the
cradle 20 the grsvc--nsy, more. from them
won can estimate your chances In 100 be-
fore you were born OF being twin or trip
lets. ana can calculate the probabilities
that wers in favor Of your turning ont .
boy or girl. They viii show that you had
only two chances ia three Of your suryfy-
ing your 6rst year OF lie, and from that
time ON they viii figure upon your lease OF
this suh3unary existence. until ~ length
the ehoulish compiler of the gathered fig-
tsbulstes you in his exhibit OF causes OF
death" Not content with discovering the
DAY and place OF your birth. the census
will insist upon knowing from what race
you are sprung, what your sex Is. and
where your mother and father were born
Also, IL win require Information as TO
whether you ere married, single. OF
divorced; how high above the sca-ievei you
live. In what great drainage-basin you
dwell. what the lowest degree OF cold may
be- from which you suffer In the winter.
how hot yon 6nd IL in the summer when
the Thermometer touches its top notch.
and how many other people live witk you
In the house.
Az for the house, you viii be compelled.
under penalty q tine OF 500. TO say
whether you own IL or not; il you do own
il. whether or not there Is = mortgage ON II.
and. supposing that there is one. the rea-
son Why you borrowed money on the prop
srty. The census 10 much Interested In
your private affairs, and II you have Alarm
around the house you will have TO tell sim
liar facts about that, even 70 the value OF
the COWS and the tools In the barn. All
this Is. merely the beginning. and
does not touch upon the great
subjects OF agriculture, manufactures,
mining, transportation BY land and
water. both OF people and OF freight.
fisheries, taxation and 50 on. all Of which
will b gone into In the most exhaustive
manner. the very processes employed in at
least twenty-five Of the manufacturing in
siustries, for instance. being given with the
fullest detail And yet all this mass Of in
formation win eventually be condensed
into about twenty-five volumes, which will
he entitled the Eleventh Census OF the
United states"
Now, how are Ill these facts gathered?
IL IL very simple, when the thing is once
explained. To begin with, the whole of
the United States In divided into It's dis
tricts. These districts are necessarily OF
varying sfsss. u being intended TO arrange
matsars % that the work to be done in any
one district shall be ~ nearly equal IS
possible 70 the lsbor required in any other.
For instance. Philadelphia II one district
and Massachusetts, Is another district
But then. the census Of the Bay state
viii not b more trouble than
that Of the Quaker city.
for the reason that Massachusetts takes q
census Of Its own every ten years. and the
machinery for that purpose Is already so
well organized there that the task will be
much simplifed. New York city is also .
district. and likewise Chicago; the four dis
tricts mentioned being the largest of all in
respect 20 population. Each district has .
person In charge Of IL entitled supervisor,
appointed by President Harrison. and
under each supervisor is . regiment of
enumcrators.
Ea~h .rurar~sor Il riw,r q tssti. ,lf.srs a.
Of his own, 10 arranged ss 10 contain from
! go 10 900 people. IL is his business 10
go personally 10 every family in his dis
sriet and Oil up the hank schedules given
him hy the supervisor with The informa-
ton he obtains from the households Wis
tied information. that is. ~ 20 the men,
hers which compose them in all the detail
o. 10 personal history. etc. before spoken
OF. He II allowed one month to do this
work. II IL Ii in rural parts, or two weeks
in case IL Is In city OF I0oor ar more, the
labor being mere easily accomplished
where people 1--we close together. In
payment for hts services be receives
cents for each 1.-Two person reported on
and cents for each dead person who has de-
parted this life At any time during this CEN
sns year from the FIRST OF next June 20 the
last day of the following MAY. The enume-
rator also gets iseents Tor each factory or In
s;itasion and ~ cents for each farm visited.
An entirely new departure in eensas-sakins
made this time Is IL providing enumcrators
with "lamily schedules keeping the infor-
nation about each household by itself
Finally the completed schedules are mailed
by The enumerators 10 the supervisor
Go whom they look a. thcii
ehfei. The supervisor is responsible
for the accuracy OF the schedules, and Il
they are lacking in any respect he sends
them back Ia ths enumerators but II shsy
are ali righ, he forwards them ~ the SUPER,
insendent Of the census st Washington
This work. vast as IL necessarily .scoysrs
not very much besides data IS 10 popuis
ton and vital statistics. The latter branch
al information il chiefly interesting a,
showing the age To which people live. ths
diseases from which they die and the ne.
lssios Of disease. and deaths Go races and
g. climatic conditions
Fer instance. especial inquiry IL TO h
frade regarding the Hehrews-ss 90 TIA
diseases. longevity and feeGndity OF Til,
race. whsch lives apart in the midst %
dense alien population. also. why thai
race produces greater percentage of rnalsa
in the whole number of ehgldrwa born thar
any ether, aud for what reason . largei
percentage 81 males among the Jews g-es
NJ. scsne difficulty Is expected. BY tn,
Nay. IN securing information regsriins
such matters from the Hebrews. some q
whom ali undoubtedly imagine that tbs
Inquiry has = religious bearing. As 4
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