Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-05-08
HODGSON6 BURNETT

mineral regions, and the huts OF those
who gain their livelihood by fishing.
And then the people that those enumera-
tors will meet All sorts and conditions
of men and women will answer the thirty
questions on the population schedule,
and IL the census taker is only an OBJ
serving man, how many queer and inter-
esting experiences he might relate.
"Surely, you have a big job, - hear
my youthful reader remark. Yes, it is a
big job to take the census of a country
with 65, 900, 900 of population, especially
if it be taken on the scale required by the
congress of the United States. 1t takes
lots of organization and a good deal OF
money. 1t must be done rapidly, and
everything has to be in readiness, SO that
at the tap of the drum on the morning
set for counting the people every one is
ready to do his share of the work.
1t should be remembered that the CEN
sus Office is not permanent bureau of
the government, but an impromptu
branch of the interior department, or
ganiZed under the direction of an officer
called the superintendent of census for
the express purpose of doing this work.
The superintendent of the eleventh CEN
sus began his work on the morning of
April II, 1889, having been appointed
by the president of the United
States, in accordance with the provisions
of an act of congress, approved
March /, 1889, for taking the eleventh
and subsequent censuses. On that day
the census office consisted of a superin-
tendent, clerk. one messenger boy,
two desks, a ream of white paper and
box or two of official envelopes and sun
dry other stationary. To-day the census
Office employs 500 clerks, 500 special
agents and 175 supervisors. Next
June the census force win consist of
40 900 enumerators, 1000 clerks and
probably 1000 special agents. Then it
will gradually decline until the last re-
port has been printed, when the superin-
tendent and the small force then
around him will fold their tents and
silently pass away, and become merely
an infinitesimal part of the great popula-
ton which they have enumerated.
''Thls Is interesting and attractive,
but how is it all done?' elbow do you
90 about it?' "Where do you begin?'
Those are some of the questions 1 hear
my young friends asking. Have patti
ence, and you shall have the story from
beginning to end.
Take down map of the United States
and divide the several states into districts
containing say about half a million pop
ulation each, according TO the census of
1880. OF course, you will not be able to
do this in states where the population is
less than 500, 900. So you will have to
give all such states one supervisor, IS the
large expanse of territory in the majority
of such cases more than makes up, SO far
as the work Is concerned for the
lack of population. The census law
allows It's supervisors, who are ap-
pointed by the president and confirmed
by the senate in the same way as the
superintendent is appointed. The coun-
try having been thus "districted - as 1t
is called, and the supervisors for the
several districts appointed, the main
office in Washington has direct repre-
sentative, as it were, in every section of
the country. As it devolves upon the
superintendent of the census to divide
the whole country into supervisors dis
tricts, so, in turn, must the supervisor
subdivide the district into what are
called enumerators' districts, and Sub
NIT that subdivision to the main Office in
Washington, where it is approved by the
geographer of the census and returned to
Inc SuD6EN3SOTy WIZ WILL Lu6u udhS Lue
selections of enumerators.
The enumerator's district varies in
size, according to the character of the
population. Thus, in the thickly popu-
lated quarters of large city an enumer-
ator can take a much greater number of
names than he can in a sparsely popu-
lated district of one of the Western or
Southern states. While this work OF d.
viding the country into supervisor dis
tricts and then subdividing them into
enumerator districts is going on the large
force in Washington, under the direo-
ton of the superintendent, is preparing
the schedules, blanks and circulars, to
be used by the enumerators. The prin-
cipal schedule, of course, is the popula-
ton schedule, of which no less than
&c ZOO, 900 will be required. The
paper alone for this single requisI-
ton would fill about a hundred
freight oars. The mere printing of this
schedule, with all the facilities of the
government printing Office, will proba-
bly, take sixty days. There are thirty
questions on the population schedule,
framed with q view of finding out the
full Christian name of every person in
the United States; their surname;
whether a soldier, sailor or marine dur
ing the civil war, or widow of such per-
son; the relationship of the person TO the
head of the family; whether they are
black or white, mulstto, quadroon, oo-
taroon, Chinese, japanese, or Indian;
their sex; their age; whether single,
married, widowed, or divorced; place of
birth of the person; also the place of
birth of father and mother in the
case of foreign born; number of years
in. the United States: whether nat
papers have been taken out;
trade or occupation; if en-
gagged in the gainful occupations, months
during the census year; if
attending school, the number Of months
of such attendance; whether able to read
and to write; and, If person OF foreign l
birth, whether able to speak English.
Also for the purpose of ascertaining the
number who are disabled from their or
binary employment by reason OF acute
disease or by reason Of chronic lung dis
ease or consumption, or from injuries,
such IS fractures, etc.; the name of dis
ease and length of time affeoted; also,
defective in mind, sight, hear
ing or speech; OF whether crippled,
MANNED or detormed; whether a paisoner,
convict. homeless child or paupers.
In addition to the population schedule,
the enum orator carries with him on his
rounds what is termed q Especial sched-