Weekly graphic. [volume] (Kirksville, Adair Co., Missouri) 1880-1949, 1890-02-07
Washington Letter.
February 3,rd 1890.

February 3,rd 1890.
In FIVE story building at the
corner of third and G Sts., in this
city is located that adjunct of the
Department of the Interior known
as the Census Bureau. The build
ing was designed and is intended
for an apartment house, or flats,
but it has, in its still unfinished
condition, been laid hold of by the
Government and converted into
quarters for the Superintendent of
the Census, Porter, and his hun
dreds of assistants.
At one end of the building the
carpenters, plasterers, and trimers
fnishers are still at work, while,
passing through the narrow cor
ridors and in and out of the many
small rooms, at the other end, one
hears the click of the typewriter
and sees hundreds of clerks at
work on huge piles of blanks of
every size, style and description,
These, when complete, are bound
into convenient form, printed and
sent to the enumerator and collect
or of statistics in every part of
the broad land, to be used in gath
aring the information from which
the census is compiled. When
complete, these books duly certi-
fed, are returned to the Office
here, and the facts and figures
they contain are arranged. c.assi-
fed and printed, and then the cen
sus for 1890 will be complete.
Yes, said Superintendent Por-
ter, the work is we'll under way,
and we expect to begin the num-
bering of the people, as did Moses
of old, in a short time. Few re-
alize, however, what an undertak-
ing it is to take a census as it is
taken to-day. Its prime object is
to find out how many people there
are in the United States and her
Territories, but this is very
small part of the work that will
be done by the Census Bureau.
Every thing about man, in fact,
his number, his race, his color,
his occupation and how and where
he lives, what he eats, wears and
drinks, when he dies, and why in
fact every thing that can be reduc-
ed to a basis of fact and figures
will be included, and it is safe to
say that if the census when CON-
plated, be not cyclopedia of uni
versal Information, it will not be
the fault of Mr.. Porter, who has
so ably planned the work before
him.
The impression is steadily gain
ing ground that the Worlds Fair
Project will not materialize after
all. New York has refused to ap-
propriate the necessary money for
it should that city be selected as
the site. Chicago has been sat
down on in the House Committee.
st. Louis seems to have realized
that her efforts have not resulted
in more than marching her dele
gates up the hill and marching
them down again. Washington
has always depended on a Con-
gressional appropriation, which
the Conventional kicker would
surely kill, and so it would
seem that what might have been
a grand National and Interna-
tlonai affair, is nothing more than
an unmaterialized idea of several
great American cites.
On Monday next Washington
will have a Negro National Con-
vention. Delegates are arriving
from every quarter, and their
prominent leaders are seen every
where. Pinchback, Langston,
Turner and Bruce happy in his
recent appointment to the twenty
thousand dollar position of Re-
corder of Deeds are here. Min
listers OBJ de Gospel and other high
ly respectable and respected gen
tlemen of color ale arriving by
every train. Just what it all
means seems to be matter of con-
lecture, even among the dole
gates themselves. 1t was told in
to the writer that, among
the things to be deliberated on
is the question of party spells,
ard the shameless way in which
the Negro has been treated in the
division thereof by this Admins