Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-04-18


TEE COMPLICATION OF THE THNG-REooRprSa
STATISTICS By MAcHrNERY-soMK Frx TX
TRAcrED FROM A DRY BUSINESS
Such vast amount of work 10 still 70 be
done in the population division Of the census
bureau that it was deemed necessary BY Super
intendent Porter to detail a night force in this
division, and he has, since the LIST Of April APP
pointed more than eight hundred persons,
both men and women. as skilled laborers at
salary Of $50 per month. as operators on what
Is known as the electrical punching tabulating
machine, an invention that has to be
thoroughly understood before the genius
OF the inventor can be appreciated. Many
OF these appointees are Young women who have
been put on the day force in the places Of
young men who have been transferred to noe
turnal vlgils. The appointments were made
Tor period Of ninety days; but as q matter OF
lact they viii be operative much longer, be-
cause the work in hand is so enormous that IT is
beheyed It will be well into the fall ere il is
completed.
The new men, like those in other vacations.
are from all classes Of society, but the better
and more intelligent ones have been selected,
until, as a rule, they will compare favorably
win the average young business man. Some
are law students, earning the wherewithal 20
cnmo the ladder of fame. others government:
clerks, who apparently are never tired of
depicting the exchequer of Uncle Sam. while a
majority of them are attending school during
the DAY. The night force reports for
duty at the lnterocean building at
o:So pm, and, with an intermlssion
OIL hfteen minutes TO refresh the inner man,
work necessarily until ll:S0 p. m. They oc-
cupy the seats and take up the work where il is
left on by the day clerks, who are. as a rule.
young women. Newcomers when reporting for
duty the first night are likely to become dis
couraged at the ever-increasing intricacies of
the machine, and some have been known to
resign before being in the Office more than an
nour. squad OF new clerks are generally ac-
companied to remote part of the operating
room by instructors very gentlemanly and ex-
pert In the business) who apparently have be-
come Unfortunately enthusiastic over their
achlevements and knowledge of the queer
invention. The machine is about a foot in
length and half foot in breadth, and has a
plate full Of little round holes, every one Of
which Is as important as the other.
-, these little holes play conspicuous part in
tne presentation OF facts gathered by the
ubiquitous and much-abused census enumera-
tors. Attached to this machine is a long iron
bar with a handle, at the end of which is
piece OF steel just large enough to admit of its
being put into the holes. The bar is 80 con-
structed that it can be moved 10 any point on
and always visible to the operator is space
about six inches in length and three inches in
width, designed for the reception Of a paper
card
THE KEY BOARD.
The key board is divided into TWENTY-FIVE
AREAS" The first contains the answer TO the
enumerator's initial question as to whether YOU
were United States soldier, for which the alb
breviation ~. s. is given by letters next to
one Of the small holes In the same space are
abbreviations such as IN. o." if You were
not. &c. s." if a confederate soldier, and others
relating to the same question. The second
question asked by the enumerator is whether
you are the head of the family; il so, the
simple abbreviation lid" gives the informa-
tlon by inserting the steel bar INTO the adjoin-
ing hole and pressing it makes a little round
hole in the blank card, and SO it goes on over
the whole list Of questions, provision being
made for the recording Of every imaginable
answer.
Various arbitrary combinations Of letters are
devised to stand for different states and coun-
tries in which person NAV be born. Even for
person born at sea the authorities Of the CEN
sus office have devised designation. The
place OF birth of the parents is also punched
and other similar facts are recorded by means
OF these combinations.
AsrIcKISG PLACE.
Expert punchers are likely to start on a card
and punch away without taking their ewes from
the machine until the answer to the question of
occupation is reached. Then the operator
goes on a tour of inspection through the book
prepared by the census Office giving the thou
sands of different occupations which people
are engaged in, and the arbitrary symbols set
apart for each one.
Some OF the common occupations are dee-
ignated by symbols as follows: "Ad," farmer;
'.Ac," farm laborers; GIN for the army Of
clerks; .NGA," for housewives: 'NGC." chill
dren going to public schools: ''NGD." children
going to private schools; 'NGG," children
under nine years Of age not going to school;
''DA," lawyer; pc" carpenter; "AG."
painters, and thousands of others.
SOME FUN IN IT.
Let no one imagine that there are not pleas
ant phases Of the work, from which continual
fun is derived, not alone from the ridiculous
answers of the enumerators. but between the
different sets of clerks working at the same
machine. For a time the male clerk, who fin
ished punching at night and who is succeeded
into the little drawer attached to each desk
message to the fair, giving a brief
resume of the trials and tribulations
experienced by the operator that night and
suggesting some intimation from her. however
slight, as to how the difficulty might be over
come. In many cases notes are exchanged be-
tween the male and female (entirely unknown
to each other) OF a tender nature, and which
are, as a rule, answered in the same strain.
THEY WERE SEPARATED.
One young fellow who had been assigned to
q certain machine for a week having been
cruelty removed and detailed to another, the
party who succeeded him, on opening the
drawer of the desk. found no less than half q
,oflaa Of III a ,fara otar ihaI