New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-05-07

About sixty clerks were employed in them. The
larger part of the force occupied the larger and
outer room and was known as the enumeration
division. This force WAS under the supervision OF
f. A. Cnderhill, the chief enumeration, and Spencer
p Jones. his assistant. A number Of tables Occu-
picd this room, at which the clerks sat, and the
force at each table was presided over by chief
and an assistant chief. The work done at all
these tables consisted in examining the rolls sent
in by the eection-district enumerators, and in
counting and classifying the population as therein
reported
The rolls were classified and arranged so as to
he easily referred to- All around the room ex-
tended q series of racks divided into sections al
phabetically arranged according to the names Of
the counties Each county had its own section.
And as each county is geographically divided into
townships, so each section appropriately
marked off, and every electon-district return from
each township of each county, or ward Of city,
had it's own separate and particular pigeon-holc.
There were also pgeon-holes for the returns Of
inmates Of charitable and penal institutions, and
each separate pgeon-hole in every rack was ap-
propriately labelled. The returns consisted Of
sheets of paper fastened together, containing the
names of the population Of each election district,
together with description Of each person as to
age, sex. color. race and occupation and as TO his
Or her citizenship or alienage. After each name
the letter "C' or the letter A" appeared, writ
ten by the enumerator and indicating that the
name was that OF citizen or an alien, us the
case might be-
MAKING THE vERIFTCATIoNS.
Attached to the return, sometimes by means OF
paste, but generally by means OF pin, was
sheet of paper containing the enumeratOrs aft
davit This affidavit was independent of the re-
turn itself, and generally easily detachable. The
returns were distributed to the clerks, given
county at time and it was their work TO count
the number Of aliens, the number of citizens and
the whole number of Inhabitants which, Of course.
was made up Of the two elements just mentioned.
They made record of their count upon three
separate cards furnished by the bureau. These
cards were of different colors. The number Of
citizens was reported on blue card, Of aliens on
O. yellow, and the whole number of inhabitants
on brown card. The work Of computing the
number of citizens or of aliens. or the whole
number of inhabitants as shown in given return
was usually performed by different persons. One
clerk would count the citizens. Then the return
would be passed to another clerk who would
count the aliens, and finally the same return
would 90 to third person who would count the
whole number of inhabitants.
Each of these clerks was required before enter
ing the result of his work upon the card TO
verify it himself. That is, if it was his duty TO
count the aliens. having counted them, he would
then count the whole number Of inhabitants; he
would then subtract the number Of aliens from
the whole number of inhabitants and make note
of the remainder; then he would count the num-
Der of citizens, and if that number was Identical
with the remainder, as noted, he would assume
his work to be correct and would enter it upon
his card. An example of the printed matter OIL
one of these cards follows:
QUEENS COUNTY.
Iowh
LIeCtion DlStiiO"
No. of citizens. ...............................
Computed
Verified Observation-Disclosures.
When the three cards for each election district
reached the veriGer and were found by him to
balance properly, he assumed that the work Of
the accountants had been correctly performed
But if the number Of citizens plus the number
of aliens did not equal the whole number Of in
habitants, it was the duty of the verifer person
ally to examine the original return OF which
those cards were the alleged record. and to dis
cover the accountants error and to correct 1t.
The rolls, returns. having been thus counted
and the result of the count having been taken
of upon these sets of cards. were permanently
kept, each in its several pigeon-hole, and were
supposed to be thereafter used only for reference
as OCCASION might require The fur
tier work Of the enumeration de-
pended, therefore. entirely on the cleo
ton district cards And these, having been in all
cases duly verified were taken into the inner
downstairs room. where smaller force of clerks
grouped and arranged them by townships and
counties, or wards and cities. and from them
computed the population of the township and
of the wards then of the counties and of the cities
then of the counties including the cities, and
finally of the entire State.
This was the theoretical scheme, but not, as
will appear, the actual practice