Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1895-04-11
POLICE TAKING THE CENSUS.


Some People Refuse to- Answer Questions
and Others Poke Fun at the Police, But
the Work is Going along Very WE'LL
The police commenced to take the census
of the city yesterday and with few
exceptions the people promptly answered
the questions asked. The only place
where any trouble occurred was over
Eleventh street bridge. Patrolman Schell
who is canyassng this district, reported to
Supervisor Dougherty that some of the
people refused to answer the questions,
and when pressed would say, . don't
know" The only way the officers will
be able TO obtain the number of people in
the houses where their questions would
not be answered, will be by getting the
information from neighbors.
A reporter of THE GAZETTE spent
about ali hour in the morning with PATROL
man Lucas while he canvassed the block
bounded by Front, Market Second and
King streets. The officer had very little
trouble i'll obtaining answers to his ques-
tions and no one refused to answer. This
district is mainly inhabited by foreigners
principally Jews and Italians. At one
house the officer found an Italian girl, Is
years old and married. She is employed
in morocco factory, while her husband,
who is about 30 years old, does not work.
The following are few of the questions
asked by the officer: What is the number
of this house?' Are all the people who
live here white if not how many are col
ored?" "How many children are there
under six years of age. and how many of
them are boys and how many girls?"
Elbow many boys and how many girls be-
tween 9 and IA years old?" How
Ii and 2i?'' "How many women
and men are there over q years of age2'
do any OF the children between and II
years old work, and how many" 1t also
requires number of other questions to
obtain the figures. such as Does that in
clude servant girls?" This includes
boarders and all the family2" etc.
The officer himself came in for good
friends. One man said, "Oh, amt you
got snap. Why don't you go TO work "
Say. you can sleep now on the coal box
at the cerner.n Put down your little
figures, Georaien "Hsv, young fellow,
what We doing with the book Are you
in the insurance blz?" Say, how do you
like collecting"
The method of taking the census is as
follows: Each morning the officers at !
o'clock take the work in hand. Chief
SUPERVISOR Howgate and Dougherty have
charge Of the men and they detail them to
the work. The officer canvasses one full
block and then goes to the next on his dis
trict. At night the books are turned into
the supervisors and the next morning
handed back to the officer, so that he may
continue the work. The street sergeant:
watch the work of the officer, to see that
he does not miss any OF the houses.
The idea of taking the census is to obtain
| the exact number OF persons living in vii
mington aud also sec how many children
between the ages of 6 and IA years work
| Some of the advocates of compulsory edu
cation claim that there are about l0,00J
children between and II years old. thai
do not go to school, and that the majority
of them work. In the block bounded by
Front, Second. Market and King streets
which is thickly populated and in which
there are many children, there were founc
only three persons under II years of agt
working, ont Of IS boys and girls between
land il who live in the block. Two d
those working were servant girls, while tn,
other was boy, helping in his brother
barber shop. BY side questions. it wa
learned that over 40 per cent OF the othe
children attended school.