The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-07-22
SAN FRANCISCO'S RANK.
Some Interesting Compare
sons With Eastern
Cities.
WHAT THEIR RATIOS SHOW.
Using New York and Chicago Esti-
mates, This City Has Half
Million.

New York and Chicago are having an ar
gument over their respective populations,
lust now, as interesting in its way as the
Horr- Harvey financial debate. Chicago
has the best of the argument so far, and
rolls up a maximum population we'll in ex-
cess of Q OO0, 900, while New York contents
itself with slightly less as the aggregate
sum total of its children.
The bases upon which the great cities of
the East build their population estima tes
are similar to those in use here, school
censuses, directory figures and registra-
ton returns, but the deductions are some
what startling. If San Francisco will
adopt the same multiples as her Eastern
sisters use, she will have no further need
for the Half-million Club. or rather for the
single purpose which gave the Half-mlllion
Club its name.
In the new directory just issued in
Chicago there appears 507, 800 names, which
causes the Chicago Times-Herald to re-
mark:
"Chicago's population at the present
time is greater than that OF any other city
in the United States. Chicago is the
metropolis of the country and on careful
calculations based on the number OF names
in the new directory has more than =, 000,-
600 population"
The Times Herald begins by allowing
three and one-half persons to each name,
thus giving a population of /, 1850. This,
it is declared, is manifestly too small. The
Times Herald adds that New York uses
five instead of three and one-haf as the
multiple. The same paper uses 0.9 as the
ratio of population to each vote cast, and
as POI, 1877 votes were cast In recent cleo
ton, obtains population OF 2, 34, 664. The
TlmeS-Herald strikes mean between the
two and considers it established that Chi
oo6.
The new city directory of New York con-
tains 800, 12S names, which causes the New
York World to say: eff the proportion OF
five to one, which is usually accepted IN
computations of population based on direc-
tory data be correct, the population of New
York City, less the newly annexed por-
tions, is 1895, $40, or very little short of
round 1900, 600. Inclusive of the newly
annexed towns it is, of course, consider
ably more than that number"
Following the last Federal census gross
frauds were discovered in returns from sew
eral Eastern cities. 1t was known that the
populations had been padded, while inves-
legations set afoot in this City showed that
San Francisco had been credited with
less population on paper than existed in
fact.
| 1t has been customary of late for San
! Francisco to claim a population of about
$4,000. Using the directory ratio, which
obtains in Chicago, the population of this
City is 455,00O. Taking the ratio which
| forms the estimate in New York the popu-
lation would reach $685. 900. With the ratio
of 8.9 to each vote cast which Chicago
| claims as a correct estimate, if adopted
would give this City population OF
| $4,000.
Of late Buffalo, Pittsburg and Cleveland
have advanced the claims that they had
passed San Francisco in the race for nu-
merical supremacy. None of these cities
show a population in excess of 350 900,
using the ratio which places San Francisco
in the half-million class. Were New York
to adopt the directory ratio with which
San Francisco made its estimate of 100000
inhabitants that city would have a popu-
lation of but loo, 900, or more than 30O,O 600
less than the census of five years ago al
lowed.
There are two conclusions: If San Fran
cisco has a population of but $50, 900 the
great centers of the East have populations
from one-fourth to one-third less than they
claim. If the larger ratios are correct then
San Francisco has passed the half-miliion
mark-has left the class in which Cincin-
natl, Cleveland, Pittsburg and Buffalo be-
long, and ranks with Boston and st. Louis.