The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-12-25
Cdlsif1g the Cuban Census.
Thrilling and Amusing Adventures of the Enumera
Will Show Much Larger Population Than Sup
poSed--Women EnumeratOrS Chosen.

a deep brown canvas bag in which he
carried his. portfolio of blanks. a bottle
Of ink, pens and blotting pads. Those
in the country rode horseback, visiting
every little matched hut in the land
Down in the southern part of the prov
ince of Santa Clara there is a great
swamp known as the Lapata marsh.
The enumeration to- whom this district
fell reported while / was at MatanZas
He limped from a severe wound in his
leg where he had been bitten by an
alligator and he reported that in his
journeys through the deep everglades
he had been forced TO kill twenty-five
alligators that disputed his way. Here
he found natives who had not heard of
the closing of the war with Spain. and
some of them had never heard of
America and the Americans. In Pinar
del Rio an enumeration, found a settle
ment of nearly 900 persons ''engrooved
! in the mountains" as he expressed it,
entirely out. of touch with the outside
world, living on plantains and sweet
potatoes and governing themselves in
a sort of primitive republic. An almost
unheard of settlement among the
mountains of Santiago puzzled the
enumerators far more than anything
/ else. The people were not Cubans nor
! SpaniardS nor negroes, but Indians, the
only remnant left of the once powerful
tribes which inhabited the island when
Columbus discovered America. They
are few in number and shy, and they
live in the most primitive manner.
Hard to Decide Color Question.
The blanks used were exceedingly
simple. They were three in number, all
{ headed, Censo de la fsfa de Cuba bajo
Ia Direction de los Estados Unidos'-
Census of the Island of Cuba under
the Direction of the United States''
The first dealt with population, the sec
ond with schools and the third with
agricultural statistics. The population
blank contained spaces being. devoted
TO the usual questions as to place, of
residence, name of person, color, sex,
age and whether married or single
OF these auctions that of color wat
the most difficult. The enumerators
made three classifications = white.
meStizo and black-but if there are
three colors of complexion in Cuba
there are hundred. Moreover the
blacks wanted to be mestizos and the
mestizos white. Score of times a black
negro would answer the question.
What color are you," with the an
swer white
But you are black-you are a
negro" the enumerator would insist.
No, we are free: didn't we fight to
be white men? We are independent
white men"
And no amount of persuasion could
persuade him that he waszlot really
white man." and the enumerator put
him down black in spite of himself.
The inquiries as to nativity and oci
cupation were easily answered, but that
OF citizenship came very hard. Three
divisions are given in the blank
Cuban, Spanish or suspense" in sus-
nenSa tn fhaCn q +n,- a.
xtranjero''-strange or foreigner. 1t
is often difficult to know just where
the dividing line comes between Span
lardS and sCubanS, and in the present
bitterness of feeling, the difficulty is
doubled. Besides that. many Span
iards have not yet registered their in
tention of remaining Spanish subjects
They are, therefore, "in suspense
Others call themselves Cubans. These
classifications of citizenship have been
watched very closely by the Cubans, for
the "suspensas' may play an import
ant part in the elections, when they
take place.
School and Sanitary Questions.
Very close attention was also given
TO the educational questions Where
there was any doubt as to the ability
of a person to read or write, the emu
merator was instructed to test him in
the writing of sentence, not contain
ing his name, and in reading some
simple paragraph. 1t is hoped, there
fore, that the statistics as to literacy
viii be absolutely accurate. The last
department of the population blank
was devoted to sanitary conditions and
consisted of these questions:
Origin OF the water used?"
What do you do with your gar
bage?"
Conditions of closets?''
If these three questions are fully
answered, the result will be some very
startling facts about Cuban home con-
ditions, some of which shocked the Of
ficers who tried to clean Santiago in the
early days after the war.
The school statistics blank is also
likely to reveal the sad condition Of
Cuban education. II is simple enough.
requiring the name and situation OF
the school. Whether public, private or
religious, whether the pupils live in
the building or outside, the capacity,
the number of teachers, the number
and color of the pupils, whether white,
negro, mestizo or Chinese, the number
Of days schooling last year and the
average daily attendance. There are
very few, if any school houses in Cuba,
the schools being held in the homes
of the teachers or elsewhere, and the
iiSlTucllOIl DeluS very lnedSer.
The statistics gathered on the agri-
cultural blanks-of the sugar and cof-
fee estates. the number of cattle and |
horses and SO on-will be valuable COM |
mercially, and. there is good reason TO |
believe that they were conscientiouSly |
collected.
Cubans We're Good Penman.
Indeed, the work of the enumerators |
was thoroughly done throughout More |
slowly, perhaps, than Americans would !
have done it, and yet it was not |
dragged out unduly 10 decrease the SAL
airy allowance. for there were many
enumerators in Havana, Santiago and |
the other cities. who completed their
districts in five or six days and turned
in their blanks complete. On the other
hand, some of the country enumerators,
where the roads were impossible with
mud and the jungle was thick, hardly
finished in six weeks. To show that the
work was conScientiously done in one
case, at least, know that the enumer-
ator came to the hotel in Santiago
where / was stopping five or six times
to see personally and get the names of
every guest, their age, nationality, and
80 on, although nearly all of them were
'extranjeros." And heater penmanship
han that of .he schedules all over
Cuba was never seen anywhere. The
schooled Cuban, especially the Cuban
woman. is a born penman, and some of
he filled blanks were as clean and
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