Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-10-20
Is NOW UNDER ROOF
Progress of the New Census Build
ing.
WILL Be COMPLETED BY JANUARY
The Directors Arrangement of the
interior.
SELECTION OF THE CLERKS

BY the beginning of the new year the new
nome Of the census office will have been
completed and by the LIST of February IL is
expected the building will be occupied
Already the building is under roof and
an excellent idea can be obtained of its
magnitude. The large ma jority of CLERKS
VIII be located in tie eastern end Of the
building. where there is free floor space
OF upward Of 50.00o square feet IL is the
intention of the director to use this room
for the clerical work of the census and
there will be about fifteen hundred clerks
housed in this room alone. Careful meas
urcment has been made. and Il is found
that this number can be readily taken care
of without danger of overcrowdiuE From
a hygienic point of view the building is ex-
oepaonally we'll adapted for the purpose to
which it is to be put. The Capitol grounds
give free sweep of air. and It is ;he !dea
of Director Merriam to augment this bv a
number of large electric fans. Excellent
facilities for lighting the building have
been made, and with free exposure on all
sizes. together with a glass rouf there is
no lear there will be a lack of light.
Administration Building Completed.
The administration building. which is two
stories high and located on street is
practically completed. and the workmen
The directors office will be I'm the south
east corner of the building. looking out
upon the Capitol grounds. On this floor
will be loca ed the al pontment divisl n. to-
gether with the chief clerk. the assistant
director and others Of the executive DEPART
ment The plan agreed upon 10y the direc-
tor Is an excellent one, 6nd thu entire *
ecutive force is in close touch with the
head of the bureau In fact, throughout
the new building the rooms have been so
q IRA god nd g.,
TO bring everything under direct super
vision.
Supervision of Clerks.
Take the main hall. for example where
the majority of the clerical force is to be
engaged. The space here is to be divided
into sections, and each section numbered.
About twenty-five clerks will constitute a
section, under the charge of a section chief,
who in turn is under the head Of that de-
rartmeat There will be floor walkers also
to see to it that the work of the office goes
along without interruption No luaiing will
be tolerated and hardness i'm reporting for
duty will b. summariy checked All the
clerks. in fact. all the employees. will pass
through one door to get into the buiidlng.
and there will be no slipping in after the .
o clock bell has sounded. There will be no
delay in getting to work. The building is
easy Of access. and the delay incident to
going up stairs will be avoided by the one
The room for the enumerators' sheets is
nearly completed ard is entirely fireproof.
Director Merriam insisted upon this fea-
ture of construction, since the destruction
of these returns would make it necessary
to begin all over again. As soon as the re-
turns come in they will be filed according
to states I'm this room. and when everything
is ready to begin the addition, there will be
plenty Of material on hand.
Cards for the Census
The contract for furnishing the cards
upon which the census is to be added has
been made. and it will cost SO. 900 for the
100000 600 which will be used. These cards
will not all be received at once. for the rea-
son that there is not room enough TO store
them. The clerks who are to operate the
Holerith machines will occupy the large
spacious room in the west wing of the
building: To the rear on the north front
Will be located the printing office and i'm
medately beside IL the big heating plant
which is to keep the clerks warm and run
the machinery.
Selection of Clerks.
While it is the purpose of the director 10
occupy the new building as soon as 1t is
completed, it does not follow by any means
that the large force of clerks to assist in
taking the census will be Immediately ap-
pointed. In fact, ii will not be uutil next
summer that any considerable number Of
clerks will be appointed. At the present
time 1t Is understood to be the object Of the
director to send in for appointme about
work of enumeration does not begin until
the first day of July, it is believed the ap-
polntment of the clerks a month in adj
vance means the desire of the officials to
properly train them. II will require at
least this length OF time to make the ma
chine operators expert, and as much de.
pends upon the accuracy Of the punchers
the wisdom of the director is apparent
Getting in the Returns
1t will cost 5000. 600 to get the returns
from the field into the census Office, and
there is no means Of even approximately
stating how much the twelfth census will
cost One thing is certain, however 1t will
be taken on economical basis The d.
rector has stated his position on several oc-
casions He says that he considers the
work incident to the taking of the next
census matter which should be conducted
as man would his private business, and
II Is his purpose to do the work as thor.
oughly and economically as he can Hs
does not mean by that that he will stint ex-
penditure to obtain results but that tbs
FUNDS OF the government will always be
properly protected.