The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-05-01
WITH THE q. s CENSUS ENUMERAT0Rs.

. correction. An incident which occurred
during the fass cexxssxs will illustrate An
sr1isa~ratu haG reported certain persons
"a blind sn ono eye A few weeks Later
the sEunssratFsv received letter from the
census bureau. asking HIM 10 Designate
Which sys was blind He had d little
t-Osnis in one instance. and 80 he went
10 the woman S sor-in-iaw- but he looked
blank and could not gsse the answer. Then
the enumeration asked the wonsan's daagis-
Tar and she settled tie sexe6 question 1,
was TIE left eye, and shs fact was hastily
forwarded To Washington for fear the
eerssus would be a failure without tfsas
particular biz ef information
The work Of taking shs census Is under
the general direction If the department CT
the sufSrio. Th< superintendent Is ap-
pointed by President Mckinney. subject TO
confirmation by the senate His salary is
9g.s6 per year There are ~ supervisors.
whose duties consist in overseeing sne
enumeration In the different states and
territories. Ti1ey employ the enumeratu-s
and assist them In their work. The i1w-
est anaouut paid to any supervisor Is 8 sd,
and lrs many INSTANCES ss amounts &c more
because o. percentage provision in the
census art.
caal agents get Information from such IN
situations asyiums. penffensiarses and
large manufacturing establishments. Spe-
eiat agents are paid fixed salaries ranging
compensation % enume-asors is governed
entirely by the amount Of work done.
Sometimes they are paid by the day. The
rate OF pay n a. follows. For each living
innabitant enumerated cents. each death
reported. = cents; each farm, IL cents:
each productive industry. 70 cents suryiy-
Ing soldier. sallos. marine widow Of
such. cents. AS near as can be esti-
mated, each enafuerator Is restricted to
q subdivision containing not over 900 In
hanitants The census act requires the
superintendent and supervisors 30 observe
the commonly recognized boundaries and
divisions in states In dividing up the ter
ritory into divisions ant. subdivisions. This
point IL quite pertinent BOW In view OF the
little discussion that is going on with re-
gard To whether Washington shall be d.
vitied north and south or east and west
Law and precedent favor 1.-THE mountains
as the dividing line.
The regulations governing the employ
msut o. enlnrrafors resluir. specifically
atsat their selection shall be governed by
ability and DOT 10y parry affiliations. Ex-
csptiusss are made III favor Of men who
nave served ia the army navy. but
even tIien ability Is the test IL the
cffoiee rests between two men OF equal
qaaincasicnA one an ex-soiller ct sailor
In the navy and the other a civilian OF
course tho civilian must step back The
late war with Spain Will give d lot Of
young fellows the advantage in tins re-
spec, and this fact will doubtless have
eiinnieraiors. Women are eligible In
deed, during the taking Of the eleventh
census sos1se Of the record DredA ing
enlmrratofs Were spry young women
The special requirements fer success ia
q woman inqnisitor are that she mast be
lean and not overly good looking A fat
wafnaD will do Very We'll III chasing CLASH
cal young men. but they will never stic-
coed as eIllsnsrasors In Seattle because
VI ,k.e bills.
Ten years ago the government had q
ge0d deal U trofeie with Incompetent
erumerators biit this time the superln-
process Of natural selection by way OF
civil service examination, In which nat
urtd and acquired ability will weigh tons
IN deciding who snail be employed. super-
intesident Merriam is making a hobby of
this feature. the same as Superintendent
Porter made hobby Of war veterans and
mortgages Ia the eleventh eensas. As
the delegation from tubs state de-
cides who they will recommend for super
vssors u census In Washington, II is pre-
sunleG Gen. Merriam will Issue ii general
proclamation outlining mis- policy with re-
gard 10 the employ in~nt os enumerators
afd other important matters.
Whise the Washington delegation has
the question os supervisors mp for consii-
GRAFTON. IL might DC Well for them to make
q few suggestions 10 the superinEe ndenf
aeoAt certain questions that should not
be Inserted in the schedule. The super
interGeut viii undoubtedly want to dc
something sfsar his predecessor either for
Eot or failed to DO and thus Ees to himself
8 name, and In his efforts TO make q rec
ord may have the Seattle enufnerasors ask
sestne questions ina, may he "a little en-