The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1900-05-02
CENSUS NOVELTIES.
Director Merriam Speaks Of New Methods
in Counting Noses.
Ne,rs and Courier.

here that my own opinion is that
many of the estimates for the total
population Of the country are consid.
erably exaggerated. l shall be very
much surprised if the enumeration
gives us more than $4,000, 900 Of peo.
pie and the total may not exceed
73,OOO,OOO
"Wc shall spend more money on
cnumerators and supervisors than
! ever before, giving them better pay.
This seems advisable because we have
got to depend upon them for the bot.
tom facts upon which the census is
based. Last time in some of the
States the enumcrators did not aver.
age more than $3.50 per day, but
think it desirable that the pay shall
not fall below $3.50. Generally speak.
ing, it is not possible to get good
work for poor wages. The supervis.
ors, of course, pick out the enumera-
tors and are responsible for the ac-
curacy Of their work. Perhaps the
most important branch of the whole
census business is the data relating to
manufactures and mechanical pur.
! suits, and in these lines our investi-
CATION will be much more thorough
and more satisfactory than in previ.
Gus censuses. About three hundred
supervisors, in charge Of as many cen
sus districts, will choose $4,000 emu.
mcrators, who will be instructed
through the supervisors.
"The $4,000 enumerators will sweep
the country of facts and throw them
in bucket loads, as it we're, into the
Office in Washington, where 1000
clerks will sift them and resolve them
into Ineligible shape. When the
facts are reduced to final shape each
human being il the country will be
represented by card, punched holes
IN various arts of which will indicate
race, sex, ago, conjugal condition,
condition, birthplace, occupation,
years of residence in the United
States, etc. These cards are punched
by machines somewhat resembling
typewriters, 1000 of which are opera
ted simultaneously, SO that all of the
cards will be prepared inside of four
months. So thin are they that / 900
of them are required to make an inch
in thickness, but if all of them were
piled one on top Of another, the stack
would be nine miles high, and would
weigh 200 tons.
"The cards, when finished, are fed
into machines which count the various
holes by the closing Of corresponding
electrical circuits. Each hole means
8 particular fact, and, when ali OF the
cards representing 9 CENSUS district
have passed through G machine, nj
automatic record shows exactly how
many native born white males of vot-
ing age thore are in that district, as
we'll as greet variety Of other data
relating to the population. This is
what is called counting by electricity,
and it is an immense improvement
over the old method both in respect
to accuracy and rapidity. The ma
chine never makes mistake, and it
never gets tired, OF is out Of sorts.
If card that is not completely and
properly punched is put into the ap-
paratus it refuses to work.
1t costs about ten cents head to
take census Of people. Of course,
in the twelfth census We shall emu
mcrate the populations and gather
facts regarding the products Of Alaska
and the Hawaiian Islands. A good
deal of money we shall save by the
concentration of tho working force
under one roof. The business Of the
census was distributed among
nine or ten buildings. scattered all
over Washington, and the srrasga-
ment was not at ail satisfactory.
Now we have the entire working force
in single building, constructed spe-
cially.for the purpose. Out of the
10000 employees perhaps 1900 will
be women, nearly all Of whom will be
occupied in Office work.
The earliest census OF which there
is any record is said to have been
taken in China in the year 2O42 3. G.
Periodical enumerations Of the people,
with the amounts of their taxable
property or income. were made in
Athens long before the Christian era,