The evening times., 1900-01-10
THE CENSUS ENUMERATORS.
How Those in Eastern cities Are to
Collect Figures.

| How Those in Eastern Cities Are to
Collect Figures.
This week instructions will be given to
| the supervisors having in charge the CEN
! sus enumerations of New York and Boston
| as to the method adopted by the Director
| for including absentees in the enumera-
| tion of the coming summer The plan was
drawn up by Mr.. Hunt in the Census Of
| flee, and then submitted in its first draft
! to several prominent statisticians for their
! criticism which resulted in a few slight
notifications. In the main, the plan is as
Mr.. Hunt first prepared it,
Each enumerator will be supplied with a
| street book when he sets out on his
! days work. This book is made up from
| the street charts of the insurance COM
! panies. which in all the larger cities are
kept very accurately up to date, and even
| in the smaller ones are allowed to fall
! only a few months behind at any time
! At the head of each page will be the num-
! Der of the supervisors district, the num-
Der of the enumeration district, and the
/ name of the street. Down the left-hand
! side of the page the numbers of the houses
| and of the lots on which houses are ex-
! pected to stand are inscribed serially, with
| spaces opposite each number for showing
! the character and uses of the building,
the number of families resident in II. the
number of persons etc. This book will be
separate, of course, from the blanks in
which details are written concerning the
several families and their members; il is
intended chiefly as a check upon the emu
meration, TO show its completeness. and
to furnish a guide for any later investiga-
tion which it may be found necessary TO
make.
The enumerator who has, for instance. X
Street from No. 251 to No. 500 writes
opposite No. 25l a memorandum that ii is
q dwelling containing one family of seven
persons. On his detailed blank he will
have the name of each of the persons COM
posing the family, the relation OF each to
the head of the family, the occupation of
each, and the other customary data.
Opposite No 253 he will write. perhaps,
vacant lot" Corresponding 10 this,
naturally. there will be no entry on his de-
tail blank Opposite Nos. 255 and 257,
bracketed jointly, may be the memorandum.
apartment house" and the number OF
families occupying it, with the number of
persons composing these families. On the
detail sheet these persons will be grouped
by families Further down the block-say
at No 261-there will be an entry, office
building Now. an office building is not a
residence building in the ordinary sense.
yet tucked away in some part OF the top
story may be a janitor's family of five or
six persons.
But the enumerator who gets only .
cents name. may not be disposed to exert
himself Over-much in running down what
may prove 10 be false scents; so, If he |
puts his head in at the door and asks the |
first man he sees whether anybody lives |
in that building and is answered in the |
negative. he is liable to enter on his book, |
no families and no persons. So he will 90 |
through his series.
At the supervisors office, when the |
enumerators report is turned in, com |
parison with the insurance plat will show |
very promptly whether the enumerator has [
honestly recorded the character OF each /
building or lot. In the case of an apart
ment- house or hotel if his report shows
twelve families but his detail sheet ac
counts for only nine OF these, he may
either make the others good by a subse-
quent visit or a special agent Will be sent
to the place and get the particulars of the
three missing families who presumptiye-
ly were out of reach OF the enumerator
when he called.
The same revision will probably be made
in the case OF once buildings ana Inc ike.
In the case of houses found closed, the |
is supposed TO ask the near
est police officer or some OF the neighbors
for the name of the householder. II he can
ascertain the business address OF this per-
son as well he does that also if not. he
tries TO learn his occupation, so that the
city directory will furnish a clue. 1t will
hen be his privilege, if he desires il, 10
hunt up the householder and ascertain the
particulars as TO his family. turning in the
report thereon at > cents a head; or il
he does not feel that this will pay him,
special agent will undertake it.
Something like this plan would proba
1ly have been put into operation with the
,ensus of 1890 if there had been time The
rouble with that census. apart from its
covering pretty nearly every subject under
he sun and being turned to political uses !
vas the hurried manner in which all tho I
work had to be laid out, owing to the |
ateness Of the passage of the act I
it. This year there is an
bundance of time. and the blame for any I
eTious defects will have to be divided be- |
ween the plans and the administration OF
hem. This consideration has put every 5
nan in the Census Office. from The Director {
own. upon his mettle. q