The age-herald., 1900-07-04
In the Cities of Birmingham
 and BeSSener
BY CENSUS ENUMERATORS
Supervisor Smyer Requests Manufac' turers to be Prompt and Accurate Information Will be Confden-
 tial-County Population

tistics of Birmingham Bessemer and Sel-
 ma. The industrial statistics of all the
 towns in Jefferson County except Birming-
 ham and Bessemer were obtained by the
 enumerators at the time they listed the
 population, but for the cities named a special canvass for the data referred to is to be made.
 Supervisor R. B. Smyer wishes to inn press upon the owners and officers of in dustrial plants the importance of this work, and he requests them to furnish promptly the information desired by the government. This information should cover the business year of the establishment most nearly conforming to and preceding the census year, which ends June l. 1900 All answers will be absolutely confidential The enumerators will leave blank sched- ules with every industrial concern, and call for them after allowing sufficient time for them to be filled.
 Some of the questions to be answered are: Date when establishment commenced op- erations; character of organization, wheth- CT individual, corporation or other form character of industry, kind of goods made or work done; capital invested, owned or
 borrowed; land, buildings, machinery tools, etc.; cash on hand. bills receivable, unsettled ledger accounts raw materials stock in process of manufacture and fin- ished product on hand; persons employed. men, women, salaried officers, general su- perintendents managers, clerks and sales men, and all other employees, including piece workers; average number of wage earners employed each month; kinds of ma terial used and whether purchased in raw
 ta1 cost of materials; miscellaneous expenses;
 total value of all products; kind of power
 used.
 Following are extracts from the instruc- tions:
 Some Instructions
 All entries must be made clearly and
 neatly in ink. Amounts and values must
 be obtained from book accounts, if such
 accounts are available. Each question is
 to be answered. If any question is found
 not applicable and no amounts are report ed write the word "None."
 Give, on page l, the name, location,
 street and number, and postoffice address
 of the establishment, and obtain the sigma
 ture of the person furnishing the informa-
 tion. If the postoff1ce address of the busi-
 ness office is at different place from that
 of the plant give both.
 If mercantile, mining, quarrying, or other business is carried on in connection
 with manufacturing, the capital, employees,
 wages, expenses, products, etc., reported
 must pertain only to the manufacturing. Character of Industry-Describes specific ally the character of the industry and the
 kinds of goods manufactured or work done, as, for example, cut nails, chairs, leather belting, brooms, baskets, mems clothing, carpenterng, blacksmithing, boot and shoe
 making and repairing. Obtain and return with the schedule a card or other printed
 matter that describes the business. Capital Invested-The answer must show the total amount of capital, both owned and borrowed. All the items of fixed and
 live capital may be taken at the amounts
 carried on the books. If land or buildings
 are rented, that fact should be stated and
 no value given. If buildings are both
 owned and rented, the fact should be
 stated and only the value of the owned
 property given.
 Persons Employed-Account for all per
 sons engaged in the business, both in the
 management and in production. Give the total salaries and wages paid, which should include board or rent furnished as part compensation. Give the number of pro- prietors and firm members, and, if they are not paid salaries, so state on the schedule. Stockholders of corporations are not to be reported unless they are salaried officials. Months in operation: The entire twelve months of the year should be accounted
  full time; eight months on full time and
 four months on half time; or ten months
 on full time and two months idle.
 Materials used: The actual cost of all ma
 terials used during the year must be re-
 ported Give the cost, exclusive of freight
 charges, and then the total freight paid.
 If this is not practicable, give the cost, in-
 cluding the freight charges, and state that
 such charges are included. Name the prin-
 cipal materials and give the cost of each.
 Quantities should be given when possible, and the unit of measurement stated, as
 pounds ''tons,'' 'bushels,' feet"
 yards" etc. Under the head, Purchased in raw state," give the name and the cost of such articles as raw cotton, iron ore, clay. or other materials that have had no
 manufacturing forces expended upon them,
 which enter the factory in a crude state. Under the head, Partially manufactured" give the name and the cost of all partially
 manufactured articles that have passed
 through one or more stages of production,
 such bar iron, steel, leather partially
 dressed stone, lumber, cloth, partially con
 structed furniture, etc. Opposite Mill sup
 plies give the cost of oil, waste, and other
 supplies consumed in the running of ma chinery
 Miscellaneous expenses: All items of ex- pense incident to the business not ac- counted for under Inquiries and ' must be reported here. Do not include commis- sions or expenses of sales department or any portion of the freight reported under Inquiry 2 as paid on materials.
 Goods Manufactured: Give the value of price charged at shop or factory, not in- cluding commissions, or expenses of sales department, and account for all products, including by-products. The principal prod ucts must be enumerated and separate values given for each. Quantities should be given when possible, and the unit of
 measurement stated, as pounds" tons" bushels" feet" yards" etc. If there are products other than those for which separate value can be given, their total value should be reported opposite "All other products" The amount received for odd jobs or work done must be given as "Custom work and repairing"
 Special Schedules
 The statistics of certain industries will be entered unnn A series of SueciaI schedules