Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1900-04-23
HARD To GET AGES,
Most Difficult Task of the
Census Enumer-
ator.
THE YOUNG WANT TO BE OLD.
While MiddIe-Aged Folks Knock
Off Few
Years.

The most difficult task of a census
enumerator is TO obtain information
about the ages OF people. writes Will
liam T. Curtis to the Chicago Record.
1t is assumed that woman may lie
about her age and a man about the
fish he catches without committing
sin. but the phenomenon goes still
further. Young people usually want
to be considered old. middle aged
people report themselves Younger
than they are. and very old people
will add 4 few wears to their actual
age. Children under Is throw their
ages forward to l6. girls stretch q
point to be IS, and boys 19 or more
always like to be considered men.
Therefore the age returns of census
are usually more incorrect than any
other. and it is impossible TO deter
mine accurately whether the average
duration of life is increasing or decreas-
ing. 1t is impossible. for the same
reason. to Ascertain the death rate,
the nun Der of men of military age or
the mum Der of women capable of bear
ing children For example, it is in
teresting TO know whether the period
of children bearing among the diff
ferent classes of people is longer or
shorter; whether negroes die earlier
than white; whether the laboring part
of the population live longer than
those of sedentary occupation; whether
criminals are recruited from the
younger or older element of society;
whether the employment of children
is increasing or decreasing. and many
other estimates whose value is threat
ened by the inaccuracy of the age
statistics.
Experienced enumerators have
found that the tendency OF people is
to represent themselves younger than
they actually are. This impulse
seems TO be irresistible between the
ages of % and 90. The greatest pro-
portion of errors is at the Goth year,
but the greatest mum Der is at the 30th
year or 40th year. At this fatal Rub
icon people usually falter. In 1890 there
were els. Gal persons reported as SO
years of age, 1857. $50 a ; 40 and 496.
o53 persons at Al. Among women
800. IA were reported to be 40. 290.-
977 80, 224 j51 Al.
What Tables Show.
With fairly steady flow of immi-
grafton and a stationary or increasing
population there ought always to be
fewer persons of a given age than of
any single age preceding; less people
30 years old than 40, and so on. But
census tables invariably show the re-
verse At the last census 240 $50
persons were returned as SO years
old. while the number returned at 60
was 500. 1888.
Where immigration is slight the
persons of given age at one census
must necessarily be less than the per-
sons 10 years younger at the preceding
census. Thus in 1890 the persons %
years old are necessarily fewer in
number than the persons ID years old
in 1880, because the 25-vear class of
1890 is composed Of the survivors of
the 10 year class in 1880. These are
facts, but English women are not
Il dashed by facts. In England the |
number of women returning them |
selves as between 20 and % years of |
age is always greater than the num-
Der of girls reported at the preceding |
census from 10 10 Is years old. And |
yet people can't be born 20 wears old. |