Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-06-01
Men Out in All Sections Plying the
People With Questions.
EXPERIENCES OF ENUMERAHoRS
Incidents and Episodes of Their
Important Missions.
THEY ARE NOT EASY JOBS

meratOrS sailed rorth this morning 10 take
the census of the District of Columbia.
Every man for the District has no women
enumerators) was on hand promptly at Z
o'clock to begin work. There was gen.
eral meeting place. All were thoroughly
familiar with the work intrusted to them,
knew the metes and bounds of the dis
tricts assigned to them, and were anxious
to make the start 1t was an intelligent
body of men. perhaps more competent to
gather the Information prescribed by law
than any similar class ever employed in
the District, and the officials in charge of
the work confidently look for comprehen-
sive and intelligent returns. Mr.. Harrison
Dingman, who is the supervisor for the
District of Columbia, is not new hand in
census work He was the supervisor ten
years ago. and recently did the active
work in the taking of the census for Porto
Rico. His experience has made the pres
ent task comparatively easy. Every emu
merator has received personal instructions
in what is expected. and there will be no
hitch in the taking of the census for the
District of Columbia.
Many of the enumerators We're employed
in the eleventh census. and these eX-
pected to make the best showing. The
compensation of an enumerator is based
upon the work he does, and this is an in
centive to hustle. For each name re-
corded outside of institutions 2is cents is
allowed. while cents is given for each
name recorded in institutions. 1t is ex-
pected the wages earned by enumeration
will range from s45 to s75 for the fifteen
days during which they are employed.
Equipped for Hard Work.
Today was a typical one for the work. A
refreshing breeze from the south made It
possible for the men to cover IA great deal
of territory. They al seemed to realize the
work mapped out and We're well provided
with stout shoes and light clothing. 1t is 4
long tramp they will have to make and
these stout shoes will he well worn before
they have finished. Some, of course will
finish the task sooner than the others, but
there will be no lOafinS. for they realize
the work must all be done in fifteen days
ard that they are paid for what they do.
The men carried with them pens and ink
and return blanks in compact form There
were a few old gentlemen among the list,
but the majority were young and vigorous
and capable of endurance and work. The
population schedule, which is the most inn
pcrtant of all the returns, carries Its
face certain intcrroSatc:es which the EMU
merators are expected to fill up by the
answers they receive from the residents.
l. gives the number of the supervisors
district, the enumeration district, state,
county and city. In the questions the emu
merator is to enter the surname the given
name and the middle initial if there is any,
and this list of people must include every
one alive on June l, 1900. Children born
after that date are omitted. The enumera-
tor puts dow:f the name of the street. the
name of the house: then follow the names
of the residents, the relationship of each
person to the head of the family, and the
personal descriptions of the people, cover
ing the race, sex. date of birth, age at last
birthday, conjugal condition, number CT
years married, and in the case of the
mother the number of children that
have been born to her, together with
fh.. # chi lt-iv,u 'ha
column is for the nativity and must show
the place of birth of the person enumerated.
the father OF the person and the mother of
the person. Under the head of citizenship.
if the person be a foreigner, the date of
immigration to the United States must be
given, the numbers of years he she has
been in the United States and the date of
naturalization. Then follow the occupation,
trade profession of the persons enumer-
ated, and this includes every person over
ten years of age. Education is one of the
important features of the returns, and the
number of months the child attends school,
whether ne can read, write and speak En-
glsh Then the question of ownership of
home is asked and this is put down in
columns intended for that purpose.
An Amusing Incident.
A representative of The Star followed sew
eral of the enumerators this morning to
find out how the census was actually taken.
The intelligent people answered the ques
tions promptly and without evasion, but the
ignorant were disposed to quibbe over the
whole affair, and some declared in no un-
certain terms their dislike of this Interrupt
ton and inqus!tion into their private af-
fairs. There were a great many amusing
incidents during the day. Down in the
southwestern part of the city, where the
population is for the most part colored the
answers to some of the questions were lu-
dicrous In the extreme. Down in "Foggy
Bottom one case in particular was laugh
Pc. nod OF ha.
of tumble-down shanty and an aged
colored woman. perhaps eighty-five years
Of age. answered his summons.
Good morning, auntie," said the census
taker, politely. What is your nameH'
"Lucindy Jones'"
whats your middle manner"
'Lawd bless you, sir, l done forgot; but
l knows | has one
"How old are your"
well, | remember burning of de Capital
by de British. and I guess l mus be night
on to fifty. l was quite gal, and l remem-
bers de red coats de sojers wore"
de red coats de SojerS wore"
The enumerator scratched his head and
put her down ninety-three.
Are you married?'
We'll, honey, l don't zactly know. had
my man in de slavry days, but we Jest
natr,ly got married; case there wasn't no
married. Anyhow we lived togedder, and
l had nine chillun.''
How long were you married7'
''Gawd knows, honey!'
What were your children's names?'
''Dere waz HeZZy, Danl Webster, Heuny
Clay, Zachariah: less see, dat's To- boys
and den dere waZ Lucindy, she was the fust
gal. and Ferj.nyer and Clara Loueese and
Easter. case she waz bohn dat day, and
Dolly Bell. OATS al
The enumerator tried to stop her, and
when finally he did get an opportunity to
talk, asked how many were living
Il reckun they mus all be dead honey
case l amt heard nothin' from them fot
uh long time Dey kiner forgot ahl bout
de ole womun. and de hahd time l had to
raze dem
Where were you bornr'
I'm Ferjnyer."
What do you do for living"
Don't do nuthin'."
We'll. how do you get along?"
Very well. sir; thank YOU
Il mean where do you get things to eat"
"Oh, desc people heah in de house give
me somethin', an l helps wash and tens
to de chillun.
The enumerator heaved a sigh and then
used his best Judgment to fill in the spaces
and mentally added two cents to his work
for the day. 1t was certainly well earned
She Thought He Was N Collector.
There were some cases in the poorer quar-
ter of the city where the questions brought
out responses at once sad and heartrend-