The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-05-23
CENSUS ELECTRICAL MACHINES.
How the 10000 People COmpos-
ing the Nation VIII BE Counted.
From the Chicago Record.

From the Chicago Record.
Washington, May 1S.-DOwn at
the census office are a thousand or more
electrical machines that can almost talk,
and th. labor they save is impossible TO
calculate But for them 1t would require
10000 clerks several years to tabulate and
classify and compute the information sent
in by the $1,000 enunerators regarding the
rs 600 people who compose this great
and glorious republic.
The first thing to be done when the re-
| turns of the enumerators are sent IN upon
large sheets of paper, will be to transfer
| the information they contain to strong
manila cards about four by eight inches
in size The cards are impersonal but
| each bears a number and represents
citizen of the United States. Eighty mill
| hon cards have been provided. Upon this
card are 24O symbols which represent
every item of information that could pos
| sibly be reported by an enumerator under
his Observation-Disclosures, age, color,
sex, occupation, number of children, etc
For example, the ''W' over at the left
| hand upper corner of the card means
white; 3D." black; "Ch.," Chinese; Up, -
japanese; IN" Indian. In the next row
| M represents male and 'F"' females
Over in the other corner are the signs
| for place of nativity, which can easily
be identified. the upper filters represent
| ing the state and the lower ones foreign
countries-"En.," England; S. A."
South America; ok" Denmark; 81, -
| Switzerland; Pip" Philippine islands.
This card is placed upon machine that
resembles one of those tracing instruments
used for transferring maps, and the key
board corresponds exactly to its lettering.
| The operator, CHANGING at the return of
| the enumerator. moves the key over the
| board and places ii carefully upon the
! spot represented by the symbol wanted.
| This causes a little knife to pierce a hole
| In the card at that precise spot, and when
the operation Is completed the card re-
sembles the perforated sheets that are
used in orchestrions and automatic pianos.
| When all the returns from a census dis
| trict have been transferred in this manner
from the enumera tors sheets to the cards
the latter are packed away In tin box,
| properly marked, each box being large
enough to hold 1900 cards, and it can be
| easily stored away with other canned
statistice, each box bearing a label indi-
eating its contents.
/ do not think can describe the enumer-
ating machine so that the reader can I'M
derstand 1t. II is about the size of an up
| right piano. Upon the upright part is a
| set of dials, like steam registers, one for
each of the items embraced in the popu-
! 1ation schedules. When the operator runs
| through this machine the manila cards
as above described and closes an electric
circuit by moving lever little rod runs
| through each hole in the card and causes
| the dial atNthe other end of wire to reg
lister one. Therefore when the opera tor
has completed the pile of cards and has
run them all through the machine. the in
| formation they contain has been accurate
| Iy transferred to the several dials, and the
operator can take the total off on a. slip
| of paper prepared for that purpose. The
dals will show how many of the people
| represented by those 1000 cards were born
In Ireland, and how many in Ohio; how
| many are married; how many are natural
| ized citizens, and all the other answers
to the inquiries imposed by Congress upon
| enumerators.
The economy of this remarkable method
was illustrated beyond a question In the
last census and can be appreciated when
IL Is known that Alexander Maurice, one
OF the clerks in the lest census. averaged
1885 cards q day-about six and a half
hours Worthwhile his highest record for
any given day was 1901 cards.
Anybody who VIII compare this wort,
with the old-fashioned tally sheets. with
closely packed lines of figures. which used
20 drive some of the census clerks blind
and others crazy, can realize the vaiuc
OF the enumerating machine. which could
not make an error under any circum-
stances. 1t Is estimated that in the los
census these. machines saved not less thar
5000 COO in clerk hire. Both were invented
by Herman Hollarith, a graduate of Co
Iunbia college. New York who was
clerk in the census of 1880 and also N
that OF 1890, where he invented both de.
vices with the assistance Of DR.. Billings
now librarian OF the United Libraries oil
New York; Henry Gannett OF the geolog.
ical survey end others who took an inter
est in his work. He has since perfectad
the apparatus and "a now preparing Il
place 1000 punching machines and $50 emu
morating machines IN the census office
Mr.. Hollaritfs Inventions have beer
adopted by France, Germany, Russia and
Canada, and are now being adapted "a
railway accounts Both the Pennsylvania
and the New York Central Railway com
panies have introduced them and are
finding them very useful