Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1900-08-23
Counting Figures BY 1rachinery.

A Washington correspondent, in the
course of an interesting letter describ-
ing the work of the Census Bureau,
says that the counting and tabulating
is done by mechanical appliances so
wonderful that the only marvel left is
that they should need any one to
operate them. With one movement OF
the hand, simply the pressing down of
o lever, a thing which is done in six
tenth part of the time required to tell
it, fourteen facts may be selected from
the official record of the country's pop-
ulation and added to growing column
of statistics with an accuracy which
does not admit of error. The one
motion suifices to record the history of
the individual in question; on the
various dials which are 10 front Of the
operator are records which show
whether he is foreigner or native,
whether white or black, married OF
single, male or female, adult or child,
and so ON through all the questions the
onumerator has asked. For each per-
son this machine answers with ring of
its bell. Ii there is an impossibility
in the data fed into the machine 1t will
decline to do business; the bell does
not ring, and the dial does not record.
A black father having white child
the machine will not believe, and SO
will not record it, as it would not any
statement regarding the family Of u
5-years old child.
The scheme which enables the count
ing to be dcne mechanically is based
on the idea of having each, person in
the United States represented by card
with descriptive holes punched in it.
The hole which signifies the person to
be male il punched in particular
SPOT on the card, and if all the cards
representing males were stacked up
evenly, wire could be PASSED from the
top to tie bottom of the pack through
these holes without encountering any
obstruction. A hole in another part OF
the card indicates the person to be an
adult, and so on through the entire de-
scription. For purposes of counting and
registering the Data, the cards are fed
into the machines certain wires come
down and feel of the cards, penetrating
where there are holes. and so establish
ing electric connections which operate
the registering machinery. 1t Is like
the typesetting machine in that 1t is
all very simple when understood.
But before the counting can begin
the WRITTEN reports winch come in from
the enumerators all over the country
have to be translated into the language
Of perforated cards. That is what most
of the employees of the Census Bureau
are now doing. Each girl has au
enumerator's blank before her, on
which are the data; with her left hand
she adjusts a good-sized card to place
prepared for it in the middle of the
desk, and with her right she guides the
lever and works the punch. In small
fraction OF a minute she will have the
card punched full of holes, and passes
on to the next. One girl will punch
sometimes thousand cards in day.
THESE are placed in neat wooden boxes
which are labelled and numbered, in
readiness for the tabulating machine.
AT present the counting machines are
used merely to, get the population
totals, although permitted to register a
few othor items for practice. hut be-
fore the census work is over, the cards
will be run through the machines
great many times. as will be rendered
necessary by the many combinations
and groupings of facts desired.