The evening times., 1900-04-03

1T is estimated" said Director Of the
| Census W. r. Merriam yesterday, that
/ at least twenty-eight hundred people will
/ be employed in the work of transferring
the enumerators sheets to cards and Of
co"atiug these latter by means Of the
! electrical machines employed.
The Census Omce has had considerable
! difficulty in securing clerical force capa-
/ bic Of doing this work. the operating Of
! the eard-punching and tabulating ma
| chimes requiring a thorough knowledge OF
their work .rg and great rapidly. The sys-
| TEN Cf eXaTinatiOus for testing the capa-
| bility Of applicants for this branch OF the
/ census work was begun in the early part
Of last year, and out Of the entire number
Of those examined about one-haf failed
to pass"
The large space in the singie-story part
Of the census building which is divided
into two great rooms is being rapidly made
ready for the two thousand clerks who will
be az work In them when the enumerators'
returns commence TO come in after June
next. At present the work being carried
on IN these rooms is the examination of
the test sheets which have been sent to
the enume- tors nominated by the super
Nlsors IN order to test the Capabiiity Of
The former for their positions This work
VIII in all probability be competed some
time before June J. when the actual work
OF enumeration Will begin. Each OF the
Two large rooms or galleries devoted 70
the classifying and tabulatinE Of the re-
turns viii accommodate thousand clerks.
Between these two apartments is a fire
proof vault Tor the storing OF the sched-
ules, and also room for storing the cards
which are 20 he used in connection with
the tabuldting machine. There will be
ABOUT 100000 0o0 Of these cards.
IL Is proposed TO employ about O06
/ clerks in transferring data from enUmcr-
ators' sheets 30 cards abou, three by six
inches in size. This Is 10 be done bv first
preparing card for each person emu
merated showing all the characteristics OF
| such person. The cards 10 be used FOR
this purpose are printed With letters and
symbols SC arranged that by punching
! holes in the proper spaces the following
Information concerning each individual
enumerated is obtained Race saX. color.
areg, conjugal condition birthplace Of
person. Of father. mother. years :u the
United states. occupation. school attend
ance, etc. These cards though cuIy
/ I-ltt0 Of an inch in thickness. would form
stack. II piled enc on another. about
nine miles high, and they VIII weigh
about 2o0 tons. The transcription from
the original returns Of the euumerator TO
the punched card viii be done with small
machines something like .ypcRriters.
called keyboard UuncheTs. Abou, COO OF
these viii be used. and the entire WORK %
traus"ribng the q. .O00. 600 or more in
dividual records Will BE- done in about
10 working days or nearly four months.
| When his work IS accomplished the
H.
t.bUlatel, I'm the electrical tJbull-iuc
machines. These machines are az once
simple and wonderful in operation. The
1 press under which the perforated record
/ card is placed consists Of a number Of
needles hung on delicate springs. SO that
| a needle can only pass through q punch
| ed hole. Upon their doing so they connect
/ with an electric circuit operating me dial
/ board wh5ch faces the operator. E5ch
| needle connects with a separate dial which
] is read of by the operator while another
/ electric circuit opens the lid Of the 1dr-
ticular box designed FOR the reception q
] the card. Each dial In the tabuating ma
| chine records. OF course the same fact az
( the hole in the punched card and II ans
gross mistake is made in the card. such
as a record o. two birthplaces for the
same individual. the machine immediate
ly detects IL and refuses 10 record the
card. The machine in this latter instance
refuses TO ring a bell which indicates the
establishment OF the electric current JnI
the mistake is consequently apparent 10
the operator.
The dials or counters Of the abulating
machine 90 not retOrd facts concerning
individuals. but groIp these under certain
districts as TO the number Of whites ne
groes. married persons etc. contained in
the district. or any other class Of facts
which il is desired TO tabulate
After the cards for given district pass
through the tabulatiug machine there is
| known the number Of native-bOrn white
males Of voting age, the number Of white
children under five wears Of age born in
this country with both parents native
born. or the number Of such children with
one or both parents foreign born. or any
! other information contained i'm the emu
| meratOrs' sheet which the statistician de-
! siros tabulated. II is only necessary. it
/ is said for the statistiCian to decide upon
| the Information wanted. and for the cleo
irician 90 make the proper connection from
the counters and relays 10 the circuit-con-
trolling device into which the cards are
fed
Az least eighi hundred clerks and mes
sengers viii be employed 10 tabulate the
result derived from the punching ma
chimes.