The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1900-08-12
THE CENSUS OFFICE MACHINES.
Puncher and TabuIator Aid in Enumerating
Uncle Sans Family.

OF tao csnBua, describes the punching
machine In this way:
The punching machine is something
like a typewriter an appearance. The punch
is attached to a movable key which plays
over a perforated Keyboard arranged Ike
the keyboard OF e type writer II oontains
2SS symbols. and Ia an exact duplicate OF
the cards employed 20 contain the statls-
tics OF each person For the most part,
these symbols consist OF figures and easily
understood Authorizations. and the labor
OF learning 10 operate the machine s
hardly any greater than that of mastering
the ordinary typewriter"
49,
Director Merriam has disposed of tho
punching apparatus even more briefly. He
says in a recent article:
This transcript from che original re-
turns OF the enumerstor to tho punched
card will be done with small machines.
something like typewrters, called key
board punches. About 1000 OF these Will
be used, and the entire work OF trans
erbins the 100000 or moro individual
records will be done in about 100 working
days. or nearly four months"
| The electric tabulator would be nil with
out Its mate, the "puncher," and the little
! "puncher'' would have nothing to do and
, would therefore be very lonesome with
out the little cards mentioned above
/ There are 100, 900 O00 OF these manila
pasteboards boarded away and In use at
Tho census bureau. Director Merriam has
figured Il out shat though each card IS
only $1,000 of an inch thick, the total
supply of cards on hand viii form a stack
nine miles high and will weigh over 200
/ IONS, Each card looks like Chinese
puzzle, containing rs il does various hg-
Nres, authorizations and symbols. Each
hgure, abbreviaton or symbol means
something, and when punched tells some
sort OF a tale about certain citizen OF
! the Nation. for every man, woman AMI
child in this broad land has card to the
twelfth census of the United Statos.
The card representing John Smith, aged
/ 30 years. resident OF Houston, single
mSchinist, etc, has but a comparatively
/ rev punches in IL, but II it is punched
wrong and makes out that John Smits
/ is really something else than he told
/ the man he was. the electric tabulatol
/ will refuse to say anything wrong about
Smith and reject the card thereby scor-
/ ing one point on its friend across the
way. the "punoher."
But the tabulstor II must be acknowl-
| edged, Is the star attraction of the cen.
/ sus bureau. It's megnetized steel fingers
I dett and minute, are ever busy. Durlns
! the working hours they are never still
but ungling with a vital huid--the blood
of strange. mysterious body that Is
| hidden nowhere and Is felt everywhere
They touch here and there and day In
and day out keep unfolding the story o.
a vast nation. These machines are ront.
ed 10 Uncle Sam at $1,000 a year. Il
there are to be $50 OF them busy within
tho next few months the inventor and
proprietor OF them, Herman Hollerith
VIII realize neat PROFIT on their pro-
hcienoy. The government has purchased
outright. however. the 1000 or more
punching machines, each costing about
Tabulatlng will go on for months. In
asmuch as there are so many features OIL
the life Of the average American either
that must be nut down in black and white
Tor him to read about. else he Will be
sorely disappointed and would send
storm OF criticism &ierriamward An in.
stance OF this was the failure to find ou
uhe number Of single men and women
IN this Nation by the managers OF thC
tenth census. This failure caused al
sorts OF criticism TO be heaped upon THU
person and that and while It may have
given various aged spinsters cause for
silent congratulation, the people in gem
cr2l We're angry because there was al
absence OF statistics on this subject.
= Tho mtghty task OF satisfying the ousi.