The Savannah morning news., 1900-06-14
CENSUS TAKING ENDS TO-DAY.
CITY ENUMERATORs WILL HAVE
FINISHED BY NIGHTFALL.


Most of Them Have Turned in Their
Portfolios to Supervisor BIun-su-
pervisor VIII Not Be Permitted to
Give Results of the Census of the
city and This May BE Had Only
when OnicIaI Publication Is Made.
Forty-scvcnth Enuwerator Was
Needed and Tscd 30 Complete
work in Tine-Some of the Diff
cuIties the EnumcratOrs Faced.
The forty-seven census enumeTators
Who for the last two weeks have been
engaged in collecting statistics as TO the
population of Savannah, the ancestry OF
its peoples their educational qualifications
and their physical and mental peculiari-
ties. viii hand in their portfolios and
close thsir labors to-day.
Indeed, most of them have already
nniste1 their work. When all are
through. which under the law must be
~ to-day. Supervisor Blum will begin the
labulation CT the statistics for trans
mission to Washington. While he viii
know the result as to the population Of
Savannah. he will not be in a position to
disclose it, as the law regulating the csn-
sus makes IL a misdemanor, punishable
by fire and imprisonment, for anyone
connected with the collection of the a
ustics to make public any part Of the
information he has gathered.
For this reason the people of the city
will have to wait until the official an
nouncement is made by Director Mer-
the extent of the increase in the popula-
ton of the city since the last census may
be SATISFIED All sorts Of estimates on the
result have been INDUCED in by those
who have a passion for mathema ticel
calculations of this character. most of
them placing the present population of
the city in the neighborhood of 5000.
Supervisor Blum began to take the CEN
sus of the city with forty-six enumer-
ators but before the work had been fin
ished he found that it would be necessary
for him to create a new district and ap-
point a new enumeration. The district
thus created contained the river front.
After the district was created and the
enumerator at work Supervisor Blum re-
ceived from Director Merriam a telegram
approving what had been done.
With some Of the enumerators this will
doubtless he a day of hard work, the
larger number of persons dwelling within
the districts assigned to them or the fact
that from some of these information has
been difficult TO obtain, making it imposs-
bic for them to hand in their returns with
the alacrity some of the other enumera-
Tors have achieved.
While there has been but little appar-
ent disposition on the part of those APP
preached by the. enumerators to refuse
the Information that has been asked the
latter have had their fun share of trouble
with that dense ignorance and unwisdom
that distinguishes. more than does any
other Characteristic a large proportion
of the human race.
Some of the questions. the answers 10
which we're so apparent that child might
give them, had to be explained over and
over again to the childish minded adults
of whom they were asked. and even with
all the explanations the enumerators had
very satisfactory. Others understood well
enough, Dut appeared TO nave no knOWl-
edge whatever of the family aud personal
history it was sought to collect Others.
possibly not very proud of the facts in
their lives or those of their relations. man
ifested pretended ignorance that was moi
really theirs
So that with II all, the life. of the emu
merator fer the two weeks that come to
an end Today has not been passed upon
an unbroken bed of roses. There were
thorns at dose and irregular intervals and
the difficulties he experienced in avoiding
their stings were neither small nor light
OF course, in those sections of the city
where the population appreciated the ben
etits Of the information collected by the
enumerators at its fun value to the puouc
and gave their share of il readily auc
gladly. the census men got along famous
~ and had but little trouble II was in
other sections, where intelligence is not
so generally disseminated, that The par
ticular Intelligence for which they We're
striving came with so much dficulty.