Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1904-02-18
ELECTRIC CENSUS COUNTING.
Machine That Does the Work Aceu-
FateIy aad saves Much
Time and Labor.

Time aad Labor.
The facts In relation to populatio
and vital Statistics, upon reaching th
census bureau. are all counted by elet
trtcity, which does the work almoi
without assistance. II 10 estimated tina
In the compiling Of tables the machin
saves three-fourths Of what otherwis
would Le the labor involved and three
fourtns of the time, says a Washington
report.
To begin with, there Is q little pencil
Of steel on the end of metal arm |
foot or SO long. which is SO arranged
that you can push the pencil in any
direction above celluloid plate, thai
is full of small round holes, Just big
enough TO allow the pencil to he thrust
into them.
Each Of the holes has letter or a
figure close by 1t, TO distinguish 1t from
the others. Now, the operator inserts
a manila paper card In holder just
back of the movable arm, and taking In
his left hand one of the original emu
merator's schedules, holds the steel
pencil in his right hand and proceeds
to business.
The name of the person on the
schedule Is Peter Fish; but that is not
worth counting, for Mr.. Fish is hence
forth to be regarded from the statisti-
cal point Of view merely as unit.
He lived in Ward /. and accordingly
the operator jabs the steel pencil down
into a little hole marked II" in one
Of the divisions of the celluloid plates.
Also, he was white, another hole
punched; male, another hole; IS years
of age, another hole; born In Germany,
another hole; his mother, ditto anoth-
er hole; his occupation was that of a |
laborer. another hole; and he died in
January, another hole; Of malarial
fever, another hole. That is all there I
Is about Mr.. Fish; so the card pre-
viously inserted is removed from the
holder, and 1t is found to be punched
with a number of round holes in diff
l
'erent places.
From that card with nothing on 1t
'r In 1t but the holes, practiced hand
an read about Mr.. Fish and his his
DRY as easily as from the original
for the position of each hole
ives the meaning to be conveyed.
But the significance of the holes does
lot have to be read by human inteli-
ence. Electricity does that and counts
he facts recorded by the holes as we'll ,
he punched card is laid on the bot !
ON of a tray which has holes in, 1t to :
to those in the celluloid :
late.
These holes are filled nearly full with :
lercury. Above the tray Is horizontal
fetal plate, which moves up and down :
directed. The metal plate has at
Iched to its lower side little metal .
ungers corresponding in number and !,
)sition with the holes In the tray be- =
sath. =
When the metal plate is lowered the = !,
unger goes into the mercury filed :.
lies, and the circuit Is completed, the :.
ntrivance having an electric battery a.
injected with It, with separate con- -
ction for each hole. "
But suppose card is placed in the ~
~ with a dozen holes in 1t here and ~
ere, fitting exactly over the holes to ~
itch they correspond in the tray, It .e
apparent that all the plungers will ~
stopped by the card save those
lich find the holes, thus completing
ly the corresponding circuits. Al
Each of these circuits thus completed
meets with sort of electric clock
small affair-which counts the
mbers on its dial, instead of hours
minutes. The clocks commune pc
ed with give one tick forward on
zee, thus noting the fact that one OLE
re man, say laborer born In Ger as
ny, died In January, etc. sol
Mr. Fish's history had been differ VII
!. other holes would have originally fol
n punched in the card, other clocks IT
lid have been licked, and the sums hol
lily recorded from the clocks, which Fo
not make mistakes, would have she
n slightly altered. the
lasmuch rs each of the possible bea
holes has its counting clock at an,
led when the metal plate comes ,et
m on the card, nothing can be wild
sed. ras
ne clock will count 1899 before It N
10 20 started over again. The har
IS recorded by the clocks are taken ind
n on paper slips, and from them wit
Isferred to the tables for publica- ,ou
Cat 4. - =. 49,