The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1909-11-09

as of the date April Is, 1910. will be
obtained by $4,000 enumerators under
the oversight of $50 supervisors. The
agricultural schedule also will be car
ried by $4,000 of the enumeratorS and
will cover the farm operations of 1909
and the farm equipment on April Is,
1910.
The great Importance of this sched-
ule will be realized from the fact that
about three times as much capital is
invested in agriculture as in manufac-
lures. Six million farms will be visit
ed, and it is expected that it will de-
velop that fully 100000 people are
engaged in agricultural pursuits.
About 1000 special agents will begin
the collection of statistics of manufac-
lures for the year 1909 on Jan. l..
Three hundred of the regular enumer-
ators will carry schedules of manu-
features in certain districts.
New Compiling Device.
About 5000 clerks in addition to the
permanent force of the census bureau
will be employed in washington to
compile the statistics from the sched-
ules. Uncle Sans up to dateness in a
mechanical way in the present case is
attested by the new equipment which
is to be installed to facilitate the labor
of compilation. The use of machinery
has made it possible to enlarge the
scope of investigation included In the
schedule, because it is now possible to
deal with mass of data which could
not have been handled by the old
method of making tallies. In 1900 the
schedule of population alone contained
twenty-five questions. Take the popu.
lation Of 1910 at 100000, with the
same number of questions, and this
will mean no less than 2,250.000,000 of
items to be counted, to say nothing of
combinations.
The present system of tabulating re-
turns was first used in the census of
1890. The vital factor is a simple
thing, a card about by 615 inches,
with holes punched in it. A position or
combination of positions is assigned to
NhAbNS ClC-. ~ tlai CNCly
possible answer is provided for.
The schedules are all transferred to
cards with the~help of a punching ma
chine. This has keyboard much like
a typewriter. The cards are fed under
the punches from a pack and elected
automatically. These machines, of
which 800 have been ordered, can be
operated at the rate of from 400 to 500
cards an hour with an average of thir-
teen or fourteen strokes to the card.
| How Tabulatine Machines Work.
There will be hundred tabulating
machines. They somewhat resemble
an upright piano in appearance. In
| place of the keyboard there is a feed
plate and an arm carrying a pin box
near one end AS card may have be
tween 200 and 800 positions and as a
tabulating machine has only sixty
counters, 1t istnecessary to run a card
through several times in order to get
all the information
After deciding what data are wanted
the little cups in the feed plate affect
cd are filled with mercury, and cleo
trio connections are made with the
4 counters. Then when card is fed
the pin box descends and wherever
holes have been punched for the an
swers required the pins dip into the
mercury and an electric current
causes the counters to register. The
card itself is sufficiently rigid to pre-
vent all the other pins from dipping
into the mercury. 1t will be seen
then, that the principle governing the
operation of the tabulating machine /.
simple. This mechanism can be fec
by hand at the rate of $500 or 4,0o(
an hour.
In tabulating the population SEIZED
ule alone 90,O0O,000 cards win be pass
ed six times through the machines
When an enumeration district is com
| pleted or when desired the totals
shown by all the counters are printed
on paper tapes at single operation
and these are drawn out and the mum
bers transcribed. The agricultural
4 schedule viii have machine adapted
to its special needs, which will regis
ter and add the value Of farms, stock
I crops. etc.
/ Many typewriters, adding machines
combined writer's and adders and ma
chimes for computing percentages an.
| performing other arithmetical opera
lions will be used. Heretofore mucl
leased tabulating machinery has beel
used at large expense. For this cen
sus very little win be required, and /