The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1909-10-21
Huge Army of Inquirers Will
Soon Sweep the Country Gath
ering Statistics Concerning the
Number of its Inhabitants.
EVERY INDIVIDUAL
GETS A CARD
With New Machinery, Govern
ment is About to Tackle Big
Job of Taking the Decennial
Snapshot of the U. S.

OF the population OF the Olllleu
States in 1910.
To count them, and reckon up
their manifold notwithstanding,
as a properly taken census must,
complete picture OF the people
and their doings-will be an enor-
NOUS task. There will be $50
supervisors, appointed by the
president, to look after as many
geographical districts, and IN
Washington alone at least 5000
additional clerks will be employ
ed.
When the first census OF this
country was taken, in 1870, the
work was done by 6505 employees.
To gather and put together the
data of the census of 1910 will re-
quire the services OF an army OF
nearly 10000 men and women
number much greater than the
entire population OF New York
and Boston combined at the time
of the taking OF the first census.
If one were to put side by side
he figures of the census OF 1870
and 1910 Gas the latter will pre-
sent themselves when asSembled)
the most striking single tact
shown by. the comparison would
be the disappearance OF the child
rem. A century ago, one-half the
population of the United States
consisted OF boys and girls under
sixteen years of age. Today the
proportion is only one third.
The reason for this fact is that
people bring fewer children into
the world nowadays. If the av-
erage family in this country to-
day were as prolific as in 1900,
thSre would be sixteen million
more children in the United
States than are actually living.
| in 1890. there were in this corrn-
try $50 persons over twenty years
of age for every 1000 girls and
BOYS under sixteen. Today there
is 1000 such atlults for every
] ,0O0 childr,n.
Nevertheless, a baby is born
every twelve seconds, and, thanks
TO this fact, about two and one
half million fresh citizens will be
addict to our population in the
census year 1910. The passing
bell will toll every twenty-five,
seconds. ushering 100000 Amer
leans ont of the world during the
twelve months. Every twenty
four seconds a marriage will oc-
cur. giving expectation OF filled
cradles, and five OF these latter
will be supplied with occupants
every minute during the year.
Machinery introduced.
The census bureau is buying q
large nuhnber of machines OF en-
tirely new patterns, which are
igreat improvement on any appar
atus of the kind hitherto known
They are run by electricity, ant
so perfect is their operation that
lif the clerk makes a mistake, the
Continuance stops automatically
The tabulating machine will
handle as many as 415 cards in {
minute; but the average speed II
actual work is about $50. This i:
an average OF $4,000 or 10000
cards in a working day OF sever
hours, including stoppages FOL
reading dials, etc.
A Card for Each Person.
1t will be understood, then
that all the people in the United
States in the year 1910 will ID,
represented in the census bureau
by ninety-odd millions OF cards
one card for each man, woman o.
child. The bigg st job, however
is to put together the facts or
'e cards, so as to make tables o
: figures, telling how many person
there are of each age; how many
are white. black or of mixeC
blood; how many carpenters, I'm
| dertakerS and trained nurse.
there are; how many can reaC
and write, and SO on. even TO thu
tabulation OF these and hundred,
of other matters in every town
ship and city.
To do all this by hand woulC
be a vastly expensive anti almos
intermnnable job. But the ma
chimes attend to it automatically
NOTHING short OF marvellous. AL
that is required is to feed tht
lcards into them, and they do thu
rest, working out the problem,
and giving the results without
possibility of error. With the hell
of one of these contrivances Z
capable clerk can tabulate from
10000 to 10000 cards, as already
stated, in a working day, all tn,
facts they contain being duly as
sembled and classified.
The enumerators employed tC
gather the facts for the census o
1910 from all parts of the country
will number $4,000, and all O
Aem will be men--save perhap.
a few, who, for some special anc
particular reason, will be of thu
gentler sex. Some women die
this kind of work for the last cen
sus very efficiently; but ordinar
lily it is too rough, not infrequent
ly involving quite little hard.
ship of one kind or another. The
business of putting the facts to
gether, after they have been col
lected, will be trusted mainly tc