The Wenatchee daily world. [volume] (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971, 1910-04-15
MIGHTY TASK Of
TAKING CENSUS

RF it's a fact that ones ears burn
when unpleasant things are be-
ing said about him behind his
back, then Uncle Sans hearing.
apparatuses are going to have hard
time Of it before he gets through with
his census, the work of which is about
to begin. In this gigantic task every
body win be asked thirty-two ques-
lions concerning his intimate and per-
sonal affairs. Some Of these ques-
lions will make some people mad, and
the mortality among census enumera-
tors is expected to be about the aver
age.
For instance, if you are called down
four flights of stairs and asked wheth-
er you are black, japanese, Indian or
white you will probably get peeved
and call Uncle Sam seven kinds Of a
nuisance. And when some people who
have spent thousands Of dollars on
their education are asked If they speak
English there will also be some hard
things said. One question is. Whom
do you work for?' Replying to this,
you are not permitted to say my
wife, or ''the Standard Oil company"
You will also be expected to inform
the government how many weeks you
were out of work in 1909 and whether
you had job April Is, 1910.
If you cannot go to the head Of the
class on all these questions and a
whole lot more, for goodness sake get
busy, for the census man is coming
and will get you If you don't watch
out. He'll call at your door some time
between the 18th of April and the 18th
of May and ask more questions than
you ever thought possible. If you live
IN a city he'll call before the LIST Of
May, because the urban enumeratOrs
have only two weeks in which to COM
plete their work The fellows that go
out into the country districts to count
noses and collect figures have thirty
days in which to finish their jobs.
1t is no child's play to conduct a
census of the United States and IT'S
possessions. An army of experts, di-
rected from the great red brick build
ing near the capitol, will cover the
land and the islands like a swarm of
bees over a clover patch. All told
there will be $1,000 enumerators, or
counters, engaged on the work. These
enumerators will be guided by $50 SUI
pervisors, who, in turn, will be man.
aged by director, an assistant direct
or and a staff of division chiefs. There
are about 1000 clerks employed in the
census bureau all the time, and be-
tween now and April Is the force will
be swelled by the addition of 5000
temporary employees. most OF whom
will be set at the punching machines
which tabulate the statistics sent in
by the enumerators. The thirteenth
census, which is the one about to be
taken, will cost the treasury Of the
United States $14,OOO,O0O. Up to the
present time the government has in
vested in $57,OOO,OOO worth of census
figures, beginning with the year 1870.
For the use of the punching ma
chimes 100000 manila cards have
been ordered, and as each card rep
resents one Of US Americans it shows
that Director E. Dana Durand be-
lieves the enumeration Of the country
will come pretty near that grand total.
Mr.. Durand believes that the figures
will show 100000 farms in the Unit
ed States. Ten years ago the twelfth
census reported 5,739,657 farms, with
$2O,514, OO1, 1893 invested in land and
stock and implements. At the same
time the capital invested in manufac-
lures was 5,O46,939, 515, or only about
one-fourth as much. Upon the $780,
600 farms ten years ago the census
people counted 1O,433, 1873 males and
females over ten years Of age, and In
April and May next they expect to
sount in the neighborhood Of 12,0OO,-
600. To perform the agricultural end
of the gigantic task the director will as
sign $4,000 Of the ,65, 900 enumerators.
The first census showed population
Of 100000 whites and 100000 slaves,
or every fifth person in the country
was a slave.
One of the greatest difficulties in
taking the enumeration was religious
superstition. Many of the preachers
were violently opposed to the census
because in Biblical times q curse fell
over the land when the children Of
Israel were numbered.