The San Francisco call., 1910-11-06

the census of 1900 in default of later
figures On some points about which
I was anxious to secure information I
p was surprised TO find that figures were
absolutely lacking, and had to pitch in
and compile statistics of my own. It
was like the case of a man cast up
high and dry on an island in the middle
of the ocean, finding himself obliged to
make his tools before he can build him
self hut. I have been careful to take
nothing for granted, and every state
ment is the result OF numerical cal
culations. I use the plural of neces-
sity, seeing that in order to get a fact
which may be stated in three words it
Is often necessary to wade through
half dozen calculations, or many
more. will not venture to be certain
that the full reports of the census of
1910, when published, will entirely con-
firm the picture have drawn It may
be the middle San Franciscan has
changed his occupation or that he may
be worth a little more or a little less
This much can be said: all statements
herein made are as accurate as could
be obtained from the figures accessible.
and do not believe that future re-
ports will show any radical departure
from them.
did not think it Of vital Importance
to ascertain the color Of the middle San
Franciscan's hair and eyes, nor what
kind Of a hat he wears in SUMMER. al
though Mr.. Jacobs thought 1t necessary
to- embellish his portrait of the middle
American with such touches While
not lacking IN interest, such details do
not seem OF so much moment as. for in
stance. the question of his nationality
and political bias
More than anything else. perhaps. 1
was curious to know the nationality of
the middle San Franciscan. In city
where the foreign elements. are so pro-
noUnced I would not have been sur
prised to find him almost anything but
an American; but as a matter of fact
he upset by theories and turned out to
be an American by birth For the bene-
At Of any one who may be as curious
on the subject as was 1t may be re-
marked IN passing that our middle for
eign born citizen is an Englishr1an.
Having solved this first important
problem. let US trace the middle San
Franciscan to his home First go to the
ferry. and at the foot of Market street
you will board a Hayes and Masonic
avenue car and get of at Devisadero
and Oak. or you can take a Haight
street car. get off at Devisadero and
walk two blocks to Oak. You will then
walk half block toward Broderick
and stand In the middle of the street
and on this spot you are in the exact
center of a section six blocks bounded
by Scott on the east, Fell on the north,
Baker on the west and Page on the
south. Somewhere within these limits
you will find the home of the middle
San Franciscan. A certain regard for
his privacy withholds the exact street
and number.
Our middle man, as we may call him
for short, Is married. and in addition to
his wife his family consists OF two
children; smaller family by one than
that of Raggers, the middle American,
who has three children. Neither of
these two men owns the house in
which he lives. Our middle mans age
is somewhere between 35 and A. and by
occupation he is a plumber.
The assessed value of his property is
about s1.15o. but as this figure amounts
to only so per cent of the actual value,
Its worth is in reality about s1.s1s.
An extremely difficult problem is the
question of his yearly income. Mr.
Jacobs. fixes Raggers' wage at $40 Ier