Evening star., 1911-08-30
Error Made in Announcing
Center of Population.
CENSUS OFFICE FIGURES
Faulty Computation by Two Clerks
Basis of Mistake.
FINAL STATEMENT Is ISSUED
Honor Remains With Monroe
County, Ind, But Unionville
Yields to Bloomington.

The center OF population OF the United
States Is not where a monument has re-
Gently been erected by enthusiastic peo-
pie, who accepted the word OF the census
bureau that the precise location was at
longitude S6 degrees - minutes - sec
onds west.
The census bureau made a mistake. and
now informs the world that the center of
population is eight miles away from the
spot previously indicated, and is in ionei-
tude s6 degrees - minutes - seconds
west
tnionville. Ind. near the city Of Co,
lumbus which has wasted a celebration
in honor of this fancied distinction OF
being the very hub of the nation. must
yield the palm To Bloomington, in the
same county OF Monroe. Town feel
ing is likely to run high.
Ii is doubtful IL Unionville will credit
any figures that the census bureau may
make public. and is likely to dispute
the accuracy of the new finding that
wrests from II a laurel that it seems TO
have thoroughly appreciated.
Error Made by Two.
Two men making the same error in
computation are to blame for the mistake
in locating the center OF population. Both
are usually or unusually accurate mathe-
maticians, having been connected with
the last census. and familiar with the
work. The coincidence of a duplicate
miscalculation with Identical result is a
concentration of circumstances that the
census bureau is not likely to encounter
i'm ten censuses.
The director of the census. in presenting
the final statement of the location OF the
center OF population. ana announcing the
error made in the preliminary statement
of July IL. says
THE correct statement OF the longi-
tude of the center is Sj degrees 3o min
utes - seconds wes.. changing the po-
sition Of the point nine minutes. approNi-
mately eight miles further west. and o.
eating the center of population in south
ern Indiana at a point in the western
part of the city of Bloomington. Monroe
county.
THE error referred to occurred i'm null
tiplying 31919S population by it's dis
tance from the assumed meridian OF
1,S5lO miles. This work Is done In
duplicate, and two clerks made the same
error, giving the result of this muitfph-
cation as 59,oS3, ,549.S instead of J90.S35.-
4aS. a difference OF nearly 532.O00.o0o I'm
the product, and as the error anected the
western movement IL changed the po-
sition of the center of population Is
noted.
Change Made in Ten Years.
In ten years the center of popula-
tion has moved west 43 minutes 2S
seconds, or about thirty-nin miles.
and north SO seconds. or about seven
tenths of one mile.
The great increase in the population
of New York. Pennsylvania and Ger
tain other states north of the thirty
ninth parallel has balanced the Increase
in Texas. Oklahoma and Indian Terri
tory and southern California. The
greater advance toward the west is
to a large extent due to the increase
in population in the Pacific coast
states. their distance from the center
giving them much greater weight than
the populous states east of the center
For instance San Francisco. Seattle.
Portland and Sacramento. with a popu-
Iation of 906.0l6. have as great an in
fluence on the center as Philadelphia.
Boston and Baltimore. with a popula-
tion of 2.77S.O7S The west movement
of the center in the past decade is the
same its movement from 1920 to
1880.
1.-The closeness with which the center
of population through it's western
movement has c1ung to the parallel 80
degrees of latitude is remarkable. The
most northern point was reached I'm
1890, and the most southern point in
1890 The greatest western movement
was in the decade from 1850 to 1860.
when IL moved eighty-one miles. The
SOS miles.