The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1919-02-28
PREPARING FOR
CENSUS OF U. S.


hostilities at an end the government
is now laying the basis for one OF
its greater peace time tasks-the de-
cennial inventory of the United
States, its people, lands, industry
and live stock that is called the cen
sus. Secretary Of Commerce Red
field the other day signed the or
der that transferred one of the larg-
est Of the temporary war buildings
put up in Washington, that formerly
housing the army's department. of
aeronautics to Director of the Cen
sus Rogers and his staff.
Actually the government began
the job some months ago assembling
5 its plans and forces. BY law, the be-
ginning of the census period of 1920
is July, 1919, though it will not be
until a year from April that the en-
mnerators will be set at work. It is
then that every individual in Amer
lea, or some one acting for the in
diyidual, will be asked the series of
questions that must be answered.
There will be 30 of these ques-
tions in the 1920 census, according
to the present design of Director
Rogers dummy cards, which are
now being given the exhaustive
study Of statisticians. The more
complex questionnaries that go to
Industrial establishments, schools,
farms and every other permanent
institution of the country are like
wise in the development stage, un-
dergoing critical examination in the
light Of experience the government
has gaind in conducting investories
Of this kind
Chiefly the bureau is engaged in
preparing for the classification and
tabulation Of the vast quantity Of
material which will be assembled
The 1920 census tabulation will be
for the first time almost completely
a machine operation, cond lc*el by
means of devices useful only to the
census bureau of the United States
which have been invented and are
now being built by men in its en-
ploy. Electric machines will fist
transfer the written information
coming in on the enumerat0rs
sheets to cards, not by writing, but
by punching holes at the proper
points. Then the punched cards
will be handed in their millions to
another battery of machines, the
tabulators, an amazing product of
human ingenuity. e. NJ Boiteau,
who devised them, has been with
the census for is years, and is now
experimenting the construction Of
25 machines, the operation Of which
he will direct.
These tabulators, working with
smooth and silent perfection, take in
100 cards a minute, count them, re-
ject all that are imperfect or i'm
properly punched in any fashion,
and take off the totals of punch
marks, assembling the final result
in printed figures on handy sheets
One of them the other day in eight
hours handled 10000 cards, COM
piiing information that would repre-
sent the population statistics of a
very sizable American city. Their
experimental use was commenced
after the 1910 census, but Mr.. Boi-
teau has since devoted most of his
time to their Improvement and to
the extension of their abilities.
The machines resemble in out
ward aspect a piece of office furni-
ture. Cards go into a metallic mag
azine at their top, travel a few
inches on metal guides, come out
neatly stacked with the mistakes of
punching machines-which have
merely human operators-pointed
out The printed records of the is
or 20 totals that the punch marks
indicate come out from another slot
and the instrument stands ready to
repeat.
With these machines there is
practical assurance that the publi-
cations Of the census, usually COM
ing out a long time after the enum-
Grafton, may be more quickly at
hand to guide the estimates of gov
ernmental and industrial leaders,
and generally guide and demon
strate the progress sof national civili-
cation. They are being produced
largely by the work of youthful ap-
prentices from Washington schools
which have vocational courses.
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