New-York tribune., 1920-01-11
HumOr and Pathos
Barred by Census
Enu1nerators Here
A Son Killed in War; Lonli-
ness of Old Age; Sordid-
ness of Tenements-All
Are Revealed in Detail

The rapping of the census enumera-
tors on the doors Of Greater New York
continued last week, and as the count
went on, the response came more
easily. Even the foreign-born least
versed in English seemed to realize
that the Government had things in
hand and that the wholesale conscrip-
ton of simple domestic facts was part
OF the business of the day. Less hosti-
lity was encountered than on the first
day or two, and in many cases the
doors were figuratively on the latch,
pending the arrival of the census
taker.
Considerable headway was made in
the square blocks assigned to each. A
Chinese interpreter was sent out from
headquarters at 461 Eight Avenue. to
cope with the QUESTIONABLE in the
hands Of his follow-countrymen. The
number Of names taken by each enume-
rator ranged from one to two hundred.
nder the direction of Miss Marion Lee
Bishop, Girl Scouts co-operated with
colonies Of the Bronx, Williamsburg,
Brownsville and the lower East Side.
Wash Day Situation
Consider the situation on wash day.
Far along West Forty-third Street,
out with her interrogatory sheet and
her fountain pen, boilers full Of clothes
bubbled on every stove. Soap sudsy
gesticulated in trying to supplement the
sketchy English Of the German and
Swedish-born. 1t is safe to say that the
weekly wash was seriously retarded in
thousands OF homes, while mothers tried
to give an intelligent account of their
households and all the members thereof.
u
somewhat hard to classify them all cor
rectly, and Jimmy's age got hopelessly
mixed up with Mary's. Some mothers
did not think infants in arms mattered
IN the taking of the census; others
thought that even the cats ancestry had
to go down on the big white sheet con-
tanning so many secrets.
Inc children themselves were an i'm.
mense help. Their English was better
tnan that OF their parents. Many
sho"eo passionate eagerness to tell
years. The one question feared and
dreaded by the woman over thirty was
source of endless delight to the little
ones Also, the fact that they were
Amcrican-born. They shouted out this
piece Of information before the enumer-
aror got across the threshold That il
TO say, such of them as realized what
demonstrating was.
Some Resigned to Task
There were numbers who opened the
door and permitted the invasion of tho
enumerator with the resigned air Of
people who are continually acquescin9
without quite knowing why. Vague sus-
picions lurked in the eyes Of an occa-
sional Slav or German. A barraee Of
ohstility greeted the visitor in some
quarters until she made her mission
clear.
There were humorous moments and
much pathos In the revelation of family
secrets.
At times the simple questions touched
4 tender spot--a son killed in the war:
the blindness Of an aged man; the lone
liucss Of old age; the sordIdness Of life
In the cheap tenement; woman OF
Heyentiy worn TO skin and bone over the
wash board; the cold that penetrated at
every crack; the shivering poverty that
IL numb TO its own misery,
Intimate History Revealed
Delv5ng fnto the intimate history Of
tire citizen IL q delicst4 matter, requir-