White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1927-12-16
FROM NUMBERS, B. c.,
TO THE U. S. CENSUS
First Counting of Noses Was
Done by Moses.

Washington.-All Turkey stayed at
home one Friday recently while $4,000
officials took the first census Of the
Ottoman empire.
turkey has made up for hardness
by asking questions far more thorough
than appear in the famous first census
of history" says bulletin from the
Washington headquarters of the Ma
tional Geographic society.
"Take We the sum of all the con-
gregation of the children of Israel,
after their families, by the house of
their fathers, with the number of their
names every male by their polls; from
twenty years old and upward, all that
are able to go forth to war in Israeli
"Thus spoke the Lord to Moses, and
Moses, with Aaron's assistance, col
lected the figures for the first census
report, which may be found in prac-
tically every home and hotel room. 1t
is appropriately entitled Numbers
the fourth book Of the Bible.
"By it's breadth Of scope the census
William of Normandy ordered for his
new kingdom of England, resembles
modern surveys. He commanded his
minions in 1885 A. D. to record every
lord and peasant, every acre, every
OK, every mill, every manor, every
weir and every pillow, the value there.
of and-this is forward looking-the
natural resources, woods fields and
streams capable of development and
revenue. The report to William the
Conqueror became the Domesday
Book, unreliable today except by
scholars, yet protected in the public
record office at London as one of the
most precious possessions of England.
Russia's First Count In 1897.
"The United States, although
newcomer in the ranks of civilization,
was one Of the first nations to estab-
lish the modern periodic census. Swe-
den took the lead before our first cen
sus in 1890, but England, France and
Prussia did not see the necessity of
regular counting of noses until ten or
twenty years later. Russia took no
census until 1897.
"Deeply religious settlers of Amer
lea nearly upset our first census when
they harked back to another less
fortunate Bible census. Satan stood
up against Israeli our ancestors point
ed out to the marshals, and provoked
David to number Israel from Beershe-
ba even to DAM What happened?
God was displeased; therefore he
smOte Israel. The Lord sent pesti-
lence upon Israel; and there fell of
Israel 10000 men,
"Fears that our first census would
bring similar destruction upon the ma
tion did not materialize, so the mar
shals delivered their reports to Pres
ident Washington within nine months
for all the original states, except Yer.
mont, Rhode Island and South Caro-
lima. Vermont and Rhode Island en-
tered the Union later. The marshal of
South Carolina found workers scarce
at 81 per $50 heads counted.
"Today q visitor at the census bu-
reau may see the names of famous
Americans and the answers given to
the first census takers simple cues
tionnaires. John Hancock's family
consisted, of two free white males of
sixteen and upward three white fe-
males, seven other persons (servants
no doubt) and no slaves. Progress in
20 years presents contrast with data
for Abraham Lincoln collected in
1860: Age, fifty-one, married, law.
yer, value of real estate $5OOO-per-
sonal estate $4,000, Kentucky, place
of birth
"From one census every ten years
the census bureau has increased to
1O4 censuses, in addition to many spe-
cial surveys such as that made to sup
ply data to congress for immigration
quotas. One census collected every
week shows the number Of babies
born. Using these figures the bureau
sets up it's large calculator at an ex-
hibit and every 20 seconds announces
to the world that the millions Of
Americans has been increased, for ex-
ample, by baby No. 118,972,331.
Statistics About Buying.
mot content with counting men,
women and children, where they work,
whether they are in school and If so,
how long; not satisfied with tabulat-
ing the value of wheat grown and
tons of manganese ore dug out of the
ground; not resting even with sum-
ming up the business Of hats and
hammocks, shoes and sulphuric acid
manufactured in the United States
the census bureau proposes to com
plete the picture To finish the por-
trait in figures of the whole United
States, it is necessary, they say, to
have q census of distribution. That
means an accounting of what Is sold
to the housewife over the grocery,
drug and meat counters, and Of what
the wholesaler sells to the retailer.
Recently the census bureau released
its first experimental distribution sur
vey for which Baltimore served as
laboratory specimen. The weavers Of
figures found that in Baltimore 2S3
people are required to support one
neighborhood grocery; that Baltimore.
ans spend S45672 per year in stores
that the department stores take the
most; that Baltimore spends more on
automobiles than on furnishing its
homes and that in the average family
purchasing budget food requires 81
per cent, clothing 20 per cent and the
family automobile comes next with 8
per cent. The same survey has been