Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 41, Number 133, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 December 1909 — The Census Man Is Coming; Lots of Questions Asked. [ARTICLE]

The Census Man Is Coming; Lots of Questions Asked.

The man with the book under his arm and the rapid-fire questions—the census man —is scheduled to make his decennial appearance in Indiana on April 15 to take an imprint of the family record back to Washington. No man, or woman, either, for the matter of that will be allowed to escape the interrogatories of the census taker, and it will do no good for the heads of households to shy at personal questions put by the government’s agent, who collects valuable data for the national archives. The information concerning the population and condition of employment and servitude has not been gathered for ten years, nnd the machinery for its garnering is now in the process of n/aking.

After collecting the customary routine of information, such as the name, age, sex, color or whether married or singje, the enumerator will be required to go into the personal details in the quest for data. The person who gives the information is required also to tell the enumerator the year of his or her immigration to this country if foreign born, and whether they are able to read and write the English language. They are also required to tell the trade or jfrofession or particular kind of work in which they and the other members of the family are engaged. It is also necessary for the enumerator to determine how many weeks every one in his district has been out of work during the year 1909. The question as to who are survivors of the Union or the Confederate armies or navies is also on the schedule. The information desired concerning the condition Of crops on Indiana farms is somewhat more extensive and the method by which this data is collected is more complicated. The enumerator is given thirty days to collect the data in the country districts, while in the cities and towns but two weeks are required.

William S. Spohn, father-in-law of Prof. R. A. Craig, veterinarian at Purdue university, fell dead Saturday In a hardware store at Lafayette, where he was purchasing the material for a Christmas toy for his grandchild. Spohn was sixty-six years old. The Rumley company, of Laporte, is planning to begin the operation of Its new plant, erected at a cost of $250,000, about the first of January. It is to begin work with a force of 200 men, making the total operating force of the Rumley company about 700 men. 1 Butter Wrappers for sale at The Republican* Office.