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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 3, 1960)
t Census Taker Wants To See YOU He's not a snooper or a tattletale, just somebody who helps us build roads, make clothes, plan schools, and do many other things by Jack Harrison Pollack Some 160,000 men and women soon will be fan ning out in all directions in the most far-flung man hunt in history. They will cover roughly 25 million miles or 1,000 times around, the world in pursuit of facts about an estimated 180 million Americans from Hawaii to Alaska. This formidable army of sleuths will visit 60 mil lion city and rural households, bringing to a climax the 1960 U.S. census, which is now under way. To gather their firsthand statistical story of every man, woman, and child in the nation, they will track down people wherever they are to be found, whether it be city or wilderness. They will make their way into caves, mines, tun nels, boxcars, barn lofts, abandoned streetcars, and other unlikely habitations. They will fly helicopters in isolated Western mountain areas, use rowboats in the Southern delta, slog by dog sled along the What the Census Will Show After the 1960 census findings are completed, reports running to approximately 100,000 pages will be published. Here is a Family Weekly preview of what Census Bureau officials expect to find. - 7 ; ' : , : : 1. The largest population increase in U.S. history. The 1950 U.S. nose count was 151,132,000, com pared with an estimated 180,000,000 in 1960. 2. More women than men. In 1950, women outnum bered men for the first time by a million. In 1960 the feminine lead will probably jump to two million. 3. More young and old people. The nation had. 38 million children under 14 in 1950, and the figure - may soar to 55 million for 1960. Similarly, the 12 million persons over 65 a decade ago may reach 16 million in 1960. 4. More married couples. In 1950, there were 36 mil lion married couples,' compared with an expected 40 million in 1960. - , . ' v 5. More houses and apartments.. Ten years ago the nation had 46 million dwelling units. This figure wiU probably reach 58 milhon m this census. , " 6. More people in cities and suburbs. In 1950, nearly - two out of three Americans lived in cities with ' - more than 2,500 population and in areas surround ing cities of 50,000 population The 1960 census . - will probably confirm this strong city-suburban 1 trend and a continued decline in farm population. - 7. More children in schools. Thirty million children . ... were enrolled in schools in 1950. This year 45 mil lion probably will be counted. vVv: -ft. More women workers. In the past eight years, the number of women workers especially married women working outside their homes increased by four million. The 1960 census is expected to .show an even higher figure. Arctic Circle. Their man hunt will take them inside prisons, hospitals, and countless other institutions. There is nothing vague or whimsical about the questions they will ask when they come calling on you. On the contrary t the information unearthed by census sleuths will affect the way Americans live during the next ten years. The facts will enable government, private industry, and labor to plan their programs with a minimum of guesswork. New hospitals, schools, factories, supermarkets, and transportation facilities will be built because of what census figures reveal about us. Businessmen use census statistics to determine their production. An automobile manufacturer, for example, doesn't draw a number out of a hat to decide how many new cars to build. Nor does a clothing manufacturer arbitrarily decide how many winter coats to pro duce. Each is guided by census figures which give an accurate picture of his potential market. Even your state's representation in Congress may be affected by 1960 population figures. The U.S. Constitution requires that seats in the House of Representatives "...shall be apportioned among the ... States ... according to their respective num bers ..." Thus, California is expected to have more Congressmen after the 1960 census, and Maine and New York fewer. The law requires you to answer census ques tions, so don't try to avoid or withhold information from the enumerator who calls on you. There's really no reason to, since the information you give is confidential and can't be used against you. In fact, a census taker who violates the oath of secrecy can be fined $1,000 and jailed for two years. Chances are, census takers will be bitten by dogs, chased by bears, gored by bulls, butted by goats, and wet by babies. But it would take more than such hazards to deter them from their quest for information. They are prepared, too, for some unique, amusing, and hazardous situations. One nose counter in a previous census noticed a prospector on the opposite bank of a river. Since there was no boat handy, he swam across with paper and pencil in his teeth. In 1950, another census taker was barred from a nudist colony until he shed his garments. Then the nudists willingly answered his questions. Nothing seems to faze the experienced census taker. One male enumerator ascended an 80-foot flagpole to get the facts from a steeple jack who refused to come down. Census takers are inured, too, to some surpris ing replies to innocent questions. When a Brook lyn secretary, for example, was asked if she shared a bath, she replied indignantly, "I always bathe alone.'" And a woman who was asked to name the "head of the household" replied, "That's me. My husband is the figurehead." People often lie about their ages, especially women between 45 and 60. One mother of a 22-year-old daughter insisted she was only 29. When the DRAWINGS BY DON MARGOIIS enumerator pointed out the discrepancy, she ad mitted, "I've lied about my age so long, I've for gotten how old I really am." On the other hand, men in their 90s often claim to be 100. "Many men tend to round out their ages upward in round numbers," says a census official. In their rounds, census takers sometimes are called on to perform acts of heroism. One arrived just in time to join a bucket brigade and help save a burning building he had come to enumerate. An other, smelling gas in a city apartment, forced open the door and resuscitated an unconscious woman. The hardest people to track down are those trav eling around the country in search of work or ad venture. To reach them, on March 31 the Census Bureau will stage a T- (for Transients) Night Enu merators will visit hotels, motels, rooming houses, railway stations, trailer camps, YMCAs. In addition, on April 8 and 18, a supplementary M- (for Mission) Night will be held. Census takers will descend on skid-row dives, all-night movies, hobo jungles, kitchen shelters, shantytowns, and even less-reputable establishments. To streamline the giant 1960 nose count, the Bu reau of the Census has devised a new do-it-yourself technique. This month, 380 temporary offices will be opened to supplement the 17 permanent regional offices. During February, the 160,000 census takers and 10,000 crew leaders will be hired. And in late March, every household and lived-in institution in the U.S. will be mailed an advance census ques tionnaire asking seven basic questions about all members of the household: name, address, rela tionship to head of household, sex, color or race, month and year of birth, and marital status. In addition, a housing section of this simple form will ask the number of rooms in your house or apartment, whether you own or rent it, whether you have kitchen or cooking equipment, hot and cold running water, a flush toilet, a bathtub or shower. For two weeks starting April 1, census takers will collect these questionnaires and transfer the information to a master sheet. At every fourth (Continued on page 13) Not swamp nor snow nor bulls nor barking hounds stay the census taker from his appointed rounds. 4 Family Weekly, January 3, 1960
