Januabt 10, 1919] 



SCIENCE 



39 



Census Bureau during 1918 directed a part of 

 its energies to the compilation of war statis- 

 tics. The incre^ise in this class of work was 

 So large that the number of employees engaged 

 on it rose from 92 on July 1, 1918, to 231 on 

 September 1. 



The war work done by the bureau covers a 

 wide range. Its more important phases in- 

 clude canvasses of manufacturers and dealers 

 to ascertain the consumption and stocks on 

 hand of certain raw materials used in war 

 industries, and the production and stocks on 

 hand of commodities made therefrom; the 

 classification of occupations of military regis- 

 trants, an undertaking that necessitated the 

 handling and rehandling of more than 8,000,- 

 000 cards; estimates of population for use 

 as a basis in the apportionment of the first 

 draft; the allocation of enlistments; and the 

 determination of registrants' ages from cen- 

 sus records. In addition to carrying on these 

 and other specific lines of work at the request 

 of the war agencies of the government, the 

 bureau has complied with many requests for 

 information which had a bearing on the prob- 

 lems arising in connection with the war. 



During the fiscal year the bureau carried on 

 13 regular and 7 special lines of work, in 

 addition to the war work and the preparations 

 for the Fourteenth Census. The regular in- 

 quiries included canvasses of water transpor- 

 tation and shipbuilding, of electrical indus- 

 tries, of religious bodies, of births and deaths, 

 of state and municipal finance of cotton and 

 cotton seed, and of stocks of leaf tobacco in 

 the hands of manufacturers and dealers. 



The work on birth and death statistics has 

 been considerably expanded during recent 

 years. These statistics are gathered only from 

 those states and municipalities which main- 

 tain adequate registration systems. 



The special work done by the bureau in- 

 cluded a census of the Virgin Islands re- 

 cently purchased from Denmark. These is- 

 lands have a total area of 132 square miles, 

 and the total population on November 1, 

 1917, was 20,051. 



Another special line of work undertaken 



by the bureau was the tabulation of data 

 covering the disputed areas of Europe and 

 Africa — that is, those areas whose final dispo- 

 sition will be determined by the outcome of 

 the war. 



The force of the Census Bureau in Wash- 

 ington comprises 684 officials and employees, 

 and in addition there are employed through- 

 out the cotton belt approximately 700 local 

 special agents who make periodical collections 

 of cotton and cottonseed statistics. 



In order to avoid waste and delay in the 

 conduct of the next decennial inventory of the 

 coimtry's population, agriculture and indus- 

 tries, to be made in 1920, the bureau is carry- 

 ing on such preparatory work as can be done 

 prior to the enactment of the pending bill to 

 provide for the Fourteentli Census. Under 

 this bill, if it is enacted into law, all the 

 clerical and subclerical force of the bureau 

 will be appointed through open competitive ex- 

 aminations, held by the United States Civil 

 Service Commission, as at the census of 1910. 



The Fourteenth Census will cover the sub- 

 jects of population; agriculture, including 

 irrigation and drainage; manufactures; and 

 mines, quarries and oil and gas wells. The 

 undertaking will require the services of a field 

 force of about 85,000 or 90,000, chiefly enum- 

 erators. 



THE BUREAU OF STANDARDS 



The annual report for 1918 of Dr. Samuel 

 W. Stratton, director of the Bureau of Stand- 

 ards, reports that the regular work of the 

 bureau has yielded important results. Apart 

 from new researches, a large volume of testing 

 was completed, more than 300,000 separate 

 tests being made. The construction of the 

 new industrial laboratory, the completion of 

 the metallurgical laboratory, and the building 

 of a number of emergency war laboratories 

 for airplane investigations were events of in- 

 terest, and will bo of great value in the 

 development of the several branches of tech- 

 nology within the bureau's field. 



When the United States entered the war, the 

 bureau already possessed exceptional facilities, 

 equipment, and personnel, chemistry and engi- 



