34 THE CENSUS OF 1900 



tioal interest in solar physics; transportation companies should find 

 an opportunity, quite equal to an exposition, a yacht race, or a grand 

 {)arade, of enticing many to make such an excursion. The fact that 

 the track, instead of falling on the inaccessil)le places of the earth, is 

 80 near to suitable hotel accommodations will make the event one of 

 unusual popularity in the United States. 



The U. S. Weather Bureau has been conducting a cloud surve}'' of 

 the region near the track during the seasons of 1897, 1898, and 1899, 

 with the object of determining the localities which have the least 

 tendency to cloudiness at that time of the year. The result is that 

 near the Atlantic Coast and extending back into North Carolina the 

 ])revailing cloudiness at the morning hour of the eclipse, 8 a. m. to 

 9 a. m., is about 40 j)er cent. In the states of Georgia and Alabama 

 the percentage falls to less than 20 per cent. Near the Gulf of Mexico, 

 in Mississipi)i and Louisiana, it rises again to more than 30 per cent. 

 Hence it follows that the chances for fair weather are about twice as 

 good in Georgia and Alabama — that is, on the highland of the southern 

 end of the Appalachian S3'stem — as near the coast in either direction. 

 Unfortunately the duration of the totality on the central line increases 

 from 1 minute 13 seconds near New Orleans, La., to 1 minute 42 seconds 

 near Norfolk, Va., so that astronomers would naturall}' select stations 

 as near the Atlantic Coast as possible, in order to secure the longest 

 look at the corona. Since the prol)ability of cloudiness is a maximum 

 at the very part of the track where the duration of the eclipse is greatest, 

 there must Ije some l)alancing of chances in selecting the sites of the 

 observing stations. 



F. H. BiGELOW. 



THE CENSUS OF 1900 



By Dr F. H. Wines, 



Assistant Director of the Census 



The census impresses the imagination of the American people as 

 something vast and m3'sterious simply because of the magnitude 

 of the numbers with which it deals and the extent of territory 

 which it covers. The elements that go to make up a census are 

 very few and very simple. The whole subject divides itself into two 

 parts, collection of data and handling of data collected. 



