Hope you don't mind this rather lengthy article, but it seems modern-day census takers are facing some of the challenges their forebears did! No wonder we can't find our ancestors when they "should" be there!! The following article is on AOL, and I have shortened it up some. Sandy Rural Census-Takers Brace for Challenges By GENARO C. ARMAS .c The Associated Press MANHEIM, Pa. (May 16) - The travel can be tough, especially when you have to walk down dirt driveways in 90-degree heat. The job pays $11.25 an hour, but dealing with people can sometimes be a challenge, especially when they just don't want to talk. When that happens, census-taker Lois Weaver just grins and moves on to the next home or farm. It's what the 440,000 Census Bureau workers must do to track down the 42 million households around the country which did not return a questionnaire. For people like Weaver, who work in more rural areas, the job can be tougher. Rural areas got a higher percentage of long forms than cities - the same 53-question long form that has sparked debate over whether the Census Bureau asks questions that are too intrusive. ''Most people are nice, friendly and helpful,'' said Weaver, a gift shop owner who took the Census Bureau job to help buy a new computer. ''But if someone's not going to fill it out, I can't make them. Seventy-eight million of the 120 million forms mailed out have been returned, leaving census-takers to track down the missing 42 million. The operation ends on July 7. There have been reports of census-takers being chased off porches by gun-toting homeowners. One enumerator near Tahlequah, Okla., was invited into a home, but wasn't allowed to leave until two hours later, said Titus Frenchman, manager of the Tulsa, Okla., Census Bureau office. ''We now move from one phase of the census to another - the very demanding task of convincing people who did not return their forms to cooperate when census-takers come to their door,'' Prewitt said. ''If we stopped now, the results could be disastrous for many communities.'' More long forms are missing this year than in the last census 10 years ago: the response rate gap doubled from 6 percent to 12 percent during that time. Overall, 1 of 6 households across the country were randomly selected to get the long form. But the ratio fell to 1 out of 4, or 1 out of 2 in more rural areas in order to get detailed information that was statistically comparable to data from cities. Some census-takers go to unusual lengths to get the job done. In Maine, workers used lobster boats to sail to remote island homes, while in Santa Fe County, N.M., employees needed four-wheel drive vehicles to travel over rough roads to get to isolated homes. John Trochmann, co-founder of the Militia of Montana, says he tells people they should only answer questions that deal with age, skin color, address and sex. ''We've been very cooperative, and we urge everyone to cooperate up to that point,'' said Trochmann, of Noxon, Mont. ''These so-called census-workers here are neighbors of us, we are not hostile to anyone. Unless they draw first blood, in which case we better be prepared.'' Mark Hendrick, a Census Bureau area manager for Montana, Utah and Wyoming, said enumerators are trained to handle the stickiest of situations. Except in areas where safety is a concern, census-takers usually do the job on their own. Michael Zdan, of Bear Creek, Pa., is a census-taker whose territory includes isolated mountain homes and out-of-the way lakeside resorts in the Pocono Mountains. He takes a gentle approach if someone declines to answer his questions. ''I tell them, 'If you don't answer now, then another enumerator will knock on your door, so you might as well as just get it over with now,''' Zdan said. AP-NY-05-16-00 0153EDT Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.