Census Taker Better Have a Lot of Pencils

Head-count time for the nation is approaching--and the 2000 census will require about 10,000 workers in L.A. County, said spokesman Jim Foy. In 1850, the force for this region was quite a bit smaller. It was one person, actually.

John R. Evertsen, the intrepid 1850 enumerator, ventured on horseback across a vast region--Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties were still a part of L.A. then--recording 8,329 souls with his trusty pencil.

And he was nothing if not conscientious. Writer Shefrah Ann Rozenstain noted that Evertsen made a return trip to El Monte when he heard that two new families had moved in.

They were the Macys and the Heaths, if you’re going to get nosy.

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FOLLOW THESE EASY INSTRUCTIONS: L. Tremont of Long Beach found a puzzling sentence in a booklet accompanying an imported Ping-Pong table, while Gary Gray of West L.A. spotted an impossible requirement for assembling a piece of IKEA furniture (see accompanying).

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MALL TOWN PRIDE: Ex-Chicago Bear star Walter Payton recently said he would like to establish an NFL franchise in Ontario--yes, the Ontario off the 10 Freeway, not the one in Canada.

And columnist David Allen of the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, obviously seeing an opportunity to deal a deathblow to L.A.’s chances, held a reader contest to come up with a name for the team.

The nominees included the Californians, the Inland Emperors and the Smogulators.

And the winner . . .

Ontario Mallrats, suggested by Wendy Brown of that city. She wins tickets to see the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes baseball team. Added Allen: “Give me a call, Wendy, to let me know how many tickets you need.”

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FREEWAY CLOSE: Allen’s efforts aside, I’m certain that the NFL actually will succumb to the charms of another bidder, Carson. There’s no reason to steal Allen’s idea and solicit possible names for that franchise. It’s obvious from its scenic geographic location what Carson would be called:

The 405ers.

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L.A. TRIVIATA: On Doran Street near Griffith Park, you can find a manhole cover that says “Made in India” (see photo). That’s India--not Indio (or even Ontario). Guess the city couldn’t find any manhole cover makers closer than 10,000 miles that year.

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THE OTHER UCLA: A college guide that said USC was “22 miles south of L.A.” prompted me to question the other day whether the book was really referring to the University of Southern Cerritos. Which prompted John Vrsalovich to write: “You made me think of my days growing up in Downey, where we dreamed of going to ‘UCLA’--University of Cerritos, Left at Alondra . . .” Vrsalovich adds he did attend the UCLA that’s located in Westwood.

miscelLAny:

L.A.-close USC has established a new cause--the Richard Saukko Memorial Fund, named in honor of the late owner/rider of the equine mascots named Traveler. USC Trojan Family magazine says the fund is for the upkeep of a “home for Travelers, past, present and future.” Remember, all you Trojan donors--just say neigh.

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Steve Harvey can be reached by phone at (213) 237-7083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com and by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, L.A. 90053.