NATION : Census Mop-Up Starts Today

WASHINGTON —  The Census Bureau began the second phase of the 1990 census today, sending out tens of thousands of door-to-door census takers in an effort to overcome the suspicion and changed lifestyle that snarled the first stage of the count.

Census Bureau spokesman Ray Bancroft said 250,000 census takers--about 56,000 more than originally planned--will begin visiting households that did not mail back their census forms by the April 20 cutoff date.

The agency had originally hoped that 70% of the more than 90 million forms put in the mail at the end of March would have been returned by the April 20 deadline.

Early estimates by the bureau said it expected to count about 250 million Americans living in 106 million housing units in 1990.

But with only a 63% return rate, the bureau’s second phase, expected to last through June, will have to visit between 35 million and 37 million homes.