The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1886-11-04
CASTLE GARDENS SAGE.
A Man who Has Received Immi-
grants for Forty Years Casts an
Eye Over the Past OF the
RMrAnm.


Persons who visit Castle Garden are
likely to have their attention attracted
by the appearance and demeanor OF
venerable man whose history is coeval
with that Of the board of emigration
itself The other clerks in the bureau
for information look clipper and natty
In their blue uniforms, but the old man
dresses in sombre broadcloth and wears
a tile that was popular in Robert EN-
NETS timo and suggests strongly the
18th of March.
James @ Callaghan has advanced far
into the last quarter OF century OF
existence, and he has been in the SER
vice of the commissioners Of emigra-
ton since the board was organized in
! 1S47. He claims to have held office
continuously for longer period than
any clerk now in the public service, and
he says that during these forty years he
has never had vacation, he has never
been a witness in court of justice, and
has never been called upon to substan-
tate his allegations by affidavit. He is
clean shaven, has bright, clear-cut
features, and looks as young as a man
twenty years his junior. His memory
is clear, although he is little uncer-
/ tain as to dates.
You have seen q good deal of the
dark side of life in your timer" sug-
| gested the reporter rs the octOgenarian
| took seat in pensive mood.
"Yes, and good deal that was
bright and cheerful, too" he respond
ed. Wonders have been done for the
immigrant since the state took the mat
ter in hand"
| you are conversant with the bust
ness of the board since it was organ
ized?"
| II have served steadily under every
board that has held Office since the or
gan eaton, on May 5. 1847. All the
original commissioners, with their
clerks and attendants, have passed
away, and am now the last rose of
summer left blooming alone. l can re-
member distinctly the enthusiasm with
which Mayor Havemeyer. who was the
first president, entered on the duties of
his office. The immigrants in those
days were looked upon as the lawful
prey of shipping agents. clearinghouse
1
on the dishonor of unprotected females.
The board had to fight an organized
horde of land-sharks, we'll skilled in
their trade, amply provided with
money. The breaking up of the pow
erful ring that existed forty years ago
is due mainly to the labors of such men
as Havemeyer, Gulian G. Verplanck,
Charles II. Marshall, Gregory Dillon,
Robert B. Minturn, Cirrus Curtiss,
George w. Blunt. Ambrose c. Kings
land, Capt. McArdle, John A. Kennedy,
Andrew Carrigan, aud Elijah F. Purdy,
who was known as the old War Horse
The board was established not day too
soon, for just at that time several
causes combined to swell the tide of
immigration to these shores to enor-
nous proportions"
what were these causes?"
The first Irish famine of 1916; the
discomfort and signs of revolution in
Germany about the same time; the stir
made in the cast by the Mexican war,
and finally the gold fever. which broke
out in California Immediately after
ward. Prior to 1845 immigration was
comparatively small, but during the
years from 1S45 to 1854 Ireland sent
here over l, 500 900 of people, and Ger
many nearly 100000. For the first
seven or eight years after the boards
existence Ireland sent more immigrants
than any other country. Then Ger
many took the ascendant and main
tanned it up to the breaking out of the
war. when ireland came to the front
once more. Since the war the Ger
mans have been coming more numer-
ously than ever before, and official
figures indicate that the total immigra-
ton from Germany exceeds that from
Ireland considerably over half NIL
lion, the arrivals from the two countries
since the board was organized being,
in round numbers, 100000"
How does ocean emigrant travel
compare now from a sanitary point of
view with what it formerly wasp
''Since the great steamship lines
have been established travel across the
ocean has lost nearly all its terrors. It
was different when the unfortunate
emigrant engaged a bunk in the hold
of a packet ship. Now the voyage is
made in eight or ten days then it took
six or eight weeks: The steamship
lines feed their passengers, while the
packets supplied only water, and
wretches who happened to be unpro-
yided with sufficient food OF cooking
utensils were committed to a watery
grave after perishng from starvation.
Ship fever. cholera, and small pox were
to be found aboard almost every ship.
During the first year of the existence
of the board twenty thousand persons
persisted in the hospitals on Staten
island and Wards island from diseases
contracted at sea. For some years
afterward the deaths at sea numbered
nearly two thousand. 1t was coolly
calculated when ship weighed anchor
in the Mersey that 8 per cent. of the
: passengers would never live to see
! Sandy Hook
Under what flag did the packet
ships sails'
more than half the traffic was con-
Quoted in American bottoms, and Eng
. land took ths next place. The princi-
pal American lines were Tapscot's,
Collins & Co.. Charles H. Marshall &
| Co., and the Black Ball line. Williams
& Guion represented the heaviest Eng
; lsh interests. The cost of passage
r without food or bedding was usually Is
: sterling, and the unfortunate people
were huddled together like negroes in
a slave-ship."
} How do the immigrants of the pres
| ent day compare with those of forty
years ago?"
"Those now arriving are far more in
, telligent, more sober, and more cleanly,
! and nearly all of them have definite
plans and are provided with more OF
less means"
, Your board has moved its head
9 quarters from time to timer"
"Well, yes, at periodical intervals
/ but l think its moving days are now
ended. Its first office was in the old
, almshouse in CITY Hall park. 1t next
took quarters in FRANKLIN street, below
Church; its third abiding place was in
4 the basement of the city hall, and after
= the fire in that building during the cable