The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1903-03-03

the little cutter. her deck rail way out
of view in the upper regions. the vel
come sight Of open ports was greeted
with a threefold sigh of relief.
: 1T isn't that I'm at all nervous"
said Miss Wichman, but that ladder
is pretty steep. you know"
Afraid? Not much," said Miss lay
Tor; but l think it was very nice of
them to have our climb that way"
while Miss Harrison of Washington,
who says she is a Hoosier and Lives
wind n water" was the first to go
hand over hand up the lungs
Then the battery Of cameras opened
fire, and the man on deck sang cut.
Never mind your feet, look up above
there; the cameras won't hur you
and in less than two minute the last
of the three had scrambled into the
open port. Once on board they 1rade
straight for the second cabin, where
each took up her position al the elbow
of a man inspector and watched him
go over the manifest. Why do you do
that?" were the questions that sonie-
times Interrupted his own steady
stream of What is your age?" How
much money have you now with ycu?"
and Where are you going?" The
ships doctor also came in for his share
Of interrogations, and if the new In
spectors did nothing else they at least
acquired a considerable amount Of USE
full Information and furnished diversion
for the long lines of waiting passengers.
who considered them as something Of
a joke.
Then work will be wholly confined
to the first and second cabins. all steer
age passengers going, as heretofore,
through the regular Ellis Island rou-
tine.
A young and pink checked person in
the wake Of a burly individual, who
seemed more or less interested in her.
was singled out by n of the novices
as a fit subject for catechism Practice.
rs no other with you," came
the first question, which was answered
by a timid shake of the head and an
appealing upward glance at the broad
shoulders before her. Where Is your
mother?" Another head shake. And
your father?" severely. For all an
swers the small pink checked person
buried her face in the coattails Of the
burly person., whom by this time the
questioning man inspector a dlscov-
cred to be her father, and the novice
retired without a find.
Among several who were detained
for "cross-examination," however, was
eighteen-year-old Esther Greaves, of
Kent, England, who had made the &C
quaintance of "a very nice travelling
nan on the way over, and was anx-
ious to proceed West at once in his
care. Miss Greaves possessed exactly
81, and her destination was a Fran
cisco, though she showed the inspector
a letter from her brother, IN which he
said re would meet her in Chicago.
Some railroad men on the dock nave
my ticket" explained Miss Greaves in
~ IN
take care of me-" indicating her snug
faced new found friend. Neither in
spector nor inspectress seemed wholly
convinced of the advisability Of this ar
rangeInent, especially as the railroad
men on the loci" were apparently not
forthcoming. Perceiving finally that
American inspectors of the rort Of New
York We're not exactly malleable ma
teria1, the very nice travelling man.
melted way into obscurity. leaving his
little friend to find her way to Ellis Is
land and out again as best she might.
By this time, Miss Taylor and Miss
Wichman, having finished their share
of the passengers had hurried off to
the Barge Office again to go down with
the next detail of inspectors. Miss
Harrison however. under whose SUPER
vision the Esther Greaves episode mad
occurred remained to see It through.
In stepping from the ship she was
accosted by a jovial Individual at the
docks edge with Are you Miss
Greaves?"
What do you want of Miss
Greaves?" returned Miss Harrison, I'M
mediately on the defensive.
Just had a ticket for San Francisco
for her and some money and tile
grams" replied the railroad official.
meekly.
But no hint of Miss Greaves where
abouts would Miss Harrison divrlge
until she had secured the mans off,
cial card n closely inspected all lis
credentials. When at last she was sat
isfied that he was not any sort Of a
wolf in sleeps clothing she hurried
back to the cabin. where Miss Greaves
was quietly crying over the per5istency
of several camera iends. ard escorted
her to the brass buttoned. blue cnared
official. under whose care she would
continue her journey. Then, with a
smile of satisfaction and a sens of
duty we'll done. the last Of this trio of
"inspectresses' departed from the Geek.
and the inspectors under inspection
breathed a long sigh of relief.
During the first few days the new in
spectors will work together. but as they
become better acquainted With the de-
tails of the routine they Will 50 diE ide
theii duties that 10 work may be dup
Heated and no time lost. They az
pressed themselves IS pleased with
their view of the duties so far. md
are apparently anticipating an agreea-
bic spring.
Why" said one of them, cts alulrst
as good as taking a trip. We won't
have to go out of town at all this sum-
mer, will We"
They're counting big on ~reaplc'rt-
ment, aren't they" said an official.
'but wait till they run up against some
first rabiner who won't take their
questioning. Then we'll see frew .rks.
and somebody'H get fired, too."-New
York Tribune
Denfh of Colonel Alfred Landau