The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-06-07

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New York, June 6.-In one day l2,7si i'm
migrants landed at Ellis Island That was
the record OF twenty-four hours in April.
which has set the country thinking So
congested has the port of entry become
with the pauper hordes Of Europe hat the
facilities for examining each individual con-
sidered adequate one year ago hare been
so oveTtaxed that the unusual procedure of
inspecting steerage passengers at the pier
was resorted TO.
Ellis Island itself Is so thronsed with I'M
igrants there is hardly room TO move
around. Its capacity has been found 20 be
$500 a day. All Of the number which ar
rive above that figure are kept aboard
the ships which brought them. All pre-
vious records have been smashed
The work involved to pass in 500 is little
comprehended by those who have not Wis
led the island on rush" day. and
@:=tched the working of the great system
that goes on like clockwork in the large
floor in the main building when the rush
comes. on the record-breaking occasion
referred to the first arrivals were cleared,
and those beyond six or seven thousand
were held over until the next day.
ne lOllhNlI tldN IIlere was no cessation
to the influx. however. and re-enforcements
10 the number of 1895 arrived, making the
army on hand when Ellis Island opened
for business grand total of 1918 to be ad-
rnitted.
The immigrants on each boatload as it ar
rives are directed UP the main stairway in
single file. Over the railing of the balcony.
high above the main floor they see s,,s-
f.asst ,r<1
flag the design Of which many of them be-
hold for the first time-the Stars and Stripes
of freedom.
As the line moves up 10 the top OF the
stairway the papers of each immigrant are
stamped with arrival date. and their first
examination, that of the medical STAFF,
takes place. Each immigrant is carefully
scrutinized for the much-dreaded and con-
tagious diseases-favus and trachoma-
concealed arms Or hands are uncovered and
any lameness is inquired into.
Suspects are put aside into the detention
cage and further examined in the private
rooms Of the Hospital Board. and If in need
Of medical attention they are sent over 10
the hospital. large. new structure oppo-
site the boat slip. and thoroughly equipped
with the most modern and up-to-date appll-
ances for the treatment of any medical or
surgical cases.
Those who pass the medical inspection file
into the various compartments located on
the large main floor. which are num-
bered. Each immigrant is ticketed, and
there are thirty of each number. that be-
being the list Of names on each manifest.
When the recorders are ready for a squad
they are led out of the compartment and
form a line leading TO the recorders desks,
of which there are twelve at the west end
Of the floor. and several lines of immi-
grants are being examined at the same
time.
If all questions are properly answered and
the money in hand is sufficient. together
with good record. and the immigrant is
q promising addition to the population. he
or she passes down to the railroad floor
for transportation to New York or tils
great West. If however, the arrival is no,
all right he is held for the S. l.. or the
Board Of Special Inquiry. where his case is
further investigated and passed upon.
For the ex-crinlnal. the pauper. the la
Dor contract immigrant and the generally
undesirable rowing class the S. /. holds its
terrors and many a hard-faced. dIsreruta-
bic character. as well as the diseased pau
per, is not permitted to see the New World
of which he has heard SO much. but Is
transported back again, at the steamship
company's expense, TO the land whence he
came.
There are many causes for which an i'm
migrant may be turned back but pauper-
ism, III health and labor-contract laws de-
bar more foreigners than all the other
causes put together. During 1902 there were
<fis paupers deported ia contract laborers
and III diseased persons.
Each steamship company is required 10
exercise due care not to carry any persons
who will not comply with the rules and
regulations governing their admittance and
every compary's ship is required to carry
a physician and surgeon, whose duty 1t is
70 guard against any immigrants who
would cause the company expense or fur
Their trouble afssr landing them at Ellis
Island Despite the precautions. however,
statistics show that many are brought here
Only to be deported at the expense of the
steamship companies.
The sorrow. anguish and despair of some
Of the excluded are touching in the ex-
IRENE. but why should we, a prosperous.
young and God-fearing country, be loaded
down with the scum, the pauper and the
criminal classes of the older European and
Asiatic countries. who are only too glad
and eager to thrust on us the loathsome
burdens with which for centuries they have
been afflicted?
Give the sound-bodied young men and
women the chance and they grasp and pros
per under it. Go out to the middle and far
West and the North and Southwest and see
the prosperous homes of the alien settlers
who-came here decade ago with their hoe
and shovel See what they have done to
clear and break ground and form nucleus
for towns and villages where but quarter
CT a century ago vast wilderness existed
The pauper ex-criminal and diseased class
will not do that-they lack ambition and
have not in them the seed of progress. and
for such the immigrant doors of Ellis Is
land are not open.