Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-03-30
PROFITS TO THE TRANsP0RTA.
TON Co1GPANIEA
People Are Peaceful in Disposition, bu,
They Are Dirty and Liable
to Contagious Diseases.
eeial Correspondence Of The Evening Star.

Gu ny the Steamship companies, OF Dy lne
immigration officials at Ellis Island. they
will in time become American citizens.
They are not dangerous class of inn
| migrants In so far as their dispositions lie,
| but their insanitary habits and tendency
to contagious diseases make them an ele-
| ment of population to be more or less
feared. There are no anarchists among
| them and they seldom become public
| charges in their adopted country, because
| of their mutual support of each other in
times OF privation. They leave Armenia,
Syria and Greece because of the informa-
| ton which Is brought to them of plenty of
work at good wages in the new world, and
almost invariably they are assisted to a
change OF residence by relatives who have
| gone before.
Profitable to Transportation Companies.
The movement of these people is profitable
! to the transportation companies 1t is en-
couraged In every possible way for COM
mercial reasons. and with the added in
ducement of political and religious freedom
and the announcement of others of their
fellow countrymen. who have established
! themselves in business in the United States
there is no difficulty in keeping up to a high
tide this stream of humanity flowing mostly
from the dominion of the Turk to the
promised land. Public sentiment in the
United States Is rather kindly disposed to-
ward the Armenians and Syrians because
any tale OF oppression arouses the SYM
pathy OF the American people. American
missionaries in these lands urge emigra-
tion. and a certain amount of sentiment
tally tends toward Ieniency in passing
them through the immigration barriers at
the Atlantic ports
They go to Marseille on the numerous
steamers plying between the Levant and
france IN great numbers averaging posi-
ply nearly 10000 every twelve months.
a I'D
through to the United States before thew
leave their homes. Others merely pay
their way to Marseille and secure the rest
Of their Transportation here
They are met at the docks by runners and
touts of all descriptions, representing trans-
portat1on companies. supply houses and
money brokers. These representatives are
generally fellow Turks more intelligent
better educated and shrewder than the rest
and as a rule entirely INSCRIPTIONS as to
the methods they may employ to secure
a part. If not the whole. of the funds which
the emigrant may have In his possession
Iney are taken in squads to the hotels es-
tablished for their reception and are care
fully guarded to see that outsiders do not
receive any benefit from their visit and
also that they do not get loose in France
contrary to the law
The French government is represented nv
number OF commissionafres who are SUM-
posed to take the name of every new ar
rival. Keep watch over him until he leaves
the city. and as each emigrant departs his
name Is checked OF the list as having been
disposed Of The French steamship COM
pany naturally has the lions share of this
business. ana most of the emigrants go to
Havre or Boulogne and sail direct to New
York from one or the other Of those ports
Emigrant Hotels.
The emigrant hotels are constructed after
the plan OF corral. surrounded by mar
row two-story buildings. and a guard is
paced at the exits to see that none es-
capes, ether through unfamiliarity with
surroundings or FOR the purpose of chang
Ing lodgings. The buildings are made of
stone and tile. and in the best rooms a had
Is furnished for ten cents night while
the ordinary sleeping accommodation costs
each emigrant hve cents a night. During
the day these people stand or sit about the
open court in groups. and at night as MANY
OF them sleep In single room as can And
space upon the floor to stretch their
nodles straw mat with such covering as
cney may have in their possession is their
bed. Their food Is furnished from a resfau-
rant attached to the hotel which sells nor
tons or coarse but well-cooked ytands af
prices ranging from two to five cents a Dor
When they arrive they are generally
clothed IN their native costume but are
soon convinced by the active agents OF the
Supply houses that to 60 to the United
states they must have a suit such as Is
worn by the people Of civilized countries
and 1t is not long before thew are trans.
formed from picturesque though dirty lot
OF people into commonplace and stfll
dirty assemblage OF men, women and chill
dren dressed much as they can be seen anv
day on the streets Of New York.
BEFORE they are allowed to proceed beyond
M&rseiiies they must get a health certificate
from the doctor employed by the transnorS
tation lines, for il they are diseased thew
Will De refused admittance at Ellis TsIonj
and the steamship companies will have ~
na,ns them back to France. The universal
cause OF rejection is trachoma, q disease of
the eyes which resembles what Is populariv
known as graduated lids. Nearly 70 ner
cent OF the people who arrive in MarseiIIe
trouble; snd many who do not seem to have
1t ON arrival develop /: rapidly afterwsrd
or 1t appears in their children. IF fonnd
free from disease they receive card from
age and nationality, and across the face ~
which Ia inscribed the word .sbon. !" m
gooo They are then put into special emf
grant cars and taken to Havre. and upon
ARRIVAL in New York are met by relatives
and friends OF their own nationaIitv uho
give the necessary guarantee that the new
arrivals Will not become. dependents and
are thus introduced to life in the new world.
Many OF them, after working from three
to ten years in the United States. come hack
tor time and then return to the States
with either their wives or several other
members of their numerous families. IF thew
to say. If the steamship surgeon decides that
they would be rejected at Ellis Island for
physical reasons, they are refused transpor-
tation and generally take passage at once
for South America: going tn either Brazil
or the Argentine Republic, where there are
no such restrictions on their admittance.
Armenians, Syrians and Turks.
About one-thfrd of the Armenians Syr-
ians and Greeks who go to the United
States, and these number about 5000 a
year. become American citizens The others
retain their Turkish citizenship for the pur-
pose OF re-entering Turkey at some future
time. either to bring over their people or to
visit their native land. II they have become
American citizens they are not allowed to
return to Turkey, and thosA who do come
back, having retained their Turkish citizen-
ship, always stOutly maintain that they
have come back to Turkey to live the rest
OF their lives Their praise OF the United
States Is universal They believe 1t to be
the best country In the world: with better
opportunities for obtaining money and a
freedom from annoyance Incidental to the
conduct OF government which they have
never before experienced. These emigrants
are all opposed to Turkish rule, and many
OF them have an ambition to live lonx
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