Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-05-28
COACHING EnlGRAATs
An Extensive Industry in
London.
LAWS CIRCUMVENTED
so THAT UNDESIRABLE PERSONS
MAY COME HERE.
Oppression in Russia the Cause Of the
Great Exodus Of Hebrews to
the United States.
LAWS CIRCUMVENTED
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.


The manufacture of American citizens is
one of the many queer Industries carried on
in the Whitechapel district of London. 1t
is no inconsiderable business. either. for at
least five hundred Russian, Polish and Rou-
manian Jews are brought to this institu-
ton each week from their homes on the
continent, and In more or less time are con-
sidered sufficiently prepared for shipment
to the United States.
The building in which this enterprise Is
carried on is known as 1.-THE Poor Jews
Temporary Shelter" and its avowed pur-
pose Is to provide refuge for people of
that creed who have left their native lands
and beside instruction, reconstruction or
assistance to reach the United States.
Many Of them arrive in London without
sufficient money to pay their passage to
America. These are given an opportunity
to earn, or are assisted outright by Jewish
societies organized for that purpose and
supported by voluntary contributions.
Many of these exiles on their arrival in
London are found to be physically unfit for
examination by the American immigration
authorities and are kept in London until
they have been doctored up and put into
sufficiently good condition to be accepted
by the Steamship companies as equal to the
demands of the American restriction laws.
thoroughly Ooacneo.
All Of the Jews detained in London prior
to their embarkation for the United States
are thoroughly coached as to the questions
which will be asked them and the answers
which they should give to pass the examin-
alton and satisfy the American immigrant
authorities. Even the most ignorant of
them are shrewd and anxious to learn, and
not without a quick native wit. which
an thar TO foL frIlI nj 20 nf a
that is done for them. Most of the Jews
who come to London for this purpose pro-
coed on their journey to America within
few weeks after their arrival in England.
but the cases are known where 1t has taken
six months to put individuals in shape 81
as to temporarily at least present condi-
ton acceptable to the immigrant authori-
ties, or to come within the meaning Of the
American laws and regulations. To witness
the arrival of these people lat the port of
New York Is a strange experience for any
American who has not seen them previous
to such arrival. Those who reach America,
however, have been so thoroughly recon
structed as to appear to belong to a differ
ent race and 1t might be said a much SUI
perior one to the people who come to Lon
don and stop here to be reconstructed for
the purpose of gaining admission to tho
United States. They are a motley crowd
speaking strange tongues. dressed in weird
costume, and their appearance and habits
do not invite closer intimacy than Is alb
solutefy necessary.
That great nation of unwieldy methods of
procedure, Russia. has for twenty years en-
forced laws resulting III the driving of the
Jews through oppression from their homes
to foreign lands Under the lash of these
restrictions and harsh treatment, hundreds
of thousands of Russian Jews have fed to
the United States, England and Germany,
but at last the Russian government. has
realized its political as well as economic
error. and some modification of the present
Russian laws ir. regard to the Jews win
shortly be brought about by M. Plehve, the
Russian minister OF the interior. M. Plehve
has recently made the statement that he re-
CARDS the existing regulations as obsolete
and as having been productive of much mis-
chief The reforms will be principally in re-
moving the restrictions now placed upon the
Jews ia the matter OF occupation. for as
things now stand there are very few en-
Payments which are open for the Jew in
Russia
q. 8. Laws Circumvented.
The Jaws of the United States enacted for
the purpose of protecting the American peo-
pie against disease, pauperism and crime
from abroad are thus circumventcd through
this Jewish Shelter N London. The utter
absence Of any intelligent restriction of i'm
migration into England accounts for the
selection of London as a convenient point
for this halfway station. If all the Russian
emigrants bound for the United States were
compelled to pass through the European
ports from which shipments are made di-
rect to America, 1t would be impossible to
maintain system of reconstruction such as
is carried on in London Nearly all of the
emigran.s from Russia whose qualifications
are sucn as to give them admission to the
United States sail from the ports of Ham
burg, Antwerp or Bremen, and the enor-
nous travel from these ports has made
necessary special accommodations for this
traffic. AT Hamburg the emigrants as
semble in depot, the most elaborate. of its
kind in the world. 1t has accommodations
for over two thousand people at a time.
The emiSrapts are received in a commo-
dious waiting hail. their papers are examin-
ed ana they are then separated according to
sex and religion. unmarried girls being Kept
apart FROM married women
They then pass into a bath room tba
clothes of each individual being placed I'm
a separate net which bears a metal num-
Der, each emigrant being given a CORE
Spohoing number, which he hangs around
ms neck These nets are then hung up in
a revolving cylinder. which carries them
into chamber heated to a high tempera-
ture and passed out again into another
cyhnder, where the owner, on finishing his
apiut1ons, RECEIVERS his clothes thorouehly
disinfected
The people are then allotted to the Diff
ferent wards, each ward containing twenty
beds For the payment of a small EXTRA
sum, they can get better rooms very well
Iurnlshed and only containing four beds.
Three meals are supplied daily and the
JeWisn emigrants are separated from the
Christians, special kitchens and diet. under
Jewish supervision. being provided for the
former. In the restaurant an orchestra
plays to the emigrants twice a day. There
are canteens where the regular bill of fare
can be supplemented at low cost, and
shops IN the building where clothes and all
necessarfes for travellers can be obtained
at low prices. There are two churches.
one Lutheran and one Roman Catholic. and
synagogue for the Jews.
Inspected by tho Doctor.
Each emigrant is Inspected daily by the
doctor. and before the passenger can Sc
cure ticket for America he must produce
his daily medical record satisfactorily
filled In. Every night before ship sails
social gathering Is held by the emigrants
who have been gathered at the depot for
a week or more. and thus become generally
acquainted with each other and a dance
enlivens the proceedings before the final
departure. This depot was built by the
Hamburg-American steamship line at very
large cost and the elaborate ARRANGEMENTS
made are the direct result of the American
restrictive law. II 1t were not for the
American restrictions. the steamship COM
panies would pay very much less atten-
ton to the health, comfort and welfare of
the emfgrants than they do now
The people who arrive at this depot and
successfully pass the examination are more