The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1905-12-29
PATCHING Up IMMIGRANTS
"cuRlNo" OF DISEASED ALIENS is
DESCRIBED BY DIR. FIsHBERG.
TREMENDOUS INDUSTRY ABROAD
Special Inspector Of United States Inn.
migration Service Tells How Foreign
Doctors Make Undesirable Persons
Able to Enter Our Land.

Able to Enter Our Land.
That diseased European immigrants
are "doctored up" in great numbers
for shipment to the United States Is
the charge made by DR.. Maurice Fish.
berg of New York city, Il special in
spector Of the immigration service OF
the United States, who recently return
ed from abroad, says the New York
Tribune DR.. Fishberg spent several
months in the old world, visiting the
European terminals of the big trans
atlantic steamship lines and making
special study of the shipping Of Rus
sian immigrants across the German
frontier. lnasmuch as tremendous
increase in the immigration of Rus
sian Jews to the United States Is un-
der way just now, DR.. Fishberg's OBJ
servatonS are OF special Importance
because OF their timeliness. Most of
the things which the doctor saw abroad
are Incorporated In a report which he
made to the commissioner general of
immigration Mt Washington. DIR. Fish
berg said recently at his home:
"The curing of diseased aliens for
admission to the United States has be
come tremendous industry abroad.
| Ramifications of the business may be
found at Liverpool, London, Southamp.
ton, MarSeilles and at various frontier
cities of Russia and Austria Hungary.
In these cities | have personally visit
ed boarding houses and so called hos.
ia, i,t ,,tp apiY,
from trachoma in its most advanced
stages We're being treated that they
might pass inspection and enter the
United States.
"Trachoma Is a disease of the eye of
which America has special horror.
When tranSplan'cd to the tenement re
gions Of New York city it spreads rap.
idly and becomes almost as viruient as
In the orient. BY the New York board
of health It IS especially dreaded. and
the authorities at the various immlgrn.
tion ports OF this country are trying
with might and main to keep 1t out
"In Marseilles the treatment Of ira
choma has assumed remarkable di-
mensions. Here most Of the immi-
grants from the orient. from Syria, Ar
menia and neighborng countries. come
on their way to the United States. Most
of the immigrants report to man by
the name of Anton Fares. who refers
them to certain boarding houses. Later
they are sent to DR. G. 2eynaut, 20
Boulevar1e d'Athenee. for examination.
Those who are found free from con-
| tnp Il n
at once shipped to Havre hut as soon
as one of these OrCntals is discovered
to have trachoma, Fares takes hold Of
the unfortunate Immigrant and says:
"'There are only two ways open to
you. You can either go by way of St
Na2aire to Mexico. where have agents
to conduct you across the frontier into
the United States, or you can go to n
doctor here and get cured. Now, the
first plan is expensive and dangerous,
but the doctor is very successful
"Of course the poor fellow goes to
the doctor, who by the way. does n
fiDurishing business. | met more than
hundred immigrants every day visit
ed the clinic. The charge Is franc for
B
fortunate patients have told me that
they have been under the doctors care
for more than two months. When
cured they are generally sent to Havre
and then shipped to New York. The
treatment Is frequently continued until
the immigrants purse in all but emp
tied.
This business Is used also to fleece
the healthy oriental. Fares has prnc-
tice which. ! believe. Is peculiar to him
self, of having immigrants treated for
trachoma who have no trachoma at all.
These generally have money and are
referred by Fares to the doctor, who
tells them they have trachoma. but that
II IL durable. one franc II day Is Chn"g-
eel for the treatment, 3 or for board
and lodging, and this is kept up for u
month. When declared cured the vic.
tin Is charged more than the usual
price for II steamship ticket Such inli.
viduals are as rule. never deportel
for eye disease and accordingly become
excellent advertisements FOR Fares.
This man Fares is we'll known tc
the French authorities and has re
peatedly been under charges FOL
cheating immigrants. He has a news
paper to boom his business, which has
wide circulation in Syria. He ships
from forty to fifty immigrants week
: and stops at nothing in dealing with
= them.
!. The Russian Hebrew comes tC
] America chiefly by way of Germany
either sailing directly from Bremen OIL
Hamburg or going to England and
embarking from a British port. Little
. Is done at Bremen or Hamburg tC
patch up immigrants, but ut the sta
tions along the Russian and Austrian
borders the practice Is common
have personally met more than fifty
) trachomatous Immigrants in n hospita
] at Thorn, on the Russian Polish Dor
der. Health certificates have been re
fused all of them by the steamship