Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-20

| of entry on the boundary. At each OF
| these ports-Malone, N. Y; Richford. VT;
| Portal, N. D., and Sumas, Wash, all Chi
| Eese so delivered are comfortably housed in
| detention station, furnished by the gov
| eminent, until there IS legal decision as
| to their right to enter the country. and
| their expenses while awaiting the decision
| are borne by the railway company, which
| also returns to China. at its expense. those
| adjudged to be inadmisslble. AS a result
| of these detention stations very few Chi
| neSe are now coming to this country by way
| of Canada. and the stations themselves are
| almost empty, and the jails of counties
| bordering Canada contain only few Chi
| nese arrested for unlawful residence For
! years past these jails have been crowded
| beyond their capacity with such celestial
| prisoners. Moreover, Canada has i'm
| posed an admission tax Of $500 per head
| on all Chinese destined for her dominion.
! The immgra ton inspectors now pass upon
| questions of citizenship and the ring has
| been put out of business.
Traffic in Fraudulent Certificates.
| Another large class of illegal Chinese
| immigrants with whom Mr.. Sargent had
| to deal were those posing as returning
| registered. laborers. To understand what
this term implies the reader must recall
that all Chinese laborers legally regis
tered in this country prior to May, 1894,
when all newly arrived 1aborers were
excluded, are entitled under certain con-
dtions to visit China and return to the
United States within one year-in some
cases two-after their departure. Here
tofore this class We're required to deposit
their certificates of registration with the
local collector of customs and to file
with the latter official their photogra phs,
general descriptions and data as to their
family, property. etc. These data were
entered upon a certificate in duplicate,
one copy being sent to the collector of
customs from which the laborer was to
depart and the other was given to the
laborer to be used passport both
for departing and returning.
Chinese laborers returning to their
homes to stay sold these certificates to
coolies not entitled to enter ports,
care being taken to fit the photographs
and general description to the buyer.
Moreover the original registration GER
tificates are often pawned or sold, the
photographs upon them being sometimes
soaked off for the substitution of others.
In the pawn and junk shops of our cities
there has been large traffic in these
as we'll in the duplicate return certifi-
Gates. Hence hundreds of coolies never
within sight of our shores before have
been coming in as returning registered
laborers alleged to have received leave
to visit their homes for the year allowed.
Portraits. Measurements, Finger Prints
How difficult 1t is to distinguish one
| Chinese from another is best known by
the officials who had to deal with this
taken by themselves. Hence the famous
Bertillon system. used in all great cities,
| for the Identification of criminals was
| adopted for these registered 1aborers
! leaving the country for their visit of
| year. At each of the detention stations
! at the four Canadian border ports as
! well as at Ellis Island New York har-
| bor), San Francisco, Portland, Oregon;
| Port Townsend, Wash, and San Diego.
| Cal there has lately been established
la To lot
| paraphernalia for measuring departing
! laborers and noting their physical pecu-
! liarities Each coOle is backed with
arms outStretched against n wooden
cross which measures his height and
| arm reach. He is weighed and the
J length and breadth of his head are
! tance of his various moles and scars
! from his finger ends or other points of
| his bony structure are located by care
! fully graduated rule. The length of his
| right ear his left foot his left forearm
! and his left middle finger is taken with
| sliding shoemakers' scales of various
| sizes and his photograph Is made, both
| front view and profile. But the Bertil-
| lon system is gone one better" by the
| addition of the finger prints to this fden-
| tification data, all of which is entered in
! duplicate upon cards, one MED at the port
| where the coole expects 10 return ana
| the other filed at the central identified
| tion bureau in Washington.
Each laborer, after being BertilloniZed, Is
|
| with rubber stamps-and presses first his
| right thumb upon it, stamping the impress
| sion upon the Identification card in a space
| allowed for this imprint; then he does the
| same with his right middle finger. Purple
| ink is used In making the impressions. The
finger print system has been used with
great success by the British civil service In
| India There the officials could not rely
| upon photographs, as the native is crafts
| man at impersonation. 1t seems to have
| been scientifically proven that the flligree
! work on the finger end of newly born IN
| FAINT will not have changed in design when
| old age is reached, and that no two per-
sons have these finger designs exactly
alike Hence, when Identification becomes
difficult with the aid of the measurements
| and photographs these Chinese cards,
| the finger prints can be relied upon as
| last resort.
Opium and Physiognomy.
Were the photographs relied upon, identi-
| fcation would often be difficult as a result
| OF the changes which opium will work on
| the celestial physiognomy. The writer saw
this well illustrated during a comparison
OF some Of the photographs on the new
| cards and on the old registration certifi-
| Gates originally issued by the internal reve-
| nue. bureau. The new cards are indexed
| the head lengths, and where there are sew
| eral head lengths together they are SUBJ
! indexed according to head widths Where