Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-01-19
: Fixing IMMIGRANTS
How Diseased Aliens Sent to
Our Shores Are Patched UP
lold by Or. Fish erg
is BIG INDUSTRY ABROAD
Special Inspector for the Immigrant
Service Tells How Doctors in Old
World Make Undesirable Persons
Able to Enter Our Land-How An
drenaline is Employed.

drenaine is Employed.
That diseased European Immigrants
are "dortored up" in great numbers
for Shipment to the United States Is
the charge made by Or. Maurice Fish
berg of New York city, 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 q
special study of the shipping OF Rus
sian immigrants across the German
frontier. Inasmuch as Il tremendous
Increase in the immigration OF Rus
sian Jews to the United States is un-
der way just now. DIR. Fishberg's OBJ
servations arc of special Importance
because of their 1imelness. Most of
the things which the doctor saw abroad
are Incorporated in report which he
made to the commissioner general of
immigration at Washington. DR.. Fish
berg said recently at his home:
"rhe curing Of diseased aliens for
admission to the United States has be
come Il tremendous industry abroad.
Ramihcations of the business may be
found at Liverpool. London, Southamp-
ton, Marse!les ami at various frontier
cities of Russia and Austria Hungary.
In these cities l have personally visit
ed boarding houses and so called hos
pitals where immigrants suffering
from trachoma in It's most advanced
stages were being treated that they
might pass inspection and enter the
United States.
"Trachona Is disease of the eye OF
which America has a special horror.
When transplantec to the tenement re
gions of New York city it spreads rap.
idly and becomes almost as virulent as
in the orient. BY the New York board
of health it is especially dreaded, ana
the authorities at the various immigra-
ton ports Of this country are trying
with might ani! main to keep it out.
'In Marseilles the treatment of ira
choma has assumed remarkable d.
mansions. Here most of the imml-
grants from the orient. from Syria, Ar
menia and neighboring countries. come
on their way to the United States. Most
of the immigrants report to man by
st who rnfnrS
them to certain boarding houses. Later
they are sent to DR.. G. Reynaut, ~
Boulevarde d'Athenee, for examination.
Those who are found free from con-
tagious disease receive tickets and are
at once shipped to Havre, but as soon
as one of these orientals is discovered
to have trachona, 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.
Nazaire to Mexico. where I have agents
to conduct you across the frontier into
the United States, or you can go to
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 a
f1ourishing business. l met more than
a hundred immigrants every day visit
ed the clinic. The charge is franc for
each treatment, and some Of these I'M
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 prac-
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
it is durable. One franc day is charg-
ed for the treatment, 3 or for board
and lodging, and this is kept up for
month. When declared cured the vic
tim is charged more than the usual
price for steamship ticket. Such indi-
viduals are, as rule, never deported
for eye disease and accordingly become
excellent advertisements for Fares.
."This man Fares isswell known to
the French authorities and has re-
peatedly been under charges for
cheating immigrants. He has news
paper to boom his business, which has
a wide circulation in Syria. ie ships
from forty to fifty immigrants week
and stops at nothing in dealing with
them.
'The Russian Hebrew comes to
America chiefly by way of Germany,
either sailing directly from Bremen or
Hamburg or going to England and
embarking from a British port. Little
is done ut Bremen or Hamburg to
patch up immigrants. but at the sta
tons along the Russian and Austrian
borders the practice is common. l
have personally met more than fifty
trachoinatous immigrants in a hospital
at Thorn, on the Russian Polish Dor
der. Health certificates have been re-