The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1906-08-09
RETROSPECTIVE CITIZENS
Immigrants Cannot Understand
Delay in Admission.
HURRIED AT INSPECTION
Lot Of New Arrivals Not SO Hard rs
Under Former Conditions TWEEN
ty-Six Inspectors Examine Two
Hundred Daily - Perfect System
in Vogue

Admitting immigrants to the free
dom of the United States is good
deal more than merely letting files
of foreign persons pass in review be-
fore a desk. Each candidate for
American citizenship passes as rigid
an examination as to his qualiflcs-
lions these days as though he were
being considered by the admission
committee of club. There have
been times when more immigrants
have been passed through the flood.
gates at Ellis Island in single day,
but never have they been examined
with such thoroughness, despite the
| extraordinary pressure from the
throng which craved admittance.
Various conditions result in excep-
| tional rushes, among which may De
mentioned the demand in all parts OF
the country for labor, and that at
high wages.
In their anxiety to get their pas
sengers in the steamship companies
did not consult each others sched-
ules, and the result is clogging OF
the whole transportation machinery.
When the immigrants get to Ellis
Island they encounter the fact
that the great pavilion was only de-
signed to receive and pass out 5000
immigrants a day. The result Is
that steerage passengers may be de-
tanned for several days.
1t is impossible to strike an aver
| age which will give any idea of what
| Is represented in the examination of
an immigrant as far as time is con-
cerned. In most calculations the
| time is given as two minutes for the
ordinary questioning which must be
given under the present laws. In the
case of large families consisting of
| children Of such tender ages that 1t
| Is evident tina: they are not contract
| laborers or have never had difficult
ties with the authorities the exami-
nation is expeditions after the father
| has demonstrated his fitness for
American citizenship. 1t is then
merely to reckon with an equation of
me too" and to pass the whole COM
| pany.
Under the present system the i'm
migrants are brought to Ellis Island
from the piers in small steamships
or barges, and are then directed
| through a long covered passageway
| to the lower floor of the main pavil-
| lion of the immigration station. Up
a stairway they go to the main exam
| nation floor, where they are con-
| Keyed hither and thither with auto
matte precision. First comes the
sorting process, which looks like the
quick shifting about Of raw material
| which is seen in large industrial es-
| adjustments.
The immigrants are carded into
groups of thirty and sent spinning
about until they seem to fall easily
and naturally into the various COM
| partments where they belong. The
| manifests which describe the third
! class passengers must consist of
series of sheets Of paper on each of
which only thirty names can be
| placed. On each immigrant is
| pinned a card which bears a number
| agreeing with that of one Of the
manifest sheets.
Before the voyagers attain this
| distinction, however, they have to
pass in review before Marine Hospi-
tai surgeons, who examine them as
to their physical fitness.
Each line has to pass two physi-
| clans. The first one looks for gem
eral defects, while the other one
turns up the eyelids of every candi-
date, looking for those diseases Of
| the organs Of sight which are enough
to bar any immigrant from entering
| this country
The examination is conducted
| with an amazing celebrity. The color
| Of the skin, the appearance of the
| eyes and other induces tell their
story quickly to the young surgeons,
| they see that there is something
wrong with an immigrant or have
reason for a further investigation
/ they make chalk mark on the coat
| or gown. An attendant at the end Of
| the line put the chalked persons into
| q compartment by themselves and
pass the others to large Enclosure,
! where they are taken in hand by
| quick speaking and nimble limbed
persons known as the groupers.
Twenty-six inspectors, working
| from eight o'clock until six, allowing
time for luncheon, attend to the in
coming tide of immigrants.
Each inspector averages two hum
dred immigrants a day, taking the
| whole force or, in other words, they
work up to the full limit of the sta
ton under the present arrangement,
which Is five thousand a day.
Bull Fighting Statistics.
II am off to Spain, for the bull
anhfino >, caid nh