The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-02-27
Uncle Sar7n's S

Washington, y. c., February &C.
A lone, lorn woman In the garb Of
Bohemian peasant lately cast her lot
with procession Of weary Czechs and
Moiaviana which worned its way
through the streets OF n European
seaport town and across the gnngplank
OF steamship which tugged rcstlcssly
Mt the i1awser, in It's impatience to
make off for the land OF the free that
my across tho deep. Although her
passport was 81 counterfeit with false
seal. completely blurred she had no
difficulty In passing the steamship
agent. and with the others she passed
down into the steerngc to embark up
on n twclYe-day voyage.
This woman of mystery had as
sleeping companion a poor Polish girl
who early one evening was lying Ill In
her mcagrc bunk. The chief Storage
steward---tbc chief protector of these
immigrant women. and their highest
court of appeal---3neaked into the lone
~ compartment and. taking advantage
of the girls weakened condition, at.
tempted to play the fiend But luckily
the woman in Bohemian disguise lay
near at hand, and after the brute had
been frightened away full report OF
his outrage was placed In the hands OF
the immigrant commission In Washing
secret agent. Her report detailed
many other. outrages perpetrated upon
these helpless peasants journeyirg to
our shores. IT told how they were first
fleeced by the keepers of lodging
houses in league with the steamship
agents, how they were subjected to
mock yaccination--not even piercing
their skins-how they were indiffer.nt-
ly accepted by agents posted at the
and how they were herded into the
Storage like beasts and fed like
swine.
Her secret report also graphically de-
scr.bed the degrading conditions in tho
soapless. towellcss stccrage wash
rooms used Jointly by tho men and
women In the feeding rooms whore
these embryonic Americans were de-
MED eating plates, knives or spoons; in
the sleeping quarters where the crew
looked on while the helpless women
dressed and undrcssed. and on the
decks where they had TO listen to the
vile language OF and endure the brutal
handling OF the paid employees of the
ship.
struck Him in the Face.
This secret agent thus journeyed
back and forth across the water re-
cording all that she saw, and at the
same time working hard to rescue In
nocent girls from the degradation
threatening them on all sides. What
great courage her crusade required may
be Judged by several quotations from
her official report: Not one young
woman in the Storage escaped attack.
The writer herself was no exception"
she writes. Once she had to thwart one
of these attacks by delivering "a hard,
unexpected blow in the offenders face
in the presence of a large crowd OF
men, Some OF the women fought with
all of their physical strength" and
some battled with pins and teeth"
Two such woman detectives were
employed by the woman immigration
commission In this Investigation OF
STORAGE conditions. Four others. with
one man. were disguised as aliens
and sent to live IN the immigrant homes
established in New York and TO inVes-
,igate the Immigrant employment
agencies. in both classes of which In
stitutions abuses have been suspected.
Nearly Lost Her Life.
Two OF the pluckiest woman sleuths
in the pay Of the government have
been engaged In the famous white
slave" Investigation. AT times and I'M
der various pretexts they have assoc
ciated on apparently friendly terms
with the criminal importers and pro-
curers of the unfortunate victims as
well as with the degraded men who
live upon the earnings OF these girls
One of these woman agents. brutally
attacked and beaten. escaped being
murdered only with the greatest diff
Guilty. and yet tho next day she went
cheerfully back to her work In another
locality where she was unknown.
Other new detective work by govern
mcnt secret agents Is in connection
with the investigation OF organized
criminallty among aliens in New York.
These sieuths have undertaken dang
erous assignments in order to obtain
the criminal records of immigrants be-
fore their arrival in this country. Oth-
ers have been at work along the Next
can frontier ferreting out the system