The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-01-02

on a white card which is pinned to
breast. the officers having eau
toned me to keep it in sight. I AVE
also had to sign a long paper OF ans
wers to all sorts Of questions. l have
given my full name and my age, have
stated whether / was q man or a Wo-
man, was married or single and
whether I could read or write. had
to give my nationality, ace n last
residence. / had to state where / was
going, and whether my passage was
paid by myself or by any other per-
son, corporation, society, municipality
or government. 1 had to tell what
money l had or whether it was as
much as $50: n if / was going to
join friends on this side. I gave ans
werS to the questions whether l had
been in prison, or the poor house. or
in an insane asylum, n also whether
] was mentally or physically deficient,
deformed or crippled and if yes. for
how long ard what made me so. This
paper and my signature [ was fated
to meet with later on.
l had also passed the quarantine
doctors at Sandy Hook, where they
lOoked me over to see if / had any
contagious diseases and had failed to
find upon me any sign Of cholera,
smallpox, yellow fever, or plague.
After all this | had expected to go
right through Ellis Island and at once
land on the golden streets of New
York.
How Immigrants Are Examined.
How mistaken I was.
| was just at the beginning instead
Of at the end of the process of break
ing through Uncle Sans doors. The
thirty of group e. most of US car
rying our baggage, were taken across
the dock into a hallway and rushed
single file up u long pair of stairs.
At the top Of these we passed into a
room where q dozen men in uniform
stood. We hen walked across into
an alley shut off by ratings SO that
only one could go ahead at a time.
The men in uniform were the doctors
of the marine hospital service. The
first man who inspected me was on
the outlook for any signs Of deformity
or contagious disease. He looked at
my legs to see II they were the same
length and sound. he grabbed at my
collar to see if I had the goitre, and
with his eyes examined me from my
crown to my toe for signs Of tubercu-
losis- / had noticed that he had put
a chalk mark on the girl ahead OF me
n was relieved when he let me 20
by.
Testing the Immigrants Eyes.
A little further on I came to a gate
where another doctor was standing.
could feel his eyes go through me as
approached. n then l felt him &c
through my eyes. He had a little
wooden stick not bigger than q tooth.
PICK, and much i the orange stick
you use in nail cleaning. He grabbed
my right eyelid and bent it back 81
that he could see the whole ball O.
the eye. He then too the left eyeliC
and did the same. He was lookins
Tor contagious trachoma or opththal.
mia, and had it been there he would
nave taken me out Of the ranks anf
maze the steamship company carr,
me BACK whence I came. This is dom
with every immigrant, and the immi
grafton doctors loow at two million
eyes In this way every year.
My eyes were all right, however
ana L was showed along with thos,
VINO could be passed, as far as thei1
), neaith was concerned. 1t was far diff
) Ierent with others. but Of them / shall
speak farther on. l should saw p
ieaSt 20 per cent were held back 70
/ Speclal inquiry, each receiving a vel
: low card bearing their names and tx,
reasons why they were held.
Passing the Inspectors,
My next experience was in the rep
lStry nall. his is a great room Gov
erlng about halt an acre and filed witt
a OF alleys inclosed by iro1
Fipe FENCES. Each Of the alleys is de
voted to one group Of immigrants. an,
, the groups are labeled A. B. c.. D. x
20 correspondent with the letter
borne by those who come from tn
snip. AT the end Of each alley is a,
: II spector in Uniform with a tan des,
: HeIore him. He speaks a hall doze,
and catechises each imm,
! Grant as he goes through. He make
MN 8 all the tests for admission
ana II he belongs to the objecte,
classes decides against him, MARI
MN l.. +. c., or liable to become
n PUBIC charge, and puts him on tn
roao PACK to Europe. There were tw
pns''s oerVian girls in front Of me
ana questions asked them raa
: me think that the officer suspecte
|. that they might be white slaves
8 benlnd me was a fin%e-1ookiDp ola v@c
man, with a white Handkerchief o W.
r ner mead. She was asked as to he
relatives and whether they wonl
support her on landing.
q along with the crowd On
Il Wnen l came to the gate I 7o,ra -