El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-12-28
QUICKLY LOSE
Old WORLD
CUSTOMS
Immigrants Undergo Change
as Soon as They Reach
America.
EVEN SHAPE OF THE
HEAD OFTEN CHANGES
By Frederic J. HasLin.

Washington, D. c., Dec. 2S.-Once an
immigrant gets settled in America and
carves out a home for himself and his
posterity. marked changes come over
him, and in many respects the after
generations become unlike their pro-
genitOrs. Not caly is this true in such
ephemeraI and fleeing qualities as
customs. language, dress and the like,
but il affects the more permanent
characteristics such as stature, shape
of the head, fecundity, and disposition.
In dress the transition from European
peasant to American citizen sometimes
does not take place with the immigrant,
but certainly does not wait lOngel
than the first generation before TAX
ing place.
The great majority of the children
of immigrants learn to speak English
and soon use it SIS their regular tongue.
Very few OF the grand children of i'm
migrants adhere to the tongue of their
fathers in Europe. But there are casss
where the mother tongue persists
through long generations. Terrence
V POWderly, chief of the division CT
distribution Of the bureau of immigra-
ton, tells of an experience he had in
Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, which
illustrates the tendency of some peO-
pie to hold to the customs of the faith
erIand- He was out on immig grafton
business and went TO livery stable to
hire a horse and buggy. The owner
of the stable was a Pennsylvania
Dutchman. All of the horses were out
except the family driving horse. This
nag was hitched up and POwderly
started on his journey, but he soon
found that the horse could not under
stand English, and so, since he could
not speak German, he had to adopt
horse language Esperanto and lead the
steed back to the stable. That livery
mans ancestors had been in Pennsyl-
Van1a for century and a half, and
yet his driving horse did not under
stand whoa or "giddap-"
Insanity Among Immigrants
While it has been demonstrated that
there is a remarkable amount of in
sanity among immigrants, and while
insanity IS usually regarded as an in
heritable disease, there is nothing to
indicate that the percentage of insane
among the descendants of immigrants
IS any greater than that among people
Of pure American stock with American
ancestry running back century
How much more frequently the thTead
OF reason is broken in the alien mind
IS illustrated by the Investigations Of
the census bureau into insanity and
feeble mindedness in hospitals and in
This investigation shows
that while 20 out of every 100 people
ten years old and over in the United
States were Of foreign birth, "a out Of
=
situations for the insane and feeble
minded were of foreign birth. In other
words, while the foreign born element
10 years old and over, constitutes one
fifth of our population, it makes up
One-third of our insane and feeble
minded charges.
That this tendency toward insanity
and feeble mindedness is not commu-
nicated to the descendants of immi-
grants is revealed by the inquiry of
h.
of the native born inmates of these
institutions. This shows that 273 out
Of each 1000 inmates are the children.
OF foreign born parents, while 277 out
OF each 1000 In the population of the
There has been much speculation
as to the causes of insanity among
immigrants. The freedom from undue
inclination toward insanity displayed
by their children would seem to show
that 1t is more a matter of environ
ment that inherited faint. Those who
contrOvert this idea declare that the
reason the children of immigrants
show as great freedom from insanity
as the native American population lies
IN the fact that they are still too
young to make a different showing.
They point to other census figures
which indicate that when native born
and immigrant born people of tho same
ages are considered, the native born
have some advantage. Yet this ad-
vantage is narrowed down to a beg
carly 8 percent, whereas, in a COM
parison between the immigrant and
the native it amounts to IS percent.
Feeble Minded Slip in.
Some Of the high rate of insanity
among aliens IS accounted for by the |
great difficulty Of inspecting immi- |
grants thoroughly enough to keep out |
Every person of diseased mind. When, /
on rush days, only two minutes can |
be given to each immigrant at Ellis I
Island, it will be seen how hard If |
would be for doctors to detect every /
person showing mental unbalance.
Ihls accounts for a large number COM !
ng IN who already have attacks OF IN (
sanity The most highly civilized ma
lions show larger number of insane
han those not so high up in the scale /
# civilization.
But more than all this, according to |
some OF the doctors who have had long
In immigration inspection !
work, is the great change in environ /
nent which the immigrant undergOes. /
instead Of his peaceful little cottage |
lo:Te back in some quiet village, he
finds himself in very mael-
'trom Of humanity, commerce and in
lustry, calculated to shatter even the
nerves of those who live amid pleasant |
surroundings and in happy homes. !
such conditions are more likely TO !
end to the madhOuse the lonely for |
lgner who ezes out a living in some
weatshOp by day and spends mis- !
lights in miserable tenements where |
comfort and peace have always yielded |
'lace to filth and misery. When the |
under such conditions con- /
rasts his little cottage home he left !
behind, with his new surroundings, |
what wonder inconsistencies overcomes
lin and is often succeeded by |
wrecked mind? But, fortunately, his
hildren escape such a heavy toll
Some Pulling Questions.
What makes the skull of the round /
loaded immigrant turn long faced IN
us children? And what makes the
Ong face CT other classes OF immi-
srants tend to round Medicines in
heir pOsterity2 These are questions
o which no acceptable answers have
,een given Again, what makes the
descendants of immigration mature
arlier than the Immigrants themselves
and what makes the descent / !
nts OF some races Of immigrants grow
horter in stature while the descend
ntS of other races of immigrants grow I