El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-12-17

w No cabin passenger ever sailed
through the Narrows and be-
held the statue of Liberty without feel
ing thrill of patriotic devotion to his
native or adopted land, it must be a
thrill of pleasure at being safely across
and with a chance to set foot on solid
ground so soon again. But if the
slgnt OF the goddess stirs the cabin,
| what must 1t mean to the Steerdg e2
AT Ellis Island.
To the immigrant Ellis Island is an
i ordeal The man at the gate" is q big
giant who can speed him through or
crush the life out of his hopes in an
instant thousand lies, some useful,
! some useless, and some unnecessary, are
prepared in the hope that they Will help
mel OF admission to America. Passing
! quarantine and the customs officials
! as the ship comes up the bay. it is
/ warped into its dock and when the last
| Steerage people are put into barges and
J toWed away to Ellis Island where final
Judgment awaits them. Their tickets
are fastened to their caps, or pinned to
| their clothes, and their bills of lading
/ are IN their hands. When they enter
! they are lined up in long rows, with
! Two doctors for each row. They must
( walk down a narrow lane made BY
/ rows of piping, with an interval of 20
| Ieet between them. AS they approach,
the doctors begin to size up each immi-
! grant
INSPECTION for TraehOma.
II he is so evidently a healthy per
\ son that the examination reveals no
| reason WIZ he should be held ne is
passed on. Rut If there is the least
suspicion in the minds of the Doctors
! that there is anything at all wrong with
Lapel Of his coat After passing the
surgeons who examine their health
tickets and their bodies the in,J1i-
grants next encounter the one who ex-
antiseptic solutions by him. the siIT-
geon rolls the eyelids of the immigrant
back on round stick resembling a
PENCIL He is looking for trachGina
Those discovered TO have t are sent
away for deportation.
The line moves on past the female
inspector, and then past the Inspectors
who ask the % questions required by
law. here is where the lies are tfld
Most of the immigrants have been
coached as to what answers 10 give.
Here is an old woman who says she has
three sons in America. when she has
but one. The more she talks the more
she entanGles herself. Here is Rus
sian Jewish girl who has run aWav to
escape persecution. She claims a rel-
ative in New York at an address found
not to exist; she is straigntway in
trouble.
Families Are separated.
The surgeons mark about half If the
lnbni grants with chalk marks as thew
ne by. and those so marked &c to an
Families are torn asunder, and nc ere
mas time or opportunity to explain
why Mothers are wild. thinking that
their children are lost to them forever:
children are frantic, thinking thcy will /
see their parents no more. Husbands
and wives are separated and Tor hours /
they know not why or how.
After the immigrants have passed /
the inspectors comes the real parting I
or the Ways-the stairway of sonar
anon Here are three stairWays, one (
o. ~ Il
70 the New York room, and another to I
the ferry.
To those who have passed muster in /
this ordeal the way is now open. They 1
are inside the gate and their troubles }
are over But here is a room where :
those go who have been given tickets
marked r T.. public charge)- This
takes them to an iron barred gate be
nlnd winch sits an official who admits
them and has them distributed to the /
various detention rooms. Sometimes
1000 may be detained at a time. Con-
d1tions are admittedly bad in some of
these rooms, due to oyercroWding and I
Inadequate facilities, but all agree that
the officials and those under them do
all IN their power to ameliorate these
conditions.
Law Works Hardships-
Does the law work hardships at our
lmm1g ratlon stations? Yes. everybody |
admits that Sometimes men are turned !
back for trivial causes. Four Greeks
were going to Canada, via New York. |
/
grant to have SIS. They had S24.S7
each When they found their funds
short they wanted to come into the
United States, but they could not A
child is taken down with a Contagious
disease and is carried 10 the hospital
The mother must wait and cannot even ]
see her child A man and his son have
nae their money stolen from them IL
the storage; they lack $50 and must
90 back And so the sad tale goes on
every day.
DIT I
ties be vested with discretion in the
matter? Then 5000 debarred aliens a
year would lay siege to their sympa-
-hies and each would regard his own /
1culties would result
Sixteen thousand immigrants de-
barred from the United States in a
year. Half Of these are debarred be- ]
eause they probably would become pub ,
&c charges. Some 1900 were deported /
lpon surgeons certificates showing |
hat they possess mental OF physical |
iefects which might affect their ability /
20 earn Il living. Another 1900 were |
'ent back because they had loathsome Ii
y dangerous contagious diseases, while
1888 were denied admission because !
hey were contract laborers.
Station Is Often COngested-
Ellis Island receives about tWO-thirds I
u all the immigrants that come to
america Tt is really a plant built on /
nree Islands with causeWays connect |
ng them Often more than 1000 immf-
grants must be detained over night, !
md of course there is much congestion !
II such times To shelter and feed 1000
people over night is a large task. Some
lays as many as 5000 immigrants ar
ave, and to dispose of them means only |
Wo minutes to each immigrant; con- !
equently, the inspectors must WO-k
apldly and send every doubtful case to
.etention for further investigation
The next day may bring only a few
hundred. or it may be a foggy day and
lone viii come; then the detained ones
an be given more attention
A contract restaurant is maintained I I
t each important immigration station, :
where food can be had during deten-
ion, and where it is put up in boxes
or those going on railroad journeys.
These boxes cost from so cents to 81. {
Special immigrant trains are made {
Ip to handle those who travel in large 4
At other times they are !
furnished special cars. while often they !
must travel, men and women, in the
mokers of regular trains. The immi- {
rant gets a slightly cheaper rate than /
irst class, but they usually get pro- C
'oruonateIy poor service for theii g