The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1914-12-08

This. however, is not the case at
our immigration stations. The linz
migrants do not want to be sepa-
rated from their money, and they do
want to get into the United States.
Sometimes their inability to under
stand the efforts OF the medical Of
ticers in using their language must
be met by one of two recourses.
Either the medical officers OF the
Public Health Service must study a
number of languages, or else the
government must supply these Of
ticers with Interpreters. II has
been found that to facilitate the pas
sage of immigrants and to make GER
tain OF the. answers given to the
questions asked by the doctors inter-
prefers in the above mentioned Ian
guages must be provided. These in
terpreters, while they are not med
ical men, soon become familiar with
the methods OF medical examination
and are of very great assistance in
expediting the medical work and In
quieting the fears Of. many Of the
immigrants as TO the intent OF the
necessary medical examination.
Il The average immigrant arriving at
a United States port is not only ia
igued from the voyage. but he is
usually under great excitement, and
on account of natural caution toI
say little through fear of spelling his
chances OF i entering the United
States. he is frequently silent on
points which the medical officer and
the interpreter are trying to bring
out in connection with his condition.
which would be of advantage tothim
ifihe only knew 1t. On this account
not an inconsiderable part of the
task of examining immigrants is
that connected with winning their
confidence through the use Of inter,
prefers, and explaining to them in
their own language just what the,
doctor is trying to find out, and Just
why 1t is to his interest that the
doctor should be put In possession
of all facts in connection with him
and his family. Therefore anHinter-
prefer attached to the medical star
of the Public Health Service must
be somewhat yAvsatile, in that he
must not only De familiar with the,
intent of the questions which the
doctor is asking in English, but he
must be student of human nature,
able to impress immigrants favorably
and win their confidence through al
generous and kindly disposition. and
be able to understand the peculiar
mental slant Of the different races. y
@eIt, is remarkable the number OF
languages some of the Interpreters
are able to speak. It is usually
found that Slavic interpreter will
not only speak Russian and Slavic
dialects; but as a matter ofjcourse he
frequently seems able to speak Ger
man, French, Italian and Spanish in
addition to English.
Ito illustrate the meaning Of the
term dialect" a man from one OF
the southern states, for example.
when he wants to say Where are
you g6ing?Hf will very likely say
Where's 70 gwine?"i "A southern
man would probably recognize the
latter phrase anywhere he happened
to hear it, but 1t is unlikely that the
average western or northern man
would recognize it, unless he had
read 1t in some of the books on
southern folk lore.
In a number of countries Of Eu-
rope there are number Of express
isions which one can compare with
the example given above which
differs in the course of no great dis
lance. A large number Of these diff
ferences in expression practically
constitute a different language, but
on account of the fact that all OF
these languages are based on one
main or mother language, the vari-
Gus differences are known as dia-
lects. This explanation is made to
show how necessary it is that the
interpreters attached to the Public
Health Service officers at the immi-
grafton stations should not ony be
familiar with the various mother
tongues, such as French. German.
Spanish, ETC.. but they should also
be familiar with the dialects or dill
ferences in the way these mother
languages are spoken.
One of the touching results of the
proficiency attained by the interpret-
ers in using the various dialects is
the expression of delight which fre-
quently Eliminates the countenance
Of stolid individual. These peo-
pie have not heard their own dia-
lect spoken on the vessel save by
their fellow voyagers hailing from
their own districts abroad, which ex-
plains their natural delight at hear
ing their own tongue spoken by a
stranger. This recognition on the.
part of the Immigrant, particularly
of children suspected Of being mem
tally defective, is frequently a most
valuable asset to the immigrant
himself, as he is given credit, imme-
tiiately, perhaps which unconsciously
by both the doctor and interpreter
for. mental alertness which other
wise might not appear.