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THEFREETN her twenty-one years of existence Miss Liberty—better known as The Lady of the Bay—has welcomed more foreigners to these' shores than any of her sisters, or her cousins, or her aunts; or, in fact, any of her sex; for be It remembered It Is she who, with boncon head aloft, lights the way for every Incoming ah^p that threads her way through the Narrows to the Upper Bay, and finally into North or East River, before touching at Eli is Island, where every Immigrant roost pass muster before being allowed to set foot ou the shores of that land tales of which are synonymous with riches far beyond the grasp of the immigrant mind, and of freedom itself.Aud what an epoch It Is Is In the lives of the millions of immigrants who have flocked to these hospttab’e shores when they gain their that glimpse of that strikingly majestic figure known as the Statue of Liberty, as she stands •entiuei like «t the very frout door of New York! imperious of pose. The Lady ■of the Bay la silhouetted agaiust the root-'t wonderful skyline in the world, an l It Is this background which first appeals to the immigraut, who theu aud there realizes that ah he has heard of the vastness of New rk i* here before his wery eyes. A vast majority of the Iuj migrants -^vbo, like cattle, are heracii Into the steerages of the big trans-At iantlc liners—are disposed to lelS*\e that, with the first glimpse of New York, their troubles then and there eud, mod the New World stretches away before them, theirs to conquer, or, at Idast, holding a place therein for them where a handsome living can be wrested from those who were here born, or from those who preceded them in the steerage of other ships. How l':*te they realise all the heartaches, d ^appointments and hours of burning ’ngunb they rouat endure before they have ' 'en freed from the hot and stuffy Immigrant pens, filled with strange face* and even stranger I and sterner officials, whose duty ’t Is to see that each and every new comer hns j catered por In strict accordance with J the laws which govern the advent of j aliens here.Each immigrant, before embarking for : America, undergoes a more or less rigid j examination at the port of embarkation in the fatherland. He Is supposed to be j free from any Infection; hi* eyesight and j hearing examined, and be um*t be In j possession of sufficient funds to preclude 1the possibility of tits becoming an object of charity upon !finding here should he not find Immediate employment. Then, too, when pur' busing itk steamship tb ket In the old country that ticket is sold straight through to tuelf destination In th|« country, whether It be to New York or San Francisco If he has friends in this country, and these friends are to meet hlrn at Kills Island, th»* b’enmship officials must satisfy themselves that they have been notified before the prospective voyager is allotted to take his place In the steerage.These details having been arranged the emigrants are herded Into quarters utterly- devoid of all com.ort* and for a w«*ek or more they endure hardships and privations that any free-born American would be ashamed *o accord «att:c »a transit. By this It Is not meant that theyare * objected to Ind'goltioa treatment, but the extremely which they purchase their titles them only to the sea eofltroodatlotis. which, boweve to look opon a* nothing wit nary Many families in the leaves; the country wicapital in band that every plt; rasly saved, for they well kmr inhuman I©' upon their arrival here !o consequence tiw*Jr food for the voyage they prepare J before leaving borne and this ration of | provisions is made to last until Ellis la-| land Is reached, where they must pnr-|-cba.se fowl there consumed from the otfl ! dal caterer.When quarantine Is reached a squad of health officers board the liners and mak-!rig their way to the steerage, a careful I inspection is made Ea- h emigrant 1* j closely examined, the scrutiny being f«i j ino*e searching than the superficial test ! to vrhhh they are subjected before leav-| ing h«-mc. Unless no Infeatlous diseases are found to exist on board, the ship Is i permitted to proceed on her way op the | bay aud a liens arc landed in the pens j at Ell s Island. Here begins the real and ! crucial lest, and sometime* days elapse i before these poor creature* are Informed I whether or not they are eiigibl# to leave i the Island for the destinations they seek , '*r else be -eturned to the port from j whb-h they so recently embarked, so strict have our emigration laws become within the past degrde Scores of lynx eyed vnedtcgl exam'nero go from pen to pen. and one* more these! final test. When J they po**ei»* s ri other corps of *: pen and the end* forward and reg | correspond In ev j try on the ship's that tbelr tlrke; j The emigrant blt; lt;Francisco, or w { roust give some ; why he desire* j friend* there to I allowed to l«rc I friend* have 1*» aud some word I turn. Those who ; snd funds are int J of an Inspector they are trtloandroyage.The West still these a lens andqtiired to trsn*|*Many heartrenthe Island, sndlr has been found that ean bill of health, an a miners go tffrougb tb# rant* are made to rorne r*r Their papers must •r-v detail with the eo-n.antV*#t, and It is here » are agiin e-.v mined.; ftg a tb ket for Rnn :*■)«- Intermediate po!nt, ; i'Id eijriauatlov as to o go there. If he hue i-eet him, he 1* not aline pen until those o communicated with, rece* d from them in •e os./ers, explanations let, sre placed i0 charge »nd board i tig a barge ted to the railroad sta hey a tart on tbelr overclaims the majority of several tra’n* are re rt the westward bound tig tbs arrival of eachlog tales are h-ard at many bitter tear* a s release U *c^,inpllshedto the old country has Voting, bnxem. brlght-eyed snd pretty girls *tep from the emigrant ships full of life and hope, fondly looking forward to nn framed at* r**uul n with the lover who had preceded her to this county, and who had promised to meet her upon her arrival here, dome-tlroe* more often than not. In fact he Is true to his Word, end not only m*e!g Ms sweetheart nt toe pier, bo* forthwith marries her there, for the El l* Island rhapta'n is always on M* Job” and a very busy offi'lal Is he. But wh«*o the lover falls to put in his appearance. then It la that the lovelorn maiden realises her tad plight. Thousands of oillss f ora hr me. In a land wb«*rlt; she doe* nht know a aotil beyond the faithless one. her de* perat* plight dawns opon her, and In all the abandonment of her grief *he turn* to one of tbs ro»ny klnd'y matrons there atatloned to weep until b*r pretry eyes grow dim snd ache with pain. Of coor-e. ehe ha* to be transported back Home, and this bomecomtng !* not the least of her trial*, for there she will have to answer hundre.Ja f cruel questioners, who gatherto grei A feport wlt; h “whit urished,go the laws govern ng and unmarried re ail too lax. In p-Slavs'* tr»ffic i ■r:d became soappallingto its magnitude and so revolting In ds tall that • weep Ing laws wet# apendlty ea acted, whlrh soon put a che- i to the practice. Then, there wer# bands of men and women who. by some nefarious mean*, gsfried screws to the * migrant pens and by holding out prospects of Immediate and lucrative employment to the roost comely among the young women, took them from the Inland and mmdl-ab ly imprisoned th» m la dens of vice, la Fhlladelphla alone thousands of these young women were released from thetr bondage about three years aglt;, when the la* and Order w ?h* Ivtrepld leadership of Clarence CJIbbonsy, stepped In snd raided bnndrelt;!s of brothels which bou*ed the*- ignorant and basely betrayed young emigrants. Yh* tales of brutality that they told of In the police courts and the Indignities to wb:eh they bad i^een subjectelt;i beggared de- j wrlption. Fow the man or W’tnaa who 1 ueetj a yoon,? *nd lone girl at Kills la- ; land baa to be accompanied by credentials as to his or her responsibility arid j respectability Itrfore th** pemon sought 1 Is allowed to depart from the pen. The missionary societies, spurred on by the j revelation* made at Philadelphia, have i now taken thin important branch of the |work upon themselves, and the chance for a white-slave traffic again springing up is most remote.The moat familiar groups on the Island are formed by famllitta eating the Dollar Dinner Sometimes the top of a trunk or a big clothes basket serves as s table. More freauebtty the meal Is eaten tsblelea*. The dinner Is put up In s pasteboard box aud la sold by ths caterer of the Inland. There Is enough •olid food In each boi for about four ordinary persons, but the frugal Immigrant, unaccustomed to f*asta, except ou certain holidays, ur. ally make* it serve for eight. Rome of the Immigrants going long distances buy several bv~to eat on the way. Those whose destinations are nearby, only one, which they eat on the lalaud pending the »perlure of tb« ferry boat.The influx of gtrta and young womi bat been remarkable for this period of the year. Many go Into domestic terries and many come to uaest tbelr sweethearts. who have preceded them by many months and ba*# got together enough household good* to warrant setting a date for the wedding.All records have *en broken thla rear by the uspreced' „(ed ruth of aliens from the port of New York to those on the other aide of the Atlantic, aiwaya at Christmas the steerage* of the outgoing ships are fllied with foreigners who, haring saved up a few hundred dollars hcrt as a rssult of their frugality, return t# the old country, there to purchase a little atrip of land and settle down far life. This year every outgoing stesiuahff has been laden to her full capacity and thousand* were left on the piers. The steerage accommodations of the Ouaard lloers are booked solid nntll next At-guat, official* of that company recently asserting that the rush of foreigner* fro® America eclipses anything within their experience. The recent financial pmlo •truck terror to the heart* of the foreign laborer, especially the Italians, and In consequen t the booking* for Itaiiau porta are far heavier than those ,/or other point*Yet thla mad rush eastward from her* act* In no wlae as a deterrent upon those on ths other side who *e**k to make their fortunes here, ss each Incoming ship is loaded to the gttuwale with Its heterogeneous mass of humanity which surge* from th** steerage to the shore* of ths Island, and ther**, for the first time, *et foot on the »lt;ni which they have long learned to regard as ‘*tha Land at t^J Free ‘
Newspaper Details
Viroqua Vernon County Censor
Viroqua, Wisconsin, US
Wed, Jan 29, 1908
Page 7
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
DC, USA 10 Nov 2023
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