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Show d$N the ' THRESHOLD i -: , ... ;; -:. -.- m&-&k 1 . ' ; 1 TROM Ellis Island a Millton fPjW' fc&T! 1 Wewcomers feet revet- YilkMh - tergnS rsA(v into Grea Afeaj Home V:4'T .- fcv W for Them-Little mMm Human Sidelights in a Big h.J -t Picture V wr:.(& t; -: -v BY GARNET WAREEN. jjTTw The Railroad Room Ellis Island The Threshold (ltrnratiii Ili-ro t:o inmlist rou:.l pet Hie human dooiiinpnt of j In pMllty 111 ho wiwli to lo so. Tit.? kisses .mo mts hfn :mv ii..( Hii soft nntl clliiKiK klrnj. I h(y are llor o. Iinnl. short; lin y crnsii. Joy horo, too, lli not In I iiiKinpr. It i to.! i j oc for tlint. Flcrc only N Ihr prlninl kls, :ind thon tin- iir. On? m ny fihc.Mvp imrr-. hovpor (otTondlnjr analyst'1) w jrr:iJ;i ilons In pmotiun. The IrNh show most the vloloivo of rinotloti. Thr Slavs linlirato lrvs feeling. TIh-v priji tin- hmul or kis It. 'Jhe Austrhns kiss tho lianii. lUo honl. inythlnir tli.it shows. The English FpiMklnj: onv nmko unwavrrlncly, tf-rrilil.v, for tho llp Hcrf. (on, H tho liiiniltrrant In th making. Tho mr-ltiDs pot of this rniu-d S'aifs is leforo tho ryes at nil Is Inland: horo Is tho rltli-n In his material r-volu-tlon. Seo this on-. Just nrrlvrd. In the br-nvy boots and tho hnnl noarln. grossly lifting, murli worn nttlr. f'ompare him vrllh tho vlsiricig frloinl (perhaps six years In the country), with pollshM boots, stand- Two Little Unescorted Xithuanlana tnvai'" ..- g-gtHrSS ' '- - fcj-lCteiZSa3a TI1K wide, white barge moves, loar'.ed with human liy. fnrn tho distant steamship l'i-r. Nearer one nolioes tiiousnnds cf pink spf eks, which are faces, and a no ml -re. solid found.H ion of dark, which Is clothing cloth-ing Nearer s-lill thousands of eyes are seen to stare out. Intent, curious eyes, and the pink smudges hire become rapt expressions. Tor these venturers have roiue far and tho last stage of their Journey is upon '.hem. They are ready to embark, .ind Kills Island is waiting lo receive. So forth conies next a single, slowly moving line, and one becomes conscious of. an evolution in the mass. The phalanx of dark clothes ami pink faces resolves itself into many chiracters of men and raiment. rai-ment. Slavs. Italians, Irish. Poles sopnrnte themselves them-selves from tho pink and dark mixture on the barge. One Is aware of bug and huge, weather beaten bundles; of shawls of every color, of hits of all materials ma-terials and of erery shape felt hats, straw bats, cloth lints, hats turning up, bats turning down, unlmaelnn-bats. unlmaelnn-bats. It is a shifting, ever variable line, differing In most things, but in one unchangeable. And that? You see t when the line moves. It Is the slow, heavy footed movement of toil. It moves forward to the wide door, that line, to the brisk direction of officialdom and to the sound of its crisp tones. "Come this way; come this way," souuds the voice of a man In uniform. "One behind the other, now. In the liiie one behind tho other one at a time." Tbo trim governmental person speaks In half a dozen tongues. Slowly tho line streaks forward, its moving distance swallowed by a dark doorway the first inanimate object of its digestion. Slow Moving Stream. So goes 1be stream of lmmlgrancy lusty, plodding, many bundled. High In the gallery, behind the as- - simllating door. It may tw-seen again as it enters like a serpent, creeping, In that place to be dissected, analyzed, separated and given individualities and tickets, to be deported or imported, to be binlshcd or !ussib!y given a vote. It Is an Immense hall, this laboratory of humanity. It is dark floored, yellow walled, many windowed. Light Iron mils divide the floor space into narrow walkways and into ojien f-paces with an assured similitude to pens. Along (bene tbe serpent straggles and In theiu It waits. it streams slowly along. Slowly, slowly to officialdom of-ficialdom again uniformed medical officialdom Ibis .i w :.tl,cs It stand at ci.rner before Iwsln? and towels, and if, through the prerogative of author ship, you are stationed at the back of these genrlernen ymi m:iy experience the decided odors of antiseptics ami sou the drifting of a never ceasing tide. They .ire crisp, prompt, deftly decisive in their movements, these doctors. There Is a practised, M-aivhjnjr muvcim nt of fingers, a turn, an exposure of cyi'llds. a brisk sn.ipplng of lingers, an iuvarlable "iplng of hands on towels. And then ? Tho vertebra of our serpent wheels slowly, glides along aiinilier angle of Its tailed walkway and moves to a in t her trial. That Is. of course, if tho null of -ur vertebra 1 4 Examining a Pretty Slovak Girl vious prerogative), keen eyed and not unkindly, lie has a wide experience in the ways of guile. He is an acute questioner. Indeed, he has had much practice for his hand or voice. For years and years he has sat before his high desk at tho end the very end of that line which has reached lt.s practically ultimate ulti-mate point. You may look along it to where it sits patient in the open pen; for our gentleman has a careful business before him In the way of questioning, question-ing, and his proceeding Is longer than that of the doctor. In the pen is a line no longer; only a jumble of humanity, and the contrast of part9 strikes more sharply. One sees a medley of baskets, bundles, bags, of sallow, dark eyed Italians; of broad nosed. semi-Oriental semi-Oriental looking Slavs; of fair, mild eyed 1'usslans. hcavj and thick of frame; of sharp featured Irish girls that in a few weeks will be dominating our destinies; des-tinies; of Irish Inds with fresh complexions and Invariable In-variable caps. The body and soul of the Immigrant line is here clustered together awaiting its liual adjudication. ad-judication. That body stares curiously at the alert little official behind the high desk That body fears and very obviously hopes. And part by part It stops out to tnke its turn at the other side of tbo question-ing. question-ing. These questions have a marked character. They have a sort of kindly penetrancy about them; for the little mau knows his raw material of citizenship. He knows manners and expressions. His bright, keen little eyes unveil 'the awed uervotin?s3 and separate It from the crude dissimulation at a irlance. A Cne, strong looking IrKb girl is at the gate of Type of Pretty Emigrant Children Happy "and Smiling on Way to New York $&- Emigrants Leaving Ellis Island . ardlzed Lluihes. ilh ueikpin and cigar refulgent t -feature of regressive prosperity. And six years ago the' cnge bad hliu: Pointing the Lesson. lie Is the les-iui nf the intltlng iKt; its finished product, prod-uct, its mellowest fruit. m Along the pas-age and Into the great railroad waiting wait-ing room, with (he lilol th-ors and the light 'green urtlstkally knlsnnilned walls, wait those other successful suc-cessful ones. hiiiii. however, no frkud will meet. Situs in many languages are prominent there. There -tickets itiuv be bought, time money changed. The vcriMircrs who have dribbled here wait about uneasily, un-easily, stand stlttly. uncomfortably. They look nervously nerv-ously about, their huuds shaking still. They pursue anxious Inquiries. They arc not certain yet that their troubles are over. The waiting room near by the one for tho Western parls Is more crowded, for the great tide of immigration immi-gration goes here. Here are little islands of trunks and little families or companies ranged around them, or near them, or sitting on them. The crowd is a chittenng, gesticulating gesticu-lating one. tagged and ready for its distribution. At the end the refreshment stall is besieged. The large cardboard boxes containing the oranges, the sandwiches sand-wiches the sardines, the large daik sausages, are being hoii-ht eagerly. The peasant girls from IJuu-. gary and Kussia, the peasant men .roiu Italy and I'obind sit crumuilng (lie feud into (heir mouths and taking largo alternate bites at sausages and bread. Children bury their Hat noses Into the yellow interiors in-teriors of oranges; women thrust their urms elbow dorp into the cardboard packages. There is babel in the air and a litter on the floor, and that litter tho attendants at-tendants sweep, sweep all the time. Contrast of Types Humor thrives in this place, too. A party of visiting visit-ing American ladies walk about looking curiously. They are scientifically, modishly encompassed; they are luced; (hoy are adorned with delicate blouses and the peeping witchery of silk. Two heavy footed, rosy cheeked Irish girls stare their eyes out, so to speak. "Well." one asks, "what do you think of them?"' "Arrah. niuslia." nays one, "they have different shipes and clothes from tbe women where 1 touiif from!" You ask her friend where she comes from. "Shure from this side of the town of Boyle." she answers. an-swers. It seems, too, that it is difficult for t he Immigrant to understand I lie. size of American cities. Tbe wanderers wander-ers wonder at the delay. One bad a friend lu Urook-l.Mi. Urook-l.Mi. and that fact t-ho deemed sufficient for all ro-t from care. She pictured Brooklyn as somewhat largor than her town of Boyle, where the neighbors all know each other. An Inspector is even unsurprised to be asked the whereabouts of one John O'Brien "who was standing beyant there a minlt agon." So tagged, anticipatory, tbey wait, poor, wandering m ones wait till the whistle suddenly blows at the end of the room J cards become displayed ou long poles, replicas of lags on many breasts, and a shouting U heard In many languages. The chatter rises then, becomes be-comes intense and a surging rush cornea to tbe open gates. Bo.fs are taken, packages gathered, the little families and companies consolidated. All move forward for-ward to the wide gale and tho waiting ferryboat aud tho new world. It Is early afternoon and the slim i laces of industry still rise, softened by the rosy uiNfs of distance. Yes, tbey are gieater, more majestic thiin any fairyland of dreams. The wuinle-rers have come lo the country of cn-cbuuttucat cn-cbuuttucat and It Ls theirs. ' mm! M:f "Emigrants Before the Commissioners "It's enough to say yes or no," said the Inspector dryly. The iuaccuracy, however, is largely the result of nervousness, and she is passed. So. standing bchlud that little sharp inspector one comes to know the gradations of nervousness. One becomes particularly familiar with its atverest forms, for you stand ve-ry close lo primal human Impulses when you look over the shoulder of the little man. One linds the poor, rough bauds to be very shaking, and theie is a pitiable eagerness and anxiety lu the poor, blunt features at the sign of auy difficulty. Howevt r brave a mau or woman may have been wheu sotting forth from a distant tovvu er village, the liual trial in the new land shakes tho hardiest. The money has been buried deep, deep down in the mysteries of tin ui (crest, most Inner clothing, and the question 'Where is it?" Is the signal fcr flustered but progressive progres-sive search. Sometimes the treasure lies secreted in belts near bodies; even the most cureless bear it In bundles beneath the shirt. Always, however, a process proc-ess of elaborate tin wrapping becomes uecessary that tbe wealth may he displayed. Hard Won Gold. So the poor, heavy, shaking hand creeps down through outer garments, unbuttons and enters obscure arrangements of flannel, delves deeper, deeper into other strata f M range appearing raiment. There Is a stop, a groping, and tbo heavy band returns with a wrapping, u bag. a purse perhaps, jwathed like a mummy In the Pharaohs' time; then, iast. the hard won gold wrought from unkiuder. older countries where the sun smiles only for a few. So, shaking, It Is held out. that hard won sixty or tlfly or twenty or five dollars: s It Is eounted and Its owner is free with the kindly note of the Inspector In his cars and a kindly Jest for a welcome to tho new life. "Well, good by, Mary. There's a lot of tine Irish policemen here; you'll be a citizen right away," was the speeding of tine. And "(Jood luck" and "Ooodby" is the kindly farewell of many. One tomes to know standing thee that mono- does not make the man or woman In Kills Island. Those ( ho .-e diseased- vtn though tbey have foruriara- lively large sums, are barred, while tbe men of women strong ami resourceful, even though they have but a dollar, may enter the gates of the natlou. Tbe immigriut societies will become responsible for these. The strong ones have nothing lo fear. And past the judgment seal? The line lias disintegrated. dis-integrated. It has taken up the heritage of Individuality Individu-ality for better, for worse. The greater part moves on smiling, e'xclled. triumphant and trembling with a Joy difficult to describe. Tbe remainder? L'p over the red tiled roofs the.v wait, those that have failed at the test. In a view one notices irregularities irregu-larities in tbe mass. litre arc tbo timbers of immigration immi-gration with weak parts, warped aud with knots. The men and women here have ev il faces, or weak or old. They are apt illustrations f the tragedy of fuv ironmeiit tir of years. And, truly, here on the roof the picture Is a truglc one. Strolling about, siltiug, basking in (he sun are the groups of failure. Some are listless, but some, strain their eyes across tbe purple river, where rising from a rosy hazo aud softened, by distance rise; Ihu giant hlvc-s, slender, unique, a very fairyland of reality. They have come f ir, these riien ami women, to make a part of all these things. They have hoped. And here they are, with straining eyes, rejected at the very gate of paradise. Downstairs, however, in tbe Utile cage the scene is different. The struggle is behind those who wall here. These hearts cau be read like open books; these violins of human souls are unuiutcd Between them and the rosy fairyland are but a new necessary questions ques-tions to friends and to themselves for their own protection. pro-tection. I-'or tb" most Impressive characteristic In all the wonderfully oiled machluery of Kills Islam! Is the care exercised ou the Immigrant, This Is es-cially es-cially the case In regard to women, lest they should fall Into unscrupulous bands. The questlous , once asked and answered, however Well, tbe name Is called out from tbe cage; she comes, tbe one who lias travelled so far to meet husband hus-band or sister or woman friend. Here human Im- eultivjj arc nakvd taiucs ssliorn of every vestment aud lucky. But iMhaps it Uu'. Its eyelids, perhaps, are not .iilte as tbey bVuid be. Tbey are doubtful or Inflamed or hoili. Tin 11 tho rusty cut is marked with chalk and (be unit Is turned aside for further o. a milial ioti However, tbo body of the serpent moves 01. And at the end of lis further wad; way Iris next tribulation j walls it-mi inspector, who sits at his manifest und lliU enabled to vitally question. IK- is a sharp, small man, this Injector, beside whom we t!und (..f judgment uow. and the questions commence briskly. What Is her name? Where does sue come from? Where is she going? Any friends to meet her? Any relations here? The girl auswers each Inquiry uervously but stead-fjstiv. stead-fjstiv. She is obviously tbe best type, of Immigrant. Another girl becomes eibst-uted upon Ibe question of relationship. She states that she bis no relations here, but keen questioning proves a 11sl.-iut cousin. "Well, that's not mutb, is it?" said she with ready |