THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, OCTOBER 13, ,1907.
NEW YORK, Oct. 5. (Bpecial corres
pondence of the Sunday Oregonlan.)
Call It hospitality, call It missions,
rail It patriotism, call it self-protection,
or call It plain, ordinary, unspeclallsed
religion: but by whatever name it Is des
ignated, the work of the Ellis Island rep
resentatives of the various religious
bodies Is one of the most Interesting
phases of contemporary Christianity.
It Is the Church at the Nation's Gate,
giving the clear evidence of kindly deeds
that this Is a Christian land. To be the
first to touch the life of the incoming
stranger, making him aware. In this su
preme hour of his experience, that re
ligion Is an active, aggressive and hos
pitable force in the alien's Land of Prom
ise, is the nevrly-awakened and laudable
ambition of organized Christianity.
The news of this lies not in the novelty
of the missionary's presence at Bills Is
land, for that Is no novelty. Th8 extra
ordinary aspect of the ease is that just
now all the large Christian bodies of
America are showing an alert interest
In the Immigrant, and are bringing their
powerful forces to bear upon him. so that
they are becoming one of the most potent
factors in the immigration problem. The
recent report of Chief Powderly to the
Secretary of Commerce and Labor, point
ing out what industrial opportunities
await the newcomers, and where, has
naturally provoked wide discussion; yet
what the churches propose, and have un
dertaken. Is probably of far greater mo
ment. Crowding Oat the Crooks.
Time was when the missionary at Ellis
Island had a hard job of it, with all sorts
of graft leagued against the unsophisti
cated incomers whom ha sought to serve.
There were crooked inspectors and other !
crooked officials; graft in the immi
grants' restaurant, graft In the money
changing, graft in the steamship and rail
road agencies, graft in the boarding
house runners, and worse than graft In
the enterprising efforts of the white slave
merchants. Long before religion awoke
to anything like an adequate conception
of the opportunities presented at Ellis
Island, the forces of evil were reaping a
rich harvest there. The years during
which these harpies, almost unmolested,
plucked the stranger at the gate do not
make an attractive chapter of American
history.
Now there are two-score missionaries at
Bills Island, and the Commissioner of
Immigration, Robert Watchorn. "the Man
at the Gate." Is himself an earnest Meth
odist, and In close sympathy with every
effort to serve the immigrant's material
or spiritual needs. He relies strongly
upon this newly-awakened religious con
sciousness of America to support him In
his rigorous dealings with steamship and
railway companies to compel them to give
the alien a square deal. It has been the
rule, rather than the exception, until
very lately, for these transportation com
panies to treat immigrants worse than
they treat four-footed cattle. In an ad
dress to the Ellis Island missionaries one
day Commissioner Watchorn gave them
these words of encouragement and admo
nition: "Your work, as missionaries, has al
ways commended Itself to me. I know
of no fellow mortal who stands more
In need of such kindly ministrations
than one who, having left his native
home, finds himself barred at the
threshold of the country In which he
hopes to acquire a domicile. During
the period of uncertainty as to wheth
er he Is to be admitted or deported, he
certainly does stand in need of sym
pathetic aid. It is my purpose and my
desire consistent as Commissioner of
Immigration to see to it that such
consolidation as you may bring shall
not be denied him; I shall, however.
Insist that each one of you will re
spect the law and conform to the reg
ulations. The sworn officers of the
law must be the sole judges ns to who
shall enter the United States, and as
to those who may not enter; and their
judgment and their actions must not
be subjected to unofficial- influences."
The Modern Good Samaritan.
The seal of missionaries in behalf of
rases In which they have become spe
cially Interested doubtless evoked
Those last words. There was the Greek
priest, in his Imposing rubes and
ponderous pendant cross, to whose
skirts clung a boy and girl; doubtless
he would do anything In his power to
save them from the terror of deporta
tion. And that cluster of Irish peas
ants who were following to the barge,
with beaming faces, a Roman Catholic
priest, had evidently been extricated
from some difficulty by him. Fifteen
minutes later I saw a Jewish rabbi
with a company of solemn and cadav
erous man who might have been exiles
from some Kishinev; evidently he was
their protector, if not their deliverer.
Kills Island is a kaleldoscpoe of such
pictures. Every Immigrant is in necl
of the friendly word of assurance, it
nothing more. But the tragedies which
are daily enacted there give the warm
heated missionary abundant opportu
nity to be an angel of mercy. These
are pictures of a master's brush. Take
that big-eyed, sweet-faced Swedish
mother, whom" I saw standing at the
entrance to the' woman's apartment.
(Hr children, clung about her dress.
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ntlllHimmiiiT v'
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but her husband was not near. Per
haps he had been sent to the detention
den. for deportation; perhaps he had
failed to arrive; probably, I judged
It was that the great hour of mother
hood had come to her again, in this
time and place of tumult and uncer
tainty. Whatever the reason, terror
filled her eyes, and her gentle face
was drawn in agony, as she leaned
upon the little Baptist woman who
spoke her own tongue, and was to her
God's own angel. In that busy spot.
there was one with leisure and skill 1
to befriend the friendless.
Services such as these nil the days
of the Ellis Island missionaries. They
Bpeak most of the tongues in this
modern Babel. Often they have op
portunity for nothing but the giving
of a greeting, a tract or a Bible, in the
speech of the fatherland. Frequently,
though, they can Introduce the stran
ger to the friendly offices of some
minister or church worker at the des
tination to which she is bound. The
aim is not only to show kindness to
ine immigrant, ana to give nim a
Christian welcome, but also, so far as
possible, to keep the shaping, guiding
hand of religion, and If possible, of his
own church, upon him, in the new
home which he is entering.
Aside from the ministry to the unfor
tunates in the detention pen the place
into which there Is crowded, doubtless,
more tragedy than In any other one spot
in the world, for more than 1 per cent
of all immigrants are sent back who
await further examination or deporta
tion, some of the missionaries are con
nected with temporary homes for immi
grants on the Battery. The Lutheran
Church has been especially zealous in
caring for its immigrants. The Meth
odists and Roman Catlsolics HiVwlse
have been alert to meet these special
conditions- Another body, whose activ
ity is marked at Ellis Island Is the Ital
ian Society for the Aid of Immigrantsi
which is supported in part by the Italian
government, as well as by Italians In
this country. This 4s not avowedly re
ligious, but It is a powerful barrier be
tween the untaught alien and the pow
ers that prey.
Stirring the Nation's Churches.
The smashing of immigration records
the year ending "in June. 1907. brought
nearly a million and a half la in good
part responsible for awakening of the
churches of North America to a serious
consideration of their part in the Na
tional assimlllation of the immigrant.
The theme is now to the fore In various
religious gatherings, and In all the
church papers. It has been made a spe
cial subject of study with new text
books, by tens of thousands of members
of young people's societies and Sunday
schools and missionary organizations.
This Fall all the "Rally Kay" services
held in at least one great denomination
the Presbyterian, were directed to de
vote their collections to the one object
of home missionary work among the Im
migrants. A numOTr of important recent
publications, including Professor Edward
A. Steiner's "On the Trail of the Immi
grant." John R. Common's "Races and
Immigrants in America," and Dr. H. B.
Grose's "The Incoming Millions." have
been designed chiefly for circulation
among church people.
Another tangible evidence of the wide
spread increase of Interest In the immi
grant is the growth of mission churches
for foreign-speaking persona, and the
great increase of colporteurs to" distri
bute literature among such. At present
i this is the most accented, Xe&tur of thej.
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haps he had been sent to the detention ' - ' - , - 4 I TW' i .., UT 111 III ljH
den. for deportation; perhaps he had : ? -z - , , , '. . ' " - -'i-, J 1 ' " '
time and place of tumult' and uncer- j.-? - , , -' '' 'V-l "L W
talnty. Whatever the reason, terror ' "i- ' ' f '; - ' - v S&?ZZz&&sz&:i. &Z00liiS
filled her eyes, and her gentle face . N - g ' ' ''' s "' - ( llVwV'S'iS. fr
was drawn in agony, as she leaned " ' ' " - " 'I s ff m OSi3S. fhy
upon the little Baptist woman who : . . js - .Awssam, - : I I 'JtS-Jf' S
spoke her own tongue, and was to her ; gT & ; IS?-" ' v i I -Z iS TSc
y a'
jezp TsJ3e
home mission work now being carried
on by the great denominations. The
carefully organized agenciea of these de
nominational boards are at work sys
tematically stirring up interest in this
theme. If the newcomer is not given a
neighborly xwelcome. and assisted to be
come a law-abiding American, the fault
will not he with the officials of the
churches.
Undoubtedly it is tru,e that to some
extent the churches are being scared
Into this extraordinary activity. ' They
see visions of the crowding out of the
Christian Institutions, such as Sunday,
even as scores of indilvdual churches
have been crowded out to the downtown
sections of the great cities by the tide of
alien population. The question is being
put In some quarters, not as "What shall
we do with the immlgrantT" but as
"What will the immigrant do with us?"
The tendency to concentrate In the great
cities (more than 80 per cent of the non-English-speaking
Immigrants settie In
IS per cent of ths territory of the United
States), and the Increase of crime by
aliens are subjects which press them
selves upon the attention of the serious
minded.
The thousands of study classes in
the churches of America which are
now considering this question, are one
of the important Influences beseathj
- .. i ll . . ,sr. m wm-i .. . v .fc. .Baft; 1 w , . l-" l-;, .t ' r 7 "V .r. . M M J- A.7 1 l-u-"vir t - - "r -t .-.-, r ... "f'-"t .
Mcwms ywrNG
the surface of National life which yet
powerfully affect destiny. Because th
Christian sentiment, which still domi
nates the country when , It 1s exerted,
is concerned over the moral better
ment of the Immigrants, there Is
bound to be a steady lifting up at all
the standards affecting them.
Y. M. C. A. Experts at Work.
Among the men and women who per
sonify Christianity's welcome to the
strangers at Ellis Island, and the other
principal ports of entry into America,
may be found representatives of the
T. M. C. A.- This is a new departure
for the Association. It is only the be
ginning of a work from which a great
deal will be heard later. Now these
special secretaries busy themselves
looking after the welfare of young
men, citizens in embryo. They give
them cards of introduction to the T.
M. C A. in the towns to whlrh they
are going. Then they inform the 'sec
retary at the point of destination to be
on the lookout. Ambitious plans,
which contemplate the corrallng of a
large proportion of the immigrants
through the new work of associations
scattered over the land, are being con
sidered. The Association has had the fore
jnost authority; vpon the immigration..!
QAIE
ssafl i sCs3JssAishAiJBBM5jaMjaaJw.vak.'.jA io-xm-. 'gittr:'jimjy'irMl "sf ss ' isTlTVi i i'i'ii i"i " n! : - " -v " V ... - ' ''-'-s ' ' " ''
" MMiM.liisr..iiifiiiiMii r - x.
carr zanpep.
question. Professor Edward A. Stelner,
at work during the past Summer mak
ing a speaial investigation of the
whole subject, in respect to Its possi
bilities as a T. M. C. A. field. The in
ternational committee has within the
past few monthsput another expert.
Dr. Peter Roberts, personally in
charge of ' a department of Work
among aliens.
In Canada similar efforts are being
put forth in behalf of the immigrants
bound northwest. Trains and boats
are met at Quebec and elsewhere, and
refreshments supplied to the stran
gers. During the rush of a few years
ago, a Y. M. C- A. tent was established
at Winnipeg, and it did a land-office
business. In the coal regions of Penn
sylvania associations have been opened
for, the -foreign-speaking men, and be
cause of their educational features
these are regarded by the immigrants
as an incalculable boon.
Xhara ia abundant evidence that at
tjese w gmzzs aks? rue
last the Christian agencies of Amer
ica have awakened to their peculiar
responsibility for educating and Amer
icanizing the increasing myriads of
foreigners who annually come to these
shores. The 40 representatives of re
ligion at Ellis Island typify a move
ment which .will bear watching.
Skilled Dentists 2300 Years Ago.
Berlin Cable.
A German dentist named Galli has es
tablished the fact that the Etruscans
were accomplished dentists. He has ex
amined numerous Etruscan skulls and
found In some teeth which had been filled
with wonderful skllL- Four are covered
with gold capsules, two covering natural
teeth, while the other two were arti
ficial grinders, a real piece of bridge
work. Galli remarks:
"The Etruscans, like tbe Americans,
f were not backward about showing their
EXTBAOPDINABY
DEVELOPMENT OF
ONE PHASE OF THE
IMMIGRATION QUESTION
AT ELLIS ISLAND
teeth incased in gold. The Etruscans
must also have been acquainted with ou
best modern fillings, as this piece of
Etruscan dentistry lasted about 2300
years. Perhaps In details dentistry can
show Improvements, but dentists now
know nothing the old Etruscan 'tooth
doctors' did not."
Taken at His Word.
Harper's.
Master Walter, aged S, had .-eaten the
soft portions of his toast at breakfast,
and. piled the- crusts on his plate. ,
"When I was a little boy," remarked
his father, who sat opposite him, "I al
ways ate the crusts of my toast."
"Did you like them?"- inquired his off
spring, cheerfully.
"Yes," replied the parent.
"You may have these,"-said Mayer
Walter, pushing his plate across til-table.