The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 19, March 18, 1897 | Page 7

day, seized another harpoon,
plunged it into the whale's side, and finished the business.
After churning the water with his tail till the whole surface looked like
soapsuds, the whale gave up the fight, and was towed in to shore.
Imagine the delight of the heroes of Amagansett, when they found that
their prize was a right whale, with about 800 pounds of bone in his
mouth.
His value is supposed to be about two thousand dollars; this will be
equally divided among the men who caught the prize.
* * * * *
A new Immigration Bill has passed through Congress.
It provides that no one who is over sixteen years of age shall be
allowed to come into the country if not able to read. The bill passed
both Houses, and was sent to President Cleveland for his signature.
Some people thought that he would not sign the bill, because it is good
for us to let all the immigrants into the country who want to come.

Others hope that he did sign it, because they think we ought to be very
careful about the kind of people we allow to enter our country, and
share its privileges with us.
The present immigration laws are very strict. Every foreigner who
comes to our shores has to satisfy the authorities at Ellis Island as to his
worthiness, before he can be allowed to land.
Ellis Island is in New York harbor, and is used solely for the handling
of immigrants.
Every ship that carries immigrants is obliged to furnish the authorities
at Ellis Island with lists of these passengers, and full information about
them. The steerage passengers are landed at Ellis Island, the lists are
given to the clerks, and the immigrants have to pass before these clerks,
and answer all their questions before they are allowed to enter our
country.
Before they come to the desks where the clerks sit, they have to pass
two by two before some doctors, who watch very carefully to see if
there are any lame or deformed persons among them. If any such are
found, the doctors separate them from the rest, and they are carefully
examined to see what their trouble is.
If it is serious, and they are cripples, and not able to earn their own
living, they are not allowed to come into the country, but are sent back
where they came from, at the expense of the steamship company.
In Spain and Italy, and indeed in many of the European countries, there
are an amazing number of cripples who make their living by begging.
These professional beggars are a dirty, shiftless set of people, a
disgrace and a danger to the countries they live in.
If we allowed them to enter our country it would greatly increase our
taxes and expenses, for we do not allow begging, and so, as the poor
unfortunates must have food and shelter, we would send them to our
almshouses, and have to pay to support them. So it is forbidden to
allow cripples, or people incapable of earning their own living, to come

into the country.
While the doctors are watching for cripples, they also examine the
immigrants carefully, to see that they have not any kind of sickness.
Only healthy immigrants are allowed to land, sick people being sent
back.
When the immigrants have passed the doctors, they then reach the
clerks, who must be satisfied that they have money, or friends in the
country, before they give them permission to land.
People who come without money are divided from the rest, and are
taken before a board of inquiry.
Here they are asked why they came to the country. If they have friends
who have sent for them, and who agree to feed and shelter them, they
are allowed to pass. If no friends come for them, they are kept on Ellis
Island till their friends are found; and if no friends are found, they are
sent back to their own country.
When they have been passed from Ellis Island the immigration law has
not done with them. The law says that no charity shall be given to an
immigrant who has been in this country for less than a year. Any
person who asks for help, and has been less than a year over here, is
sent back to Ellis Island, and from thence he is carried back to his own
country by the same steamship company that brought him.
So you see that the laws are almost strict enough now, and the
immigrants who succeed in passing through Ellis Island are a good,
solid class of people, who are likely to become worthy citizens.
* * * * *
Did you ever hear a singing mouse?
A man wrote a