6.  THE IMMIGRATION CENTER

The Fusts' first experience in America must have felt as though America is very regimented.  Maybe they wanted to turn around to the S. S. Gellert and return to Germany during their processing at Castle Garden, also known as Castle Clinton.

The Fusts wore numbered identity tags pinned to their clothing and joined the long lines separated by iron railings that made the large hall look like a maze.  There they were questioned and examined.  The first doctor looked for physical and mental abnormalities.  Some immigrants received a chalk mark on their right shoulder for further inspection:  L for lameness, H for heart, X for mental defects, and so on.  

The second doctor looked for contagious and infectious diseases, looking especially for infections of the scalp and at the eyelids for symptoms of trachoma, a blinding disease.  Because trachoma caused more than half of all detentions, this doctor was greatly feared.  He stood directly in front of each of our immigrant ancestors, and with a swift movement, he would grab the immigrant's eyelid, pull it up, and peer beneath it.  Thankfully, the Fusts passed all the exams and were not detained or sent back to Germany.

Then they moved on to the registration clerk who questioned them with the help of an interpreter:  What is your name?  Your nationality? Your occupation? Can you read and write?  Have you ever been in prison? How much money do you have with you? Where are you going?  This was most trying for these Germans who did not speak or understand English.  However, most immigrants passed through the processing center in about one day.  Then carrying all their worldly possessions, they finally left that examination hall.

Where did they go in their new land?