Page:Immigration and the Commissioners of Emigration of the state of New York.djvu/224



REPORT OF THE GRAND JURY ON THE MODE OF DOING BUSINESS AT CASTLE GARDEN.

, September 9, 1856.

THE Grand Inquest of the county of New York, in the discharge of their duty, have been called upon to investigate certain complaints which have been preferred against certain employees of the railroad companies doing business with the emigrants landing at Castle Garden. In the discharge of this duty they have felt called upon to visit the Landing Depot itself, with a view to give a personal inspection to the mode of doing business within its enclosures. The landing and despatching of a cargo of upwards of 400 passengers, taking place at the time of their visit, afforded a favorable opportunity to watch the whole proceeding. The passengers were brought from the ship on a barge, towed by a steamboat, persons and property sheltered from the rain by the upper deck of the barge. They landed in an orderly manner, having evidently been instructed by the officers from Castle Garden as to the nature of the Landing Depot and its arrangements. They passed over the deck, answered the enquiries of the examining physician, whose duty is to note cases whose age or condition requires special bonds from the ship for their support in case of need, and to detect cases of sickness which may have escaped the notice of the Health Officer at Quarantine. On entering the large rotunda of Castle Garden, they were registered by a clerk of the Commissioners of Emigration, who took down the names of the heads of families and single persons, whence they came, the State of their destination, their cash means, and the relatives (if any) they were going to join. The annual statistics of the current of emigration are made up from these notes. The passengers then passed on to the next desk, where clerks of the Transportation Companies ascertained the places of destination they wished to go, laid maps of the various routes of travel before them, explained the difference in time and price of travel by the various routes; and, after a selection was made by the passengers, provided them with an order on the cashier, setting forth the number of tickets required, the route selected, and the price of passage and of over-freight per one hundred pounds by such route. The cashier, on receiving this order, issued the class of tickets it called for, and received the price therefor. The passengers were then shown by a different way from that by which they had entered the rotunda back to the dock, and there produced to the weigh-master the checks they held for baggage, which they had