The St. Louis Republic Mo. June 14, 1903 One Ring That Weds Six Thousand A Year New York - Fifteen weddings daily was the average at Ellis Island last week. Hymen was as busy as the immigration officials, and it looked for a time as if the office of the Assistant Commissioner would be turned into a matrimonial bureau. Verily, the immigrants marry in haste. Whether they repent at leisure is a question which has never been solved, as the couples are lost sight of as soon as the ceremony has been performed. Most of these nuptials are impromptu affairs. The bridegroom in half the cases is not aware that he is to be married so soon until he starts to leave with his sweetheart, who has just arrived from the old country. Then he is informed that they cannot leave until they are man and wife. Usually he accepts the situation gracefully, and there are but three instances on record in which the fiancee refused to accede to the conditions laid down by the authorities. Nevertheless, the man frequently demurs. He insists that he came to get his sweetheart and that they will be married as soon as possible. He is not quite ready for her, but he soon will have a home to which he can take his bride. Would it not be possible to let him take her and leave her with friends until he has saved more money? But the immigration officials are obdurate. No marriage, no girl. It is an immediate wedding or deportation for the lady of his choice. Then comes the question of a wedding ring. The bridegroom elect, of course, did not bring the all important circlet with him. But a wedding ring is soon found. The same band has done service at more nuptials than any other band of gold in the world. It is a "property ring," to speak in stage parlance, and with its aid thousands of couples have been joined in bonds which only death or divorce can sever. It belongs to Mrs. MULLIGAN, the matron of the women's ward, and she has loaned it to unprepared couples for the last twelve years. But the marriage ceremony of many of these new arrivals requires two rings. There is provision against this emergency. An ample supply of rings is kept on hand. They all look alike, but some can be purchased for 25 cents, while others cost $10. In fact, nothing is left undone to encourage marriage. Even a clergyman is provided. As the contracting parties in the majority of cases are of Catholic faith, the Rev. Father James GAMBERA, an Italian priest, officiates. A minister of any denomination can be obtained at short notice. Air of Solemnity There is a strange air of solemnity and absence of jollity at these impromptu weddings. The bride is more nervous than the young woman who has been anticipating the event for several months. Perhaps the scantiness of nuptial finery has something to do with her lack of cheerfulness. As for the man, he feels too much awe-stricken by the presence of so many strangers to give vent to his natural feelings, even if he is glad to have a wife sooner than he expected. When one reads of seven thousand people being handled at Ellis Island in a day there is a tendency to regard the arrivals as so many human cattle, who are hurried aboard barges and huddled into crowded rooms awaiting inspection. Nevertheless, the women present many elements of the picturesque. The faces of the older ones show either bewilderment or stolidity. The young alone are cheerfully expectant. The wrinkled, gray haired grandmother from Russia or Italy gives no more than a complacent thought to her garb, and the faded shawl about her head does not seem to her out of place amid more modish headgear. Not so the girls and young women. The eternal feminine shows in their glances at the gowns of people who have come over from New York to meet friends or relatives among the immigrants. Sharp indeed was the contrast presented by two sisters, natives of Southern Italy. The elder had been in America for five years. She had sent for her widowed sister, who came with three children. no better example of the effect of living in America could be obtained than was furnished by the meeting of the two sisters. One was clad in a neatly tailored gown, with a hat to match, and a coat of the latest cut. She had an air of confidence such as real success alone can give. The immigrant sister looked up at her with startled eyes. She hardly recognized the girl who had left Italy but five years before, and with a manner almost timid she grasped the well gloved hand stretched out in greeting. Her own costume might be well enough in Italy, but it was "dowdy" now. She might well view it with misgivings, for she wore a waist of black cashmere, trimmed with black velvet bands; her skirt, of the same material, was of bright carnation pink, trimmed in black velvet. On her head she wore a shawl of silken wool; the body was white, and along its length two vines of variegated green, with a fringe of bright pink. The dresses of the three children represented nearly all shades, from brilliant yellow to navy blue. In spite of the gaudy picture, however, the color combinations could not be called altogether inharmonious. Animated indeed are the scenes which mark the arrival of the barges at Ellis Island. Long before dawn the immigrants are astir, impatient to gain a glimpse of the new country to which they have voyaged. When the gang plank of the barge is down each immigrant does his or her part in the removal of the family possessions. Only the babe in arms is exempt from the common toil. Boys scarcely 6 years old drag bundles of clothing larger than themselves. Everything which the family owned, it seems, has been brought with them. >From the huge piles of blankets and clothing comes the rattle of kitchen utensils as they are jarred by the bumping against the boards. Even the baby's chair has not been forgotten. After landing they must undergo the ordeal of the medical examination, irrespective of age or sex, and that which the women must meet is particularly rigid. Should there be any indication of disease or illness the woman is sent to the detention room and a more thorough examination ensues. Sometimes the officials find it necessary to hold her days or weeks before they come to a final decision. In that event she is in the charge of a matron, and every care is taken to insure her comfort. She may be separated from her husband and older relatives, but not her little ones, unless there be danger of some contagious disease. It is a rule of the Immigration Bureau not to separate families, and in case of rejection of one of a family all of the children not of age must be returned by the steamship company which brought them. After the medical examination come the general examination. Here the immigrants are questioned as to their education, means of support, occupation and destination. There are only thirty questions on the list, but the examiner frequently has to ask as many more in order to be able to render a satisfactory report. Especially is this true of the women, for the female immigrants seem perfectly aware of that privilege of their sex, the last word. Then, too, they are apt to resent certain queries which they regard as personal and none of the Government's business. In the dining room the patriotic American witnesses a scene which satisfies him that his country has been slandered. Not even the poorest, hungriest citizen of the Republic could display such shocking table manners as are exhibited by the incoming Europeans. Although the steerage passenger may not be a representative of his country's etiquette, he most assuredly cuts down the average, no matter how high the standard set by the aristocracy. After the purchase of tickets and exchange of currency the immigrants are directed to the waiting rooms of the various railroads to which their transportation assigns them. Here an official of the Commissary Department examines each ticket. As the foreigners have no idea of the distance to be traveled before they reach their destination the Commissary Agent supplies them with food enough to enable them to live comfortably on their journey.