Heaven forbid. Or in this case US Immigration Laws.
Titanic's Certificates for Clearance contained two Passenger Classes. - Cabin [1st & 2nd Class] and Steerage [3rd Class]. Never should they come into contact.
3rd Class carried Inspection Cards. 2nd Class did not.
This was posted by Bob Godfrey to the E-T Message Board 27 August 2005: Quote:
".......... The card itself was an indication of steerage, as the other classes of passengers didn't require them."
and Quote:
"An initial inspection took place before boarding the ship, but there was a further round of examinations at Ellis Island if arriving at New York. Other ports of arrival, like Boston, had similar establishments. Anybody found to be suffering from an incurable disease or disability was deported at the expense of the shipping line, who also had to pay a hefty fine, and that's why they conducted their own medical inspection before the steerage passengers were allowed to board. The ailments which caused most concern were trachoma (a highly infectious and potentially fatal disease of the eye), cholera, TB, epilepsy, skin diseases and any form of incurable mental or physical infirmity which might make the immigrant unemployable.
Unlike the steerage, those who could afford the price of a ticket in the cabin classes (1st and 2nd) were assumed as a group to be healthy, sane, honest and well-healed! Even in 3rd Class, US citizens and those 'aliens' who were not first-time arrivals were spared some or all of the screening procedures for entry to the US."
My understanding is that the main reason for the separation of Cabin Class [= 1st & 2nd Class] from Steerage [or 3rd Class] was a requirement of US Immigration. Interestingly doors between the two classes were lockable from the 3rd Class side. This from a post by
Bruce Beveridge to the E-T Message Board 27 February 2005: Quote:
"I just want to add a bit to this. After reading the BOT regulations pertaining to Immigration ships from 1911, I found that they did acknowledge emergency passages. In fact any emergency passage from steerage through an upper class compartment was to be avoided, but was allowed if the design of the ship required it and was approved by the surveyor. In any case, it was illegal to have locks on these doors, intended for Steerage through upper class compartments, where the locking mechanism was on the upper class side of the door. In other words, the doors along Scotland Road that communicated directly with the 1st class staircase, and 2nd class staircases had the locking/securing mechanism on the Scotland Road side. From looking at the 2nd class purser's area in a photo, the emergency door was paneled to fit the decor of the room. I believe the design of these doors would have made them basically hidden from view on the upper class side - or in this case the starboard side. This is probably why there was no door visible along the bulkhead of the 1st class companionway on E deck in one particular dive Cameron was on - not because there was no door there, but because the hardware was on the other side."
Lester