Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 October 1891 — BOUND FOR AMERICA. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

BOUND FOR AMERICA.

SCENES ON AN AMERICAN PACKET. A Gathering of All Nation*—How the Undesirable Secure Passage-Rows in the Steerage— A Concert In a Dozen Languages. Our Immigrants. Public attention is at present being called with no little emphasis to tne extent of foreign immigration to this country. The number of those who come iA attracting serious consideration from legislators and statesmen, while the character of the immigration is causing moralists and publii ists no little concern. Something has already been done in the way of restricting the Influx of an undesirable element of foreigners, but what has been accomplished in this way Is probably very little compared with what will be done soon after the assembling of the next Congress. Whatever may have been the advantages or disadvantages of wholesale immigration such as we have for a lew years past experienced, it is certain that no more interesting Mudy of human nature In all its phases is presented than in the steerage of a large steamer bound for the United States. For months before the sailing day immigration agents have been at work Sent out by Mates desirous of settling uninhabited tracts of country, by immigration societies anxious to call attention to particular districts or to sell blocks of ground, by steamship lines and railroad companies wishing to profit by the fares of travelers, the

agents have penetrated into every nook and corner of Europe, everywhere offering inducements to volunteers to leave their uativo lands and settle in the country of the Great Eagle. From the time the foreign pe isant or artisan quits his native village he is in charge of agents who retain an interest in his welfare. not only until his arrival in America. but in-many cases unt.il he is sett ed on the land designed for him in some

Weste ’n State. As the sailing day of any particular steamer appre aches the cheaper lod'. ing houses in the vicinity of the wharves and docks a:e filled up with men and women whose baggage proclaims the character of its owners. Men of all descriptions appear on the streets, carrying trunks, chests, and boxes containing the wor dly property of the bearers, They are so lowed by their wives laden with bedding, c otlitng aud various necessaries, and on the morning of the s'camer's departure a singularly heterogeneous crowd is gathered on t)he wharf waiting admission to the steerage. Germans. with wooden shoes and tong, loppy pipes are there, their baggage redolent of various odoriferous articles of food, Frenchmen are there, displaying even in poverty some eviden es of taste and refinement There are Ita ians, blackbearded. tierce, ea h probably having a stiletto concealed somewhere about his person There are Hungarians from the Valley of the Danube, foies from North Austria, hussian .lews. Spaniards, Lortuguesc, Swedes and Norwegians—a I going to the Land of Promise, should the steamer touch at an English port, the little assemblage is increased by the addition of a few hundred Irishmen, sorrowful at leaving their beautiful island, but soon forgetting their trouble in looking to the future. Side by side with them are Scotchmen, always ready to turn an honest penny, end Englishmen, always in the peculiar smock-frock so much worn in the country districts of South England The cockney, with his tweed suit aud tourist helmet encircled by a veil, has no place in the .-ticrage: he may be seen looking from the cabin quarters, but must be much reduced, both in pride and fortune, if he will condescend to take passage in the steerage.

The vessel sailing from an English port must, before dually clearing, submit to a thorough inspection by Hoard of Trade officials. This is not an inspection of passengers, but of crew, and every ontward-1 ound steamer is obliged to comp y with the regulations laid down by the 1 oard of Trade. Usually, as the vessel passes down the harijor. the crew is paraded on deck, a Boani of Trade Commissioner calls the roll, while his associates scrutinize the members of the crew to a certain if they are all present and if ail are able-boiicd men. This ceremony, which is by no means a formality, being over, the boats are examined to See if food and water are stored in them, and the Commissioners designate one wh ch sha'l be launched. It is let down fro n the side, two or more seamen take their pla-es in it. and row around the ship to prove'the seaw. rthiness of the little craft. All these operations, so directly in their own interest, are watched with eager eyes by the passengers, both c abin and steerage, to most of whom the ceremony is entirely new. Among the 1,200 or 1.503 passen--gors of a great packet there are usually representatives of every nation in Europe. Twenty or thirty languages are spoken, and as the quarters are crowded there is apparently no end to the disagreement among the occupants of the lower regions in the bow of the ship. Every litt e while, as preliminaries for sailing progress, and generally every day during the voyage, the cabin passengers are entorfkinod by various disputes in languages to them unknown, about matters of which they are equa ly ignorant. There is perpetual bickering about the quarters, about the food, about t.iic heeding; innumerable small he.ts occur, which give rise to noisy wrangles, participated in by both men and women. “Only a row in the steerage.” is on board ship a sufficient explanation for any i n sual racket that may

chance to be overheard. Though there is much talking there is very little fighting. for steamer regulations are very strict, and when brawls go beyond the

limits of wordy warfare intciferen*'* hja p.'tty officer and two or three brawny sailors usually settles the difticu.ty in short order. The population of the steerage is generally composed of working people, men and women of active habits, accustomed to much outdoor life, and who arc, as a consequence, extremely impatient of being shut up in the narrow space allotted to their daily life on board ship. Dur ing their week or two of confinement they find themselves ha d pressed for amusement. In their effort to entertain themselves and pass the time, they are commonly assisted by the cabin passengers, who frequently make up small purses for races and for contests in wrestl m and boxing. The “tug of war’’ is a favorite sport, a long rope being provided; two champions, generally cf different nationalities, choosing their sides and the followers of each side pulling against each other. National emulation in these contests is usually strong, and the Irishman will e ert himself far more when pulling against an Englishman, just as the Frenchman feels it necessary to redouble his vigor when pitted against the German. It does not take much to awaken an interest in anything on board ship, and contests of this kind invariably have for an audience everybody who is not seasick.

The distinction between the steerage and the cabin passengers is sharply drawn. In many ships a barrier is erected between the two portions of the vessel; in others a rope stretched across, aft of which no steerage pa senger is allowed to pass, answers the purpose. The population of the steerage seldom trespass on the forbidden ground, but the cabin passengers, being aiioyved to go forward, often do so in case of sickness

among the humble inhabitants of the front. The lack of emp ovment renders the immigrants both ready and willing to do any work that presents itself, and the short-handed gang of ; ailors, pulling on a rope, invariably finds a number of willing helpers among the able-bodied passengers. ft the weather is go d the passage is generally enjoyable, for most of the time can be spent in the open air; but if

s'ormy, the sufferings of the crowds in the steerage are ofte i severe When heavy winds and high seas prevail the hatches must of course be closed, ana In that ca-e hundreds of human beings are shut up in narrow quarters with little opportunity for ventilation, and the discomfort is often extreme. Every ship coming from Europe to America has a plass of passengers who in every respect are very undesirable.

No matter how close the watch or how scrupulous the inspection before the ship leaves the dock, persons are almost certain to conceal themselves somewhere about the ve-sel, to be discovered only when the ship is well out at sea. If found before the pilot is dropped they are sent back in the pi ot boat, hut knowing that a rig d search will be made for them they generally conceal themselves effectually, and do not appear until tile ship Is a day

or so out of port, When found they are roughly treated, and are generally sent down and put to work in the furnace room shoveling coal. Their fate

fa this quarter of the Ship is anything but enviable, fur in the boiler rooms the temperature frequently goes up to 120 degrees, and even the practiced firemen "are sometimes forced to leave their quarters and come up for air. If the

stowaway refuses to work he is kicked, beaten, starved, often put in irons and thrown into the ho d, there to remain until the end pf the voyage. In spite of the fact that he is likely to be returned to Europe on the same vessel that took him out, he comes on every voyage, and in some of the large packets as many as seventeen stowaways have been found when tin ship got fairly to sea. But every stowaway, immigrant arid cabin passenger has an equal interest in the end of the voyage, and when passing up the harbor to New York all look with eager eyes at what to them is a new world. At Quarantine the ship Is stopped and the examining physicians go on board. The cabin passengers are usually exempt from the inspection at Quarantine, unless there be sickness among them which requires the attention of a physician; but the steerage passengers afre paraded on the forward deck, and one by one they file past the doctors, who turn aside from the line for further examination every case by them considered to be in the least degree suspicious. If the ship arrives at night, she is anchored in the stream and a Custom House guard put on board to prevent anyone entering or leaving. The passeneers are questioned as to their property, and required to declare whether they have anything new or dutiable. They make their declarations, and the next morning, when the steamer moves up to the wharf, their statements are placed in the hands of the Custom House examiners, who search their luggage for articles liable to the customs duties. The steerage passeng rs, however, go

through a different ordeal The cabin pa sengers are lai ded at the wharf; the entire population or the steerage is taken In a barge which, towed by a tug, proceeds to (astlo Garden, where the immigrants are Denned up, trought up one by one and examined. After ascertaining their age. and some other particulars. they are catechised as to the amount of funds in their possession, in order to ascertain whether they are likely to become burdens to the public, and the stowaways and paupers arc singled out and sent back from whence they came, tor, the steamship company being under heavy bond, is required to return them. The others are released after their examination and inspection, and scatter to all parts of the country, soon to become citizens-

THE POLISH JEW.

GOING ON BOARD.

AN OLD TYROLEAN.

LEAVING A HOME IN THE EMERALD ISLE.

A STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND.