On the Trail of the Immigrant

Part 1

Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images available at The Internet Archive)

AT THE GATE

With tickets fastened to coats and dresses, the immigrants pass out through the gate to enter into their new inheritance, and become our fellow citizens.]

ON THE TRAIL

THE IMMIGRANT

EDWARD A. STEINER’S

Studies of Immigration

From Alien to Citizen

The Story of My Life in America Illustrated net $1.50

In this interesting autobiography we see Professor Steiner pressing ever forward and upward to a position of international opportunity and influence.

The wonderful varied Life-story of the author of “On the Trail of the Immigrant.”

The Broken Wall

Stories of the Mingling Folk. Illustrated net $1.00

“A big heart and a sense of humor go a long way toward making a good book. Dr. Edward A. Steiner has both these qualifications and a knowledge of immigrants’ traits and character.”

--Outlook.

Against the Current

Simple Chapters from a Complex Life. 12mo, cloth net $1.25

“As frank a bit of autobiography as has been published for many a year. The author has for a long time made a close study of the problems of immigration, and makes a strong appeal to the reader.”--The Living Age.

The Immigrant Tide--Its Ebb and Flow Illustrated, 8vo, cloth net $1.50

“May justly be called an epic of present day immigration, and is a revelation that should set our country thinking.”

--Los Angeles Times.

On the Trail of The Immigrant

Illustrated, 12mo, cloth net $1.50

“Deals with the character, temperaments, racial traits, aspirations and capabilities of the immigrant himself. Cannot fail to afford excellent material for the use of students of immigrant problems.”--Outlook.

The Mediator

A Tale of the Old World and the New. Illustrated, 12mo, cloth net $1.25

“A graphic story, splendidly told.”--ROBERT WATCHORN€, Former Commissioner of Immigration.

Tolstoy, the Man and His Message

Part 2

A Biographical Interpretation. Revised and enlarged. Illustrated, 12mo, cloth net $1.50

ON THE TRAIL

THE IMMIGRANT

EDWARD A. STEINER

Professor in Iowa College, Grinnell, Iowa

ILLUSTRATED

NEW YORK€ CHICAGO€ TORONTO€

Fleming H. Revell Company

LONDON AND EDINBURGH€

Copyright, 1906, by

FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY

New York: 158 Fifth Avenue Chicago: 125 No. Wabash Ave. Toronto: 25 Richmond Street, W. London: 21 Paternoster Square Edinburgh: 100 Princes Street

_This book is affectionately dedicated to “The Man at the Gate” ROBERT WATCHORN, United States Commissioner of Immigration at the Port of New York:

Who, in the exercise of his office has been loyal to the interests of his country, and has dealt humanely, justly and without prejudice, with men of “Every kindred and tongue and people and nation.”_

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Cordial recognition is tendered to the editors of The Outlook for their courtesy in permitting the use of certain portions of this book which have already appeared in that journal.

CONTENTS

I. BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION€ 9

II. THE BEGINNING OF THE TRAIL€ 16

III. THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE STEERAGE€ 30

IV. LAND, HO!€ 48

V. AT THE GATEWAY€ 64

VI. “THE MAN AT THE GATE”€ 78

VII. THE GERMAN IN AMERICA€ 94

VIII. THE SCANDINAVIAN IMMIGRANT€ 112

IX. THE JEW IN HIS OLD WORLD HOME€ 126

X. THE NEW EXODUS€ 143

XI. IN THE GHETTOS OF NEW YORK€ 154

Part 3

XII. THE SLAVS AT HOME€ 179

XIII. THE SLAVIC INVASION€ 198

XIV. DRIFTING WITH THE “HUNKIES”€ 213

XV. THE BOHEMIAN IMMIGRANT€ 225

XVI. LITTLE HUNGARY€ 238

XVII. THE ITALIAN AT HOME€ 252

XVIII. THE ITALIAN IN AMERICA€ 262

XIX. WHERE GREEK MEETS GREEK€ 282

XX. THE NEW AMERICAN AND THE NEW PROBLEM€ 292

XXI. THE NEW AMERICAN AND OLD PROBLEMS€ 309

XXII. RELIGION AND POLITICS€ 321

XXIII. BIRDS OF PASSAGE€ 334

XXIV. IN THE SECOND CABIN€ 347

XXV. AU REVOIR€ 359

APPENDIX€ 365

INDEX€ 371

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Facing page

AT THE GATE€ Title

AS SEEN BY MY LADY OF THE FIRST CABIN€ 10

THE BEGINNING OF THE TRAIL€ 26

WILL THEY LET ME IN?€ 50

THE SHEEP AND THE GOATS€ 66

BACK TO THE FATHERLAND€ 92

FAREWELL TO HOME AND FRIENDS€ 114

ISRAELITES INDEED€ 140

THE GHETTO OF THE NEW WORLD€ 156

FROM THE BLACK MOUNTAIN€ 180

Part 4

WITHOUT THE PALE€ 208

HO FOR THE PRAIRIE!€ 246

THE BOSS€ 270

IN AN EVENING SCHOOL, NEW YORK€ 294

A SLAV OF THE BALKANS€ 302

ON THE DAY OF ATONEMENT€ 330

ON THE TRAIL OF THE IMMIGRANT

BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION

My Dear Lady of the First Cabin:

On the fourth morning out from Hamburg, after your maid had disentangled you from your soft wrappings of steamer rugs, and leaning upon her arm, you paced the deck for the first time, the sun smiled softly upon the smooth sea, and its broken reflections came back hot upon your pale cheeks. Then your gentle eyes wandered from the illimitable sea back to the steamer which carried you. You saw the four funnels out of which came pouring clouds of smoke trailing behind the ship in picturesque tracery; you watched the encircling gulls which had been your fellow travellers ever since we left the white cliffs of Albion; and then your eyes rested upon those mighty Teutons who stood on the bridge, and whose blue eyes searched the sea for danger, or rested upon the compass for direction.

From below came the sweet notes of music, gentle and wooing, one of the many ways in which the steamship company tried to make life pleasant for you, to bring back your “Bon appétit” to its tempting tables. Then suddenly, you stood transfixed, looking below you upon the deck from which came rather pronounced odours and confused noises. The notes of a jerky harmonica harshly struck your ears attuned to symphonies; and the song which accompanied it was gutteral and unmusical.

The deck which you saw, was crowded by human beings; men, women and children lay there, many of them motionless, and the children, numerous as the sands of the sea,--unkempt and unwashed, were everywhere in evidence.

You felt great pity for the little ones, and you threw chocolate cakes among them, smiling as you saw them in their tangled struggle to get your sweet bounty.

You pitied them all; the frowsy headed, ill clothed women, the men who looked so hungry and so greedy, and above all you pitied, you said so,--do you remember?--you said you pitied your own country for having to receive such a conglomerate of human beings, so near to the level of the beasts. I well recall it; for that day they did look like animals. It was the day after the storm and they had all been seasick; they had neither the spirit nor the appliances necessary for cleanliness. The toilet rooms were small and hard to reach, and sea water as you well know is not a good cleanser. They were wrapped in gray blankets which they had brought from their bunks, and you were right; they did look like animals, but not half so clean as the cattle which one sees so often on an outward journey; certainly not half so comfortable.

AS SEEN BY MY LADY OF THE FIRST CABIN.

The fellowship of the steerage makes good comrades, where no barriers exist and introductions are neither possible nor necessary.]

You were taken aback when I spoke to you. I took offense at your suspecting us to be beasts, for I was one of them; although all that separated you and me was a little iron bar, about fifteen or twenty rungs of an iron ladder, and perhaps as many dollars in the price of our tickets.

You were amazed at my temerity, and did not answer at once; then you begged my pardon, and I grudgingly forgave you. One likes to have a grudge against the first cabin when one is travelling steerage.

The next time you came to us, it was without your maid. You had quite recovered and so had we. The steerage deck was more crowded than ever, but we were happy, comparatively speaking; happy in spite of the fact that the bread was so doughy that we voluntarily fed the fishes with it, and the meat was suspiciously flavoured.

Again you threw your sweetmeats among us, and asked me to carry a basket of fruit to the women and children. I did so; I think to your satisfaction. When I returned the empty basket, you wished to know all about us, and I proceeded to tell you many things--who the Slavs are, and I brought you fine specimens of Poles, Bohemians, Servians and Slovaks,--men, women and children: and they began to look to you like men, women and children, and not like beasts. I introduced to you, German, Austrian and Hungarian Jews, and you began to understand the difference. Do you remember the group of Italians, to whom you said good-morning in their own tongue, and how they smiled back upon you all the joy of their native land? And you learned to know the difference between a Sicilian and a Neapolitan, between a Piedmontese and a Calabrian. You met Lithuanians, Greeks, Magyars and Finns; you came in touch with twenty nationalities in an hour, and your sympathetic smile grew sweeter, and your loving bounty increased day by day.

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