, 1888-02-04
TRICKS OF IMMIGRANTS.
THE REVERSE SIDE OF PICTURES
PAINTED BY REPORTERS.

The popular belief is that the immigrant
coming to New York is n badly used indi-
vidual, and by the time ho works his way.
into this land of freedom he has been robbed
of everything he has and is cast thirsty and
p%ennilcss upon the inhospitable shores Of an
overcrowded nation. To the imagination a
fresh omigrant is the embodiment of limo
cence, n prey to every sharper and n source
of revenue to any one disposed to take ad-
vantage Of him. This as a rule may perhaps
be accepted as having some foundation in
fact, but there are glittering exceptions and
marked divergenccs, that are sufficiently
prominent and sufficiently successful in their
efforts to square accounts with the natives.
to attract some attention and almost balance
the impositions put upon the arriving stran-
gers.
The classes among the immigrants made
up OF farmers and residents of the rural dis
tricts in the old country nre Of course inter
ested and pleased with everything they en-
counter in this new place; they revel in the
questionable food put before them on the
tables of the queer boarding houses run for
their reception; meat to them is a luxury
they may have had but very few opportuni-
ties of enjoying, and they absorb the steaks
and outlets presented to them in wondering
and admiring haste, not questioning their
condition or fitness for the human stomach.
These people have no comparisons to make,
no prccedonts whereby they may govern
their opinions of things. They are ushered
suddenly into an entirely new phase of life;
their simple existence heretofore affords no
means of controlling their ideas in the pres
ent. Tho neglected condition of the streets
in the immigrant localities escapes their Mt
%tention; their eyes are filed with the large
buildings, the great ships, the gorgeous signs;
their cars hear nothing but expressions of ad-
miration from their companions. Tho dust
That blows over them and the mud through
which they tramp is noticed, if noticed at all,
merely in its practical feature MS an adjunct
to agriculture and its advantages when spread
over the acres some OF them titled on the
anks Of the Rhine, the Rhone, the Thames
or elsewhere. The neglected houses md the
unswept rooms are familiar sights-it takes
them back in mind TO the faderland, and they
feel moro or less Mt homo.
Different is it with those who have lived in
the cities Of tho old world. They come with
inclination to criticisc. With them famili-
urity with the ways Of centers of civilization
gives them the right to comment, and the ex-
ccssivcness with which they can indulge in
this marks them, in their own estimation, ns
familiar with the manners of the world and
the pitfalls of its devious paths. These per
sons arc the ovcrslnnrt, and their plcnitudc of
COMMENCE 'It'A lNslils NiltLl llJO troubles tnut
the innocence and tiinidity of the former
class prevent. Conspicuous among this
number nrc those who have nibbled at
education, who como here with an intelli-
gence that extends n short distance beyond
tho ability to read and write, who indulge
in diatribcs against the nation and its ideas.
its principles, its government, its material
istic tenets, not in an nuarchistic, but in n
dcprecatory, spirit. The monarchical idea
clings To them; they can no more free them
selves from it than could the natives of that
small German principaiity adjoining France.
who declared that rs their French neighbor3
Ind a republic, they, too, must have 9 rcpub-
lie; but, 1--WE want our prince us ruler of our
rcpublic!' they cried.
Thu most Objectionable of all immigrants
TO the boarding house keeper is the Berliner,
who, hnilinE from ono Of the most important
cities in the world, and taking advantage of
Tho COmpaniOuship of strangers, presumably
ignorant of his humble social status Mt home,
uitrCt5 II standing lie hHs no right to, and,
like all characters of narrow instincts and
sluVish birth, becomes ubnoxiously arbitrary
md tyraunical when freed from the absolute
scryitudc in which he has had 10 serve in or
der TO earn n subsistence, loudly criticizes
the table, boasts of the conspicuous men at
whose board he has diucd, browbcats the
walters, bulliCs the house servants and i'm
poses upon the landlord. A favoritc affecta-
ton of this class, rather unusual in immi-
grant boarding houses, is standing their
boots or shoes Mt the room door over night,
apparently for the single purpose of having
something 10 find fault about tho next morn
ing, innsmueh rs they remain there I'M
touched and uncleaned.
Tho most persistent and cunning beat IL
tho thoroughbred Polish jew. Nothing il
too gmn1l for him To claim md rpthipu too
Insignificant for him to avoid payment for;
any excuse is considered legitimate with his
kind TO warrant n refusal to pay out money
for whatever they may have enjoyed the
benefit of, Quite an ordinary scheme with
them, worked after they have dined and
slept at n boarding house for n week, is to
declare their positive and u~nswerving be-
lief in the obligation and intention of this
government to support and provide for
them for the term Of eight days following
their first arrival in this country.
Nor is it lack Of money with these follows
that prompts their rnscality. 1t is an Unborn
and abnormal tendency to rob, and often,
when they are brought to q realization Of
the necessity of liquidation through the con-
vinCinE, though not considernte, argument
of n pOliccman's club, they fall upon their
knees, tear their hair and clothes, beat their
breasts, call upon their endless category of
saints for protection from the ungodly rob
bcrs, declare their intention 10 kill them
selves, their children and their entire gener.
alton, and indulge in all the fantastic and
extravagnnt uaths peculiar and distinctive
of a slavish and hidebound people. 1t is
only after this terrible exhibition of grief,
contempt for all mankind and self immola.
ton upon the altar of their avarice, that
they draw from its hiding place in some cor
ncr Of their wrctched dress the dirty, greasy,
i'll scented coin and pay up their score.
One of their favorite oaths, usually in
dulged after tho reckoning has been exacted,
is addressed to the hotel keeper, and is en-,
bodied in these gentle terms: ''May the
horse he damned from whose hoofs the tai
low comes that makes the candle burn at
your d~cathbed." When the horse is damned
the candle is necessarily damned. 1t flick,
ers. and in the darkness the devil has an op-
portunity 70 seize the soul of the cruel land
lord, is the mental argumcnt OF the indig
nnnt Polc.-A. Curtis Bond in New York
Star.
4 Tnfg In IN TnB