Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-06-02
THEIR NATIVE LAND.
When Hungarian Immigrants Have
Saved a Small Sum of Money,
THEY RETURN TO THEIR HOMES,
Where They Live in Peace and Plenty the
Rest of Their Lives.
SCENES In THE COAL MINING REGIONS
rcoRREsPoNDrxcE OF THE DrsPArcH.1

NEW YORK, June 1.-During one Of his
campaign speeches at Indianapolis last
summer, Benjamin Harrison said: "The
gates OF Castle Garden swing inward; they
never swing outward" That was practi-
eally true. Yet one of the curious sights Of
to-day around this city is the crowd of
Hungarians constantly embarking for their
old home. The tide of immigration is ebbing
and the tide of emigration is flooding with
the Hungarlans.
1t was the observation of several hundreds
Of these foreigners huddled together at one
of our railroad wharfs, awaiting transfer to
the steerage of an outgoing steamer the
other day, that caused your correspondent
to investigate the matter. There is Just one
man to consult about problem of this sort.
That is Hugh Killgore, the leading ''Eui-
grant runner" as they are called in this
country.
He is a middle-aged man who for six
years had handled thousands of emigrants Of
all nationalities. He does this for one of
the railroad companies that makes point Of
shipping newly arrived foreigners to the
West and South. His attention was called
to the crowd above mentioned.
MADE THEIR PILE.
He said they were really going home,
having got out of the United States all they
wanted. They never expected to return.
They had saved enough within a few wears
to enable them to purchase or lease a little
property in their native land, on which theY
could live comfortably the remainder Of
their lives. Asked to go more into details,
Mr.. Killgore said:
seA II L.
have shipped home this season. These
people are Hungarians who came to this
country two and three years ago. though a
few may have been here about five years.
The majority belong to patches that steered
from Castle Garden to different places in
pennsylvania within three years. Since
then they have been employed in the coal
mines, and in some mysterious manner have
been enabled to save enough money, not
only to take them home, but also little
capital to work upon when they get there.
During the coal mine strikes few years
ago agents of the coal companies visited
Castle Garden and engaged hundreds upon
hundreds of Hungarians to take the places
of the English, Irish and Welsh miners
who were on strike. The immigrants were
paid one-third less wages than were paid
the more intelligent miners. As far as I
could learn the Hungarlans averaged about
$50 month in wages. Many of them got
less than that. and few who were luckfer
or more intelligent than their fellow coun-
trymen got a little more. The point of the
thing is that these people, most of whom
had families, were able to save from $500 to
$500. Thereis not a man in that crowd
who has not at least 5000 over and above his
passage money TO his native country.
PECULIAR WAYS.
"How they managed to save that amount
is mystery to everybody except those who
are familiar with the manner in which thew
lived. There are men in that crowd who's
wages for the past two years has not BEEN
more than $3.50 year or 500 in all, and ye
they are taking home with them $500. Tha
seems incredible, yet it is so. These peouss ..
lived amid squalor and dirt, and subsisted
on food stuff that would be rejected by any
American tramp.
'They lived in huts and novels provided
by the coal companies, for which they paid
less than $50 year rent. A frame house
such as would be used by an intelligent
miner, whose rent would be So or $40 a
month, would be occupied by two, three
and oftentimes four Hungarian families.
who would divide up the rent among them.
"The unmarried men and those without
families were boarded for 81 and SO week.
mines, and did not come up to the surface
excepting once week, and then it was to
ay in a stock of black and rye bread, on
which they would subsist for DAYS with no
more nourishment other than water. This
nay sound like exaggeration, but anyone
smiliar withalife in the Hungarian colonies
n the coal mines will tell you that it is but
mild picture"
THE SAME CLOTHES STILL.
Mr. Killgore called attention to the fact
hat while these Hungarians had been in
his country for two years, and some of them
onger, not one of them wore any clothing
# American make. From their slender
leeled boots to the rough caps on their
reads, their clothing was the same that they
Vore when they arrived in this country In
few instances their boots had succumbed
o the wear os time, but otherwise their
lothing was old, dirty and greasy Hunga-
ian material. None of them could speak
English intelligently, beyond few profane
expressions. Many of the men could UNDER
tand English amazingly well, yet they
ould not reply in that language
Mr.. Killgore is very emphatic in his be-
ief that such people ought to be prohibited
rom coming to this country. He said they
ever assimilated with other foreigners and
id not appreciate the advantages of a free
Duntry. They could not be Americanized
nd were greater drawback to intelligent
orkingmen than even the Chinese, because
ley were very powerful and muscular and
,uld do any of the manual labor that the
.mericans, Germans or Irish did, and lived
so little that workmen of the latter ma
Qualities could not successfully compete