The islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1891-1899, 1896-07-23
SIX CENTS A DOZEN.

She lives on Forquer street-a bright
/ faced. smiling little italian woman.
Her husband Is out of work, and she
Is fighting the wolf from the door, part
ly by being foster-mother for baby
of six months, and partly by finishing
boys pants for cents a dozen pair.
could not believe 1t at flrst-it SEEM
ed impossible that anyone could ask
human fingers to toll for so little, but
then, flesh and blood is cheap. and
we must have bargains!
There Is a small cottages miserable
hut 1t seems to an American eye, In
one Of the sunniest valleys Of Southern
Italy. The humble roof shelters five
people-the father, a dark-browed, but
kindly man Of steady habits; his wife,
not very neat nor very enlightened,
4 but eminently pious; a daughter, II
years Of age; q son. of IL, and a diminu-
/ tive old woman-called by courtesy. a
! child-of 8. To-day there Is a commo-
/ ton within. for tomorrow the priest
{
ton, and the house must be set In or
der. And, indeed, 1t is fairly clean:
for despite not very cleanly Instincts,
things can scarcely get so bad In Italy
as with us. To begin with. the cottage
stands by itself, and tumble-down as
1t is. the fresh breezes and the soft
perfumes Of the little garden. and.
above all, the genial Italian sunshine,
keep 1t free from the dreadful condi-
lions one days carelessness breeds in
Forquer street.
And now the house Is tidied. The
little basket Of fresh eggs is ready.
Flowers deck the tiny place. the best
holiday attire is put on, and at last
In the distance the reverend man Of
God appears. He enters the humble
door, pausing on the threshold to be-
stow his blessing, and in it's new coat
Of whitewash, the little hut seems
worthy to receive it. The due rites
are performed, the eggs laid In the
attendants basket, and with words of
peace the priest rises to depart. But
no, there is another matter. VIII the
father hear Of 1t? And then the hus-
band tells that they are going to Amer
lea. He has heard wonderful tales Of
that far-away country-and It is never
hard to get bread there. They have
longed to go for many months, and
now a cousin has offered them a loan
for their passage-money-it will be
easy to repay It, once there-and be-
fore the father comes again they will
be gone. Will he not give them a spe-
cial blessing this time? Oh, It would
not be for always. When they had
grown rich, they would come back
and live out their old age in dear Italy.
Nevertheless the aged man, who loves
them, lets fall a tear, and his voice
trembles when, with uplifted hands,
he invokes the divine sanction and
blessing upon their long journey.
Castle Garden! What dreadful nois-
es! And still they can feel the throb
Of the great ocean steamers heart, and
they sway on the stable land as IL still
on deck. but no time must be lost. Chi
cago, the great hearted city of the
West, Is to be their home, and again
their journeying Is resumed. But at
last they are here. And what a greet
ing! The rain Is drizzling down into
the dirty cutters, already full to over
flowing, the streets reek with foul
odors, and the room they are to call
home is not by itself, and there Is no
place for a garden. They are the
twelfth family under the single roof
families that have only one, two, or at
the most, three rooms to call their
own-as long as they can pay the rent
Their own single room tenement Ia
the front one In the basement, and
IL eighteen feet long, eleven and one
half feet wide, and seven and one
half feet high And yet some people
are 30 extravaganza that they really
believe It Ii necessary to the health,
for each Individual In room to have
600 cubic feet Of air space for his own
particular use! For this one room our
| friends are to pay $3.50 per month.
Here the ave must live. eat and sleep.
With the small attending vashins and