The record-union., 1897-07-21
new YORKS RUMANIA.
FOREIGN QUARTER WHICH IS
LITTLE KNOWN.
People Interested In American
Politics While Preserving All
Their National Customs.

streets bounded by the Bowery, Hous-
ton, Suffolk and Grand. Right in its very
heart. on Delaney street, the famous
neighborhood guild is located. 1t is the
newest of all New York foreign quarters,
for it is only during the last ten years
that these semi Oriental yet distinctive
l. European people have been coming
here. Less is known about this quarter
and the men and women who make it
than of any other. Why this is so is
strange. For New York's Rumania-
fifty thousand strong, some say; twenty
five thousand at least, and fifteen thou
sand of them in this quarter-has Curl
Gus ways, customs and characteristics,
life that is distinct from the Yiddish
ebb and flow close at hand. and a pros
perity that is marked.
These Rumanians of the East Side are
of particular interest at the moment be-
cause, as a nationality, they are the
first to rush into the political campaign.
Politics in Rumania is already at
white heat. What is more, the Ru-
mania women are taking a keen inter-
est in the situation. Not only do they
understand it, but they can discuss it.
Several times in the last few years Ru-
manian bellies have gone upon the
stump" in the halls of the East Side,
and have never failed to win applause
and to convince. In fact, the sureSt
method in the statecraft of the district
for bringing these men over is to work
through their women.
Largely in this is to be found the es-
sential feature of New Yorks Rumania-
The men marry early, raise large fam
lilies, and work for them steadily. The
girls enter into matrimony even sooner
IA and 10 being very common ages, while
All unmarried woman of 10 is considered
an old maid. With the Rumanian
maids it is not money or position that
attracts, but good looks and an engag
ing personality on the part of the man.
The men have an eye for feminine
beauty in a very marked degree. SO
much so that a maid who has little to
commend her in this way stands small
chance of being chosen. Still ahead of
beauty in the mind of the Rumanian
man, however is skill at cooking. 1t is
upon being a preparer of culinary dain-
ties, rich and appetizing, after the
Turkish style, that woman Of this race
prides herself. Mothers never fail to
teach these arts to their daughters, and
SO firmly does the Rumanan believe in
home and its comforts that he seldom,
if ever. selects for a wife maid of an
other race.
Though within the streets named
above the colony stretches itself out
with some Rumanian families to every
block, generally to every house there
are certain highways thickly peopled
with them. Eldridge street, from it's
commencement at Division along it's en-
tire length to Houston, goes by the name
of 'Roumania avenue" Here the older
and more conservative members of this
foreign community come together and
have their cafes Forsyth, Broome, De-
lancey and some parts of Norfolk, Suf
folk and Orchard streets have a strong
Rumanian population, and one which is
rapidly increasing. These people are
Jews, almost to a man Gt Is said that
there are not more than four or five
Gentle families in the whole colony, but
they are Jews of a peculiar type, ut
terly different from the "Polacks, the
Russians and the Austrians touching ell
bows with them.
In language the Rumanians come
close to the Italians in little tricks of
intonation and phrasing. Nearly. all
speak English well, and in the case Of
many little traces of accent remain.
AS regards religion, they are radical
Jews, running close to the reformers of
Germany. Few actually recant their
faith (as quite frequently happens
among other Hebrews), but it is no.
ticed that the congregations are COM
posed almost entirely of elderly men,
and that the younger generation, which
has much of Socialistic tendency, sell
dom attends.
Business, rather than manual Ia
bor of any sort, is the work of these
men. They develop into small trades
men quickly-not infrequently into
large ones. 1t is altogether unusual
for Rumanian immigrant to peddle or
to work in the shops on the machine,
as thousands of East Siders do. The
Rumanians aim is to make a good ap-
pearance at once. Hence he tries to
pick out his work The favorite en-
ployment of young men just landed is
to sell small goods of any sort on COM
mission. There is one wealthy old
man of Rumania on the East Side who
for years has given the most of his
time to visiting his newly arrived
countrymen at once. Through his in
fiuence they have obtained credit and
have been intrusted with goods for
sale, thus establishing themselves in
a commercial way. There are pros
porous men of this race in New York
to-day who landed here some years
ago with less than dollar in their
pockets.
Rumanian cafes abound, though
there are only two or three of impor-
tance. In these the favorite dish is
ice-cream, these people having a great
fancy for that and for fresh fruit.
Cards are much played, pinochle being
the favorite game, though it is not
the German pinochle. Turkish coffee
is to be found in these cafes, and cigar
cites are smoked, often of Rumanian
tobacco, cigars not being popular
Many of the Rumanian women visit
these cafes in company with their
husbands and children are frequently
seen there, too. Cigarette smoking is
in vogue among the girls of this race,
although they do not often attempt it
in public.
The social life of the colony is gayety
itself. Balls an evening programme
always including several Rumanian
national dancess such as the "Hora trei
Palmei," where hands are clapped and
feet stamped in time to the music, are
many, and there is a dramatic club
the Carmen Sylvia" which four times
a year produces Rumanian plays like
The Siege of Plevna" and THE Peas
a f1f r1 Love-, -;