The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-02-15

who looked out solemnly on unfamiliar
sights Six dollars was the total of
his worldly wealth for himself, the son.
and his wife. Hir neighbor Rumanian
had eighteen for himself, and his three
| children.
! In the excluded room for women were
the feminine parts of the two families.
The Spanish interpreter, a descendant Of
| the Spanish Jews who settled in Jerusa-
| lem, led the way. But scarcely had he
stepped inside the door before a gray
haired woman caught his hands and COW
cred them with kisses. He protested,
smiling
"She wants to send me a present" he
explained. "Of course it's against the
rules. / have told her so. But she is
Portuguese and I'm the only one that
can understand her. She's so grateful,
she doesn't know what to do. Poor thing.
She has to so back"
'C-a-l-i-fornia." laughed the woman.
clapping her hands. She doesn't know
yet.
The Rumanian's wife, the mother of the
mining engineer-to-be, was knitting as
we came up to her. She ran off happily
to put it away when he spoke to her
thinking, perhaps, that she was free at
last Her two daughters came up to see
what was happening. and the wife of the
Spanish Jew was not long in putting the
finishing touches to her Sunday-go-to
meeting toilet and joining the party. The
woman, too, said that they had come
for the sake of the children. Why may
coil of
with all the foreign Accomplishments of
gesture. ''They should not keep us here
though" the interpreter volunteered, but
just what they're not used to-
What do they have in Rumania?" ask
ed the interpreter. ''Tripe, soup, every
thing that is nice is the answer.
Ask them why they didn't stay" 1
suggested.
Sadness came over the woman's faces
like veil. I'VE cannot do any business
there. The children, they cannot go to
school. Only rich people who can play
and send their children to school. Our
girls they cannot learn to read and write
Ike American girls. 1t is for the chill
dren that we have left our home our
mothers, and our fathers. and our sis
tiers and brothers,
What would you do If you had to go
back?" the interpreter questioned. I'VE
have sold everything. We have nothing.
We could do nothing better than drown
ourselves and the tones of voice were
like Buses tragedies. The other woman
drew her hand across her throat THAT
would bet better" she said.
I'VE would not be idle said the moth
er OF the daughters. My young girl.
she IS we'll posted in embroidery, and my
older girl can sew. Why can We not
stay? Why would they send us away?'
1 looked up and the other woman was
wiping her eyes; the pretty pink-cheeked.
eleven-year-old daughter. well posted in
embroidery. was crying quietly TO her
self The older daughter and her mother
broke down, too.
How they had dreamed about this land
of freedom, talked about it over the
counter and on the doorstep. let the idea
foster and grow till they had taken the
wonderful step, sold all they had. and
set their faces towards the land where
men were free and equal. IT was too
late for them. perhaps TO get the bless
ing, but the children should grow up
free, untaunted by that hateful Jew.
unoppressed by that Rumanian heel 1t
was not the place TO tell this little band
that in the larger justice 10 the land OF
freedom the authorities had felt that they
should be excluded from its borders They
could not understand the national signiii-
canoe Of the immigration question They
only knew that they were forlorn hu-
man beings. starving for the blessings OF
this new world. who had staked all on
this one hope. and saw it vanishing be
fore them. / left the room with heart
ache, wishing that sympathy and eN-
pediency might so hand in hand longing
for the wizard power that would grant
this little company its hearts desire, and
punish the RumaniaIs even as they had
punished
Their avenSing angel could ask no
more. Their treatment OF the sew has
been Enspeaksbie The RumsniaE-s have
taken away his future. and given him
pressut that is hades- They closed the
Jewish schools on the ntensole ground
that they were not kept open six days
in the week. including Saturday They
followed this w by degree that kept Jews
cut Of the public schools unless there
happened to be places not hlled ~ Rr-
r1aniars Later. Jews were allowed. Il
there vas room. TO enter the schools By