The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1906-12-13

| wherein my youthful days | roamed.
| The carriage awaits me at the door:
The last time | shall walk this floor:
| The first step towards my now abode,
America, on a foreign shore.
| My dear old home. then now adieu;
Although | love you, ] cannot stay,
Though sad the parting is to me,
long to live where | am free.
And invariably, on a nice moon
! light evening, we would serenade the
moon with the following song:
Gutter Mond. du gehst so ruhig
Durch die Abend Wolken hin.
| Translated:
Dear Moon, you glide so gently
Above the evening fleeting clouds.
., how often did you guide me
When | wandered to be housed.
! How kindly did you hide me
| When | my sweetheart vowed
| That eternal should my love be,
! You crept behind a cloud
Ever after, when you shine,
Twill illuminate my mind
Of that evenings happiness
When love pledged the first kiss
! How many times, when in mel
| ancholy mood, did the reading of
| these songs, the humming of these
I popular airs, drive away the dark
clouds and take me back again to the
days on the grand Atlantic, with
their boyish happiness.
Young people look with fond an
ticipations toward the future, while
the old look toward it with sad fore
bodings, and find the most comfort in
dwelling on the past.
What pleasure in our oden age
When turning from page to page
In the book of memory.
Wherein we find Transcribed
The happiest moments OF our lives.
When all seemed bright and gay.
And when we come TO dear old songs
In youth We sang, oh, how We long
To hear them sung once more.
And with "A sparkling of the eye
We sing again, and it revives
The youthful days of yOre
so we ate and sang our way across
the ocean. In spite of our most
simple life, in food and lodging, we
grew fat and hearty, with peace of
mind and genuine happiness.
The only time of fear was when a
meeting was called for the purpose
of consulting the captain to find out
whether it would not be advisable to
make for the nearest port to replen-
ish our stock of drinking water, be-
cause it was rumored that it was
running low. AS none of the pas
sengers could speak English, except
ing my father and |. he was dele
gated to confer with the captain in
regard to this, who soon pacified all
by the assurance that there was an
abundant supply yet on hand. The
fears originated in this wise
All immigrant ships were at that
time provisioned for thirteen weeks;
we had been on the ocean ten weeks.
Once while the cook was drawing wa
ter from a cask he remarked in the
hearing of a passenger, This is the
last" meaning the last he would
have to tap on the trip, and not the
last on board, as the passenger had
construed it.
In Sight of Land
All were at rest again till we heard
land ahead This announcement
should be considered most welcome
news, and hailed with the greatest
JOY. Singular as it may SEEM it re
ceived but a faint reception. But
here is the explanations:
so far We had been, so to speak,
under the guardianship of the cap
tain, who had to provide for our
meals, comfort and safety. Now We
would be thrown on our own respon-
sbilities and resources. The latter
uncertain of replenishment We en-
tered foreign land without friends
and without a knowledge of the Ian
guage. What may our fate be there,
where each must depend on his own
resources? Besides, we would lose
our new made friends, as one went
here, the other there.
All these uncertainties weighed on
the minds of most of us. The serious
stage of life, soon to enter, supplant-
ed the former light spirits with a
depressing one. All were more or
less meditating on the uncertain flu
ture, and all gayety and singing here
ended.
Pilot on Board.
The pilot came on board and took
charge of the ship. and we soon en-
tered Delaware bay. Here, too, we
had head winds and beat up the bay
ON one tack neared Delaware and
on the other the New Jersey shore,
What beautiful scenery, farm build
ings on both sides, apples just ripe
on the trees. Small boats came
alongside with fruit for sale, and we
each got an apple; on, how delicious;
nothing like it in Germany. The
change of fatherland looked promis-
ing before we touched land; how
much more when we are once on it.