Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-11-05
TRAVEL INC STEERAGE:
a Trip, Third Class, IN a Msssa..
Atlantic Liner.
PASSING THE SHIPS DOCTOR

Each "Emisrant" Examined as He
u Boards the Vessel-The Meals and
the Bill of Fare--The hunks, the Bed
ding and the Mushroom.
To be real bona fide emigrant 1t is:
necessary to be very particular. for
nowhere does etiquette abound as it
does in the steerage Of a ship. To be-
gin with, never refer to 'semigrants or
steerage passengers talk always of
third class passengers. Then be
careful to find some fault with every
dish that is served THE tea is too
strong or too weak, II never pay less
than 60 cents pound for mine at
home. Il would not offer beggar
coffee like this II cannot touch soup
Il cannot eat beans. have such deli
cate digestion y my doctor has forbid
den me to touch bread, and never eat
anything but toast" these are fayorite
and popular remarks.
1t does not matter whether you have
ever before had meat more than once
q month, grumble you must. For what
other purpose did you pay your $50?
Dress also is an important item. It
is well to travel provided with a silk
or lace blouse and large white shawl.
It is also customary to regret deeply
that you have not Travelled second
class. as you at first intended doing.
OF course all your friends think you
are travelling second. Whatever would
Amelia say if she knew the truth?
Then it is a great pity that you have
packed your fur coat away in the box
in the hold, and it is inconsiderate Of
the steward not to let you get it out.
And your beautiful blue silk dress with
the pearl trimming!
learned all this while travelling from
London to New York as an ordinary
emigrant says British writer.
The ship3I crossed in carried between
600 and 700 third class passengers. AS
we board her in single file the ships
doctor dexterously turned our eyelids
inside out to see whether we were in
good health. Then came long wait
the children crying pitifully and the
women too tired to hush them, until at
last we again passed in single file be-
fore the ships officers. Then our tick
cts were taken, and we We're at liberty
to go to our cabins. =:
| Soon after the bell was rung for din
.ner. followed by the arrival of the sec
ond and first class passengers. and at
4 p. M. we sailed away fs.@ h.
The food on board was plentiful and
/, excellent of its kind. For breakfast.
i which was served at 7 a. m, we had
tea and coffee, porridge and milk, a
meat stew or fish, bread. butter-gen-
orally fresh-and jam and marmalade
At 1890 beef tea could be had for the
asking. For dinner at IL m.. there
were soup. meat with two vegetables.
a milk pudding with some stewed
fruit. and every other day a couple of
oranges or apples each. For tea. at
l5 O'clock. we had some kind of meat
stew or sausages. potatoes. milk pud-
ding with stewed fruit. bread, butter.
cheese and tea. At Z o'clock cruel was
served and biscuits and cheese placed
on the table.
Clean white tablecloths were laid
for every meal. which. what with the
rolling of the ship and the babies
who mostly ate, unreproved, with their
hands-were absolutely necessary. The
stewaTds-some sixteen in number
had clean linen jackets and aprons
twice a day. and the cabins and pas
sages were cleaned out and washed
down twice day. ~.
It was the sight of my berth which
gave me my first shock. I had read in
the regulations that bed and bed
ding were supplied, and / had pictured
linen sheets and feather pillows.
found a hay mattress and pillow in a
clean linen overall. a gray wooden
b!anket-and that was all. The hay is
taken out and burnt at the end of
each voyage. IL @.. ~.
The washing accommodations were
perhaps the worst inconvenience.
There was one large room, with rows
of basins all round it. As matter
of fact very few of the passengers
; really minded. was told that one
line had once fitted up bathroom in
the Storage quarters of vessel, but
the bath had rusted away long before
it was used. Storage passengers also
never want to uHdress.' Not even the
children are put to bed properly. There
was one little chap of three in the
cabin next to mine whose boots were
, not taken OFF from the day he left Eng
land to the day he landed In New
York. E. &
1t was a particularly rough crossing
for the time of year. Nearly every
body was Ill, including the stewards.
and the chaos that reigned for one day
and a night was indescribable. Men,
women and children simply lay under
the hatchway In lunches. and when
the ship rolled to one side they rolled,
too. and when she lurched forward
they rolled forward.
Perhaps it was because of the rough
sea that the doctor became so popular.