La Junta tribune., 1908-07-25
FROM FOREIGN cLIMEs
By R. W. PATTERSON
our SPECIAL EUROPEAN coaREsponpEnr

ldsG railing between. in rows, one
next to the other. of six 10 ten or
more, in two tiers. one berth or
bunk above another. Here and
there is central space. with long
board tables and benches. where
they eat their meals. went through
the steerage the first day, from one
end to the other. and later saw them
at dinner. The Hungarians had a
stew of meat and vegetables. a
large soup plate full. a bowl of cof-
fee or light wine. bread. boiled po-
tatoes. and pudding. and bowl of
soup-a substantial meal. The
Italians indulge in macairJni, pre-
pared in various ways, meats, poto-
toes, wine or coffee. bread. soup,
pudding and such other foods as
they usually eat. They have dishes.
a knife. fork and spoon. but no
table cloths. The steerage passen-
gers spend much of their time IN
the open air, on the saloon deck
above men. women and children,
lying about. sitting in little groups,
dancing, listening to violin. an ac-
cordean or jewsharp, and now and
then playing cards, gambling with
various cards. dice and other de-
vices, pitching quoits, and in gen
eral having a good time and almost
always noisy. They are not bad
looking people. though they are
dressed in laboring clothes and
many could be cleaner, but among
them are many intelligent and good
looking young men and women. |
have been among them great
deal But two or three have |
found who say they never expect To
return. They generally say they
are going home on account Of lack
of work, but they will tell you how
much more they make in America
than in Europe. A good many have
become American citizens. Some
tell me they are returning to visit
their father and mother, others
simply to see their friends and the
old home.
The first class steerage costs but
So. while the great bulk have paid
but Sl3. met young man who
worked in the mills at Chester, Pa,
who paid but SIT from that place.
Another from Springfield. H.. who
paid but SIS. 1t is less than one
dollar per day on the ship and in
cludes board. Many thousands
more have returned during the past
seven months than ever before in
our history. As a rule they gener.
orally flock back about the holidays
and early winter. There are two
pairs of twins on board. took q
picture of the Italian twins, a fine
pair of boys about four months old.
told the mother | wanted to take
the babies picture. but she could
not understand me. A bystander
said something to her. she brighten
ed up. began to fix herself, arose
and went over to the babies who
we-e asleep. when she turned and
motioned with her hand and head.
to wait till they awake. but she
stopped down and gathered them up
and sat down while | snapped them,
as proud mother rs ever lived in a
palace. Two babies have been born
already-no race suicide among
these people. They are saving their
money and are multiplying and
some day these people will own and
control much of our great country
and its great wealth.
You will receive several letters
together, as l will mail them at
Gibraltar. which we will reach Mon.
day, the 18th. Then l will have to
put on the British postage. Yester-
day there was genuine rough sea
and few complained and q few
more did not appear during the day.
l am a good sailor. not being af.
fected more than on land a mile
above the sea. In fact love the
rolling ocean when the white caps
glisten like snow banks and the bill
lows leap and break back with roar
and deluge Of water. Today the
sea is calm. scarcely q motion. the