Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1911-02-01

WHICH, WO U0A1OV0 WA4A w SSes0
with interest by the public, and :
: we will therefore from time to :
: time O. space permits publish :
= oections Of this autobiography. :
should 1t prove Of suficient in :
: tesest to continue.)
e - -
(Continued from last week.
CHAPTER Nv.
So we were to leave old England,
the land of my birth and my home
tor the first fourteen years OF my
life. l did not think much about
II at the time except that the an
nouncement filed me with joyous
anticipations. looked forward
rather than backward in that hour,
the backward looking came later.
We were going to America; where
was America; what WAS America?
AIy people seemed to know very lit
tie about it except in general way;
none of us had any clear concep-
tion of what America was like, we
were much befogged. as might be
expected. 1t was q plunge in the
dark to US youngsters but II the
older minds had serious doubts as
70 the wisdom Of the move. the
younger had none whatever. To me
Il Va q great occasion. was go
Ing to America; II they had told
me ve were going to Botany Bay It
would have been the same to me.
! think. As 1t was. it was . lark.
I great trip. . big journey; we were
going to travel by land and also by
water. by stage. by cars. by ship,
~ boat and in every other old way.
n m h1EaAl ~ - aaieG
to America; dt made me "chesty."
I sprang ct once into person OF
consequences among the kids Of our
town, and why shouldn't 1? They
we're not going to America. / was;
and strutted around and made my
self ridiculous overlooking 1t among
my boy friends who began to look
ct me with q kind Of awe because
/ was going to America. But how
would I like It? It would be so
different from all my experience.
Would there be good fishing, good
hunting. did they play cricket in
America, and did they have mince
pies there, because IL they didn't l
wouldn't like it.
Ny father was pleased with the
idea of emigration to America. to
him 1t offered better opportunities
than were to be had at home, some
of which were afterward realized.
10 my mother the prospect was not
hattering, the thought Of breaking
away from the ties of lifetime was
not pleasant one. To her It meant
having home never to behold 1t
again, and going away to a far-off
land Of which she knew little or
nothing, to, begin again the battle
of hfe under conditions which were
altogether unfamiliar to her and
TOally alarming; to be. deprived OF
The simple comforts to which she
had been accustomed all her life. to
make q new home in the wilderness
among strange people. It was
hard thing to ask of q woman in
advanced years. whose affections all
clustered around her home and her
native land. You can transplant Z
young tree and 1t will thrive. but
not an old one. for the old one does
not take kindly to new soil. Coins
q America meant much more to her
than to any of the rest Of US, and
ohe never lived to see the day. when,
comparing the new with the old,
she did not look back with sadness
TO the hour she set sail for America.
II she ever became at all reconciled
TO the change 1t must have been be-
cause her eldest SON. William. had
been In the United States Q year. and
had written back some accounts OF
the country and the prospects for its
fpture development. so It was his
letters that opened the way for our
coming. little as they had to offer
u the way of inducement to my
mother. Another SON. Thomas. who
was married and lived In London
determined with his wife to 60 with