The Washington herald., 1914-09-13
Says as High as $4,000 Was
Paid for Single Passage to
United States-Peeled On
ions in Steerage for 500
People.

was admitted to the steamer There
were 5O4 passengers. and 10 of the num-
! Der were assigned to berths in the
steerage. Cahill and 1 in the morning
had been put to work polishing silver
ware, but when the passenger rush
started in the afternoon, we were order
| ed to stand by below in the storage
An officer in a white uniform instructed
us to usher the passengers to their
: stateroms, to aid them with their bag
/ gage. and later to make up their berths
! 1t was a pitiable sight to see those
tourists as We ushered them to the little
| rooms where they were to spend fifteen
! long nights. Never before had they suf-
| fered such Inconvenience and faced
such experiences. The Cunard officials
told them that the service would not
! be up to the standard, that il was a
| time of war. and that they had their
| choice either of contenting themselves
with the accommodations or else going
ashore and having their money refunded
| All decided that they wanted to get
back to America despite the conditions
The Cunard company had attempted
/ to make the steerage as attractive and
| comfortable as possible. The Square was
covered with big rug, American flags
wer draped around on the walls, palms
were placed her and there and comfort
lable-looking wicker chairs were arranged
in the space. The company had funi-
gated the Storage, but their efforts had
not been entirely successful, for IL is de-
cided difficult at a single shot to elimi-
nate all traces OF the Italian emigrants
who ordinarily crowd the steerage on
every trip across.
Passengers Sleep on Deck.
THE ship steamed away just before
midnight Tuesday. But few OF the steer
age passengers slept in their rooms
which were uncomfortably small There
were fifteen or twenty young women
sleeping on mattresses each night in a
square. In a minor square in the adjoin-
ing section of the steerage, five or ten
men passed each night Hundreds OF per-
sons slept on deck. wrapped in heavy
blankets and steamer rugs. Several
passed the nights on mattresses on the
aft deck. protected by a small canvas
: awning. Several Catholic bishops slept
each night in the smoking room. Two
women slept on benches in the dining
saloon, while the thirteen-year-old son
OF one OF the women slept on the dining
liable next TO his mother. One male pas
senger passed the nights on a dining
table in the second-class saloon. One wo-
man had a cot set up for her each night
in the alleyway running to the dining
saloon. One wealthy gentleman. wrapped
in heavy overcoat. slept each night in
a wicker chair in the principal square
near the dining saloon. Two others slept
on a cushioned bench at one side OF this
square. Three nights in succession IL
started raining shortly after midnight.
bringing dismay to those on deck. Each
time the rain was accompanied by wind,
and. before the passengers could retreat
TO shelter they were we'll soaked
Each day the steerage was fumigated,
so that within several DAYS practically
all of the bugs had been eliminated. and
;he rooms had been made habitable.
Stok~rs Made Prisoners.
When the war broke cut the Car
pathia was at Fiume. the only seaport Of
Hungary. The vessel WAS given several
hours to leave port. and il headed for the
nearest British possession, Malta All Of
the stokers were ATstrians and Hun
garians. and many Of the other mem
bers of the crew were Of the same ra-
tionalities, including the chef several Of
the cooks, several of the bakers, and
officers came aboard and took off all OF
the Austrian and Hungarian members OF
the crew as prisoners of war. As Il
result the English stewards were ordered
from the saloon to the hold. and they
stocked the vessel all the way to Naples.
1T took us four days to make the run
10 Gibraltar. as a heavy fog near the
strait held us up during m entire night.
On Saturday morning we passed through
the strait. An English torpedo ooat
sped out to meet US. We unsigned 70
her and she signaled to us to proceed
Shortly after noon we sighted a third
class English cruiser on our port side.
and she escorted US well out to sea.
II was placed in charge of the fruit
locker and was appointed assistant salad
man. All of the crew assured me I had
drawn the softest job on the ship. but
to me It did not seem so soft Carry
ing boxes Of fruit up four flights Of
steps from the hold is not exactly soft /
| can assure you the boxes themselves |
were not soft. for l can show the scars
they left with me. And certainly cut
ting onions for salad for 800 per-
sons is not what a sane man would .
call soft I wept for many an hour
after cutting those onions. But Cahin, |
poor fellow. drew the worst card in the !
pack. He was scullion. But that was |
not all. He was a conscientious scullion. !
Just being a scullion is hard enough, !
but the work of a conscientious scullion /
is never-ending
Hours Not So "Soft."
I'VE worked steadily from $50
o'clock in the morning until ., 1or and |
II o'clock at night. Cahill was kept
busy washing dishes and drying silver
ware, while I was trimming grapefruit,
slicing oranges. pealing salad potatoes,
making up dishes of fruit, sampling the
various wares, and incidentally cutting
my fingers about every half hour. The
passenger list was so large that there
were two sittings for each meal. The
dining stewards declared that il was
the hardest trip they had ever expert
enced.
I'VE docked at o'clock last Wednas-
day afternoon. Cahin and tried to get
the 81 apiece that was coRing TO us,
but we were informed that the ship was
not paying off until Friday But home
sounded better to US now than s.. We
told some of the stewards, while we were
donning our street clothes. that our in
tention was to take the first train for
our respective homes.
And not sign off first? one INQUIRED
No. pass up the coin.' we chorused.
All we want is home
" And not sign off before the British
board of trader one of them said in
astonishment. Why, mates he added.
don't you know that if you leave this
bloody ship without first signing Off
you'll be deserters and will never, never
be able in your whole life to book ON
another vessel?'
oh, heavens, Cahill,' shrieked in a
fit Of laughter, our future, our whole
Ew l.