The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-11-23
UKRAIN|ANS IN AMERICA EAGER
 FOR EDUCATION
Eager Readers of All Kinds of Literature Which They Are Too Poor to Buy
 At Home.

The, Ukrainians in this country are voracious readers. In thelr homeland, Galicia, the peasants are go poor that they cannot buy books papers, or magazines. Large numbers of them are illiterate Their foremost desire upon reaching America has been to educate themselves.
 The first Ukrainian immigration to America began about 30 years ago. The immigrants who came then were from the Carpathian mountains in western Galicia. Their home condi- tions had been forlorn. They were farm laborers and owned practically no land themselves. More than half of the arabic land in Galicia belongs to landlords, many of whom are for eign noblemen. The peasants work for a pitance and have practically no chance of buying any land for their own occupation. In fact, their status has not been very far above serfdom.
 Hungary Restricted Emigration.
 In the last ten years, the Ukrainian emigration to the new world has as- stunned large proportions. It worried the Hungarian authorities so much that, in 1912, emigration from Galicia to the United States was forbidden. Nevertheless, it kept on, for the peas ants went over into Germany and took ship from Hamburg or Bremen. Usually the men came alone and left the women in the old country until they could make some suitable pro j, News about America and it's oppor- tunities became widespread in Galicia and many of the peasants undertook to learn the English language.
 An amusing fact came to light dur ing one of the last Hungarian electoral 1 campaigns. Count Apponyi, in the l course of a speaking tour, was sched- ! uled to address the townspeople in one l of the villages in the Carpathians. But when he reached the town, he was ir- ritated to find that very few of the people could speak or understand Hungarian. After inquiry from some 1 of his party leaders in the district, he | found that most of them could speak and understand English very well. So | he made the best of a bad business and delivered his political speech to the crowd in English instead of his native tongue.
 i Engage In Many Businesses. The first Ukrainians to arrive in | America took up their homes in the mining districts of Pennsylvania. They were not only uneducated, but i they had never had a chance to learn any skilled trade. Naturally, the un- skilled occupations offered them their only means of livelihood. They be- came day laborers, miners, and fac tory hands. In the bigger cities they found a variety. of odd jobs to do. There is one business in which the Ukrainians are almost as densely rep resented as the Greeks are in the con-
 fectionery trade; window washing
 The Window washers Union in New
 York is made up almost entirely of Ukrainians. In Boston, many of them ] work in restaurants. In Detroit, they have become skilled mechanics.
 A distinctive feature of Ukrainian
 life in the various settlements is the
 "Narodny Dim" or Peoples House.
 This unique institution is a real com
 munity center, a club, cooperative | y, The oldest and most prosperous
 Peoples House" was established in
 Monessen, Pa, foundry town, about
 six years ago. There are now 12 ot
 these centers, located in different
 cities. A description of the one ir l Newark N. J., gives an adequate idea
 of all of them, for they are much } alike.
 A Ukrainian Community Center. In Newark, the Ukrainians bought } two small houses formerly dwelling
 houses, in the heart of the foreign dis trict. In these they installed { grocery, a butcher shop, and a res t taurant. Over the door they hung { } sign which read "The Ukrainia1
 Workers Cooperative Society,"" Or l an upper floor, they took out parti tions and made a large hall, where Y they held meetings three or four time : a week. Some of their gatherings ar, . for business purposes, some are DO
 litical, and some are literary. As oftel a as possible, once or twice a week, the, S have lectures. It is hard to fint f enough lecturers to supply the de ', mand. They want lectures on ever, sort oS subject, astronomy, history
 philosophy and politics. Often the, , have concerts and choral singing. Tn
 Newark group intends to buy thirt , house, adjoining the other two, ant Q enlarge it's meeting hall to accommo n date the increasing crowds.
 One of the best assurances that tn o Ukrainians in this country have com
 to stay, instead of being mere birds o
 
 in the Peoples Houses' and the eff
 forts they are making to ensure tn ', permanence of the movement. :. nearly every Ukrainian settlement
 money Is being collected today for tn U support of one of these institutions. :, The Ukrainian Federation, the na
 tion wide organization of Ukrainiar in the United States isc omposed of a It the principal local societies and club! including the Peoples Houses" Earl > in December the federation will hol Il national convention, probably i 't Washington, which will be attende
 by delegates from every part of tn
 country. This will be the second ger
 eral convention to be held. The frs
 one met about three years ago in Ne e York. At present, the federation hs g affiliations with about 500 local socie S ties.
 10 DDTTT NTTTT0 NTOmTO