LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2557, 19 June 1882, Page 4

LITERATURE.

WITH THE IRISH EMIGRANTS. lam a sailor-doctor by profession. TWs is equivalent to stating that I do not go to tea for pleasure. Un the contrary, no sooner rio I bet foot on the necii tf the vessel to whioh I have beon appointed than all my care and responsibility begins, a burden which on!y fills off my shoulders when the craisw or tue commission ODds, and I step once mon on shore a free man, for the time being at all events. You may judge, therefore, of the feeling of enjoyment, rest, and comfort I experienced in finding myself lately on boa d one of the crack Liverpool liners, bound for New York City, a passenger among passengers, with neither care nor worry on my mind, as free as the brave nor'.eaater that wai helping to rush us down the Irish Channel. It was, indeed, a holiday. A better ship too or a safer never dipped prow in blue water. From stem to stern, on deok or 'tween docke, man-o'-war's man though I am, I could hardly find a fault with her. No better mess, either, did I ever have in " the service ;" aud as far as the officers of tbe ship were concerned, no jollier mefsm'.ites. The captain sat at the head of the table, the purser at the other, and opposite to him the dootor ; and the principal aim and object of these three gentlemen all the voyage through seemed to bo to make the passengers feel happy and at home. The purser in particular 1 shall never forget. He was always in good humor, always pleasant and pleasing, possessed of an inexhaustible fund of anecdote, and wore a Bmile on his rosy face that would have made the veriest land lubber fesl certain in his own mind that there is no life like the life of a sailor, and that living on shore is all a mistake. I have sailed several times from England to India, and vice versa, in the P. and O. boats, and probably I ought to say that that company's bill of fare is a trifle longer than ours on this Atlantic steamer was ; but, in justice to the latter, I must also add that I never lived better in any English hotel than I did on board of her, to say nothing of the extra appetite the ocean gives one, combined with perfeot freedom from care and worry. May I be allowed to add, paranthetlcally, that I wonder a voyage to and from the States is bo seldom resorted to by invalids belonging to our own oountry. But I am not writing at present for invalids, and I do not think there was one on board fore and aft, but we were strong in the Irish emigrant element. Here in that saloon, for example, was a landlord going away to "the farwestin the hope of bettering himself. With him were his pretty and rather delicate looking young wife and two brave and oharming children. For all the trouble and trials he had come through In the old country, O'B hadn't let down his heart; indeed, he was the life and soul of the qu*»ter-deck, though maybe his mirth did not always come right away from his heart. ' Och, well,' he said to me one evening, with the least bit in the world of a sigh, ' sure Nebraska must be a queer place if h isn't any better than Ireland, for sorrow a taste of rent I've taken for two years and more.'

We had fine weather »11 the way down Channel, and made a quick passage to Qaeenstown. We lay off here, and tugs brought the emigrants alongside to the number of 900 and over. It was afternoon, bright and clear, though somewhat cold, and everybody bad came on deck to see them arrive. A motely crew they were, too, that were packed as thickly as herrings on the deck of that not over-cleanly but terribly fussy wee tug boat. From stem to stern was one solid muc-s of humanity, a sea of heads and shoulders. Of both sexes were they, pretty evenly mixed, and of all »ges from seven to seventy. One could easily believe that yonder babe in arms was merely a pioneer in embryo—that in all probability ha wou d turn out to be a good citizan of the Great Republic, and that there was even a chance of his being one day elected Praii dent. But look at that sged, lean-cheehed orone, with her gray elfin looks escaping from under her shawl, who wrings her withered hands and weeps as she takes one more look homewards at the green shores she will never sea again. What good can she ever be or do in the far off platan of Nevada or Winsoonsln ! But doubtless she has a story of her own, if we only knew It. I have not yet told the reader that the season was spring, the month April, and the weather therefore somewhat raw and chilly. We oonld not help wondering, therefore, to see the large majority of these emigrants so very thinly clad. The ' boys' were barenecked, and carried bits of ash Baplioga and bits of bundles ; but no signs of top-ooat or waterproof had they, nor did I during the whole voyage observe that any one of them possessed such a necessity. But they were mostly young, and looked raw-boned and wiry enough to endure anything. The lasses—many of whom were pretty and comely—were just as badly off in the matter of dress as the la la. Their garments wera soanty, and they nearly all had little tartan skvwls over their otherwise bare heads'. They put one in mind of the factory girls of Dundee or Aberdeen. One wonld have though*-, to look at them, they were merely going on a few hours' outing instead of a ten days' voyage aoross the wide and (sometimes) stormy Atlantic. But where, I asked myself, is the Inggage belonging to these poor oreatures ? .Not getting a satisfactory answer from myself, I put the same question to my friend the purser. 'Well,' he said, 'most cf their luggage they carry on their baoks.; the rest consists of a bed and a blanket.'

It wasn't a feather bed, I felt snre, that the purser referred to, only a bit of mattrees ; and many had not that, but slept all the voyage on the bare boards. They were not, however, to be pitied on this account, for the bare clean boards of a comfortable ship are infinitely to be preferred to the leeside cf a mud fence on the bare hillside. Over and above the mattress and blanket, the emigrants have to provide themselves with a tin pot or pannikin and a plate and a spoon Indeed, their whole outfit is a very light and airy one; but then the voyage is not long, they |h»ve been used to rough it in the old country, and they never grumble while going to the new. The tug boats now began to disgorge themselves, and the emigrants to crowd on board, and the purser stood by to collect tickets, with a view to prevent stowaways from taking an uninvited voyoge with us. But stowaways do get on board nevertheless, not so much at Queenstown, however, as at Liverpool. If they are found out before reaching the former port they are landed ; if not, they are set to work, and a very undesirable life some of them have. I would not advise any one to ship as stowaway on a Livorpool liner. A stowaway's lines do not fall in pleasant places. Six guineas is the prioe of the passage-money to New York ; and it speaks we'.l for the sons and daughters of old Erin, that in oases innumerable the passage-money of the emigrants is paid by relations who have previously gone to the West and done well. Probably this fact accounts for the presence of so many aged men and women among them.

It woul<3 seem that tha claaa of emigrants is subject to ohange, for some five or six yfara ago 1: w.ia chiefly clerks, artisans, and young men of that kind, who went out; n w it is principally such poor people as I have just named—tillers of the soil, in faot. But now we are off; orders are being issued from the officers on the bridge, the steam snorts and roars from the pipe, the engines rattle and revolve, and the great ship heads away for the ocean, jaat as the gloaming shadows begin to fall on the land. I had a fiiend forward in the Bteerage, or I should have had no excuse to go there. He lived in the butcher's cabin, and rejoiced in being a brave o'd fashioned 'die hard' Scotch terrier dog. Now the night was exceedingly fine, the good ship hardly ever lifted her head, and a big round moon silvered the sea, aid made the long wake we left behind ua looked like a pathway of snow. A large number of emigrants remained on deck for many hours, but there was quite a crowd in the fore cabin nevertheless, for remember we were eleven hundred souls all told. Eut I sha'il not attempt t~> deacribe the scene in these 'tween decks farther than to Bay it was a very animated one indeed, and not over savoury. Here was a group gathered around a whitehaired old emigrant who, > ible in hand, was preaahing; here another group singing hymns ; here an old woman praying while, the tears streamed down her cheeks and nose ; hore still another gronp was squatting on the deck, having ' a sly dram,' and singing 'Auld Lang Syne'; and yonder a quieter group squatting under the lamp playing cards. Bat all were animated, and au seemingly imbned with the Idea that the sea had no discomforts and no terrors to tremble at.

It c»me on to blow a little next d»y, the ship began to cod and bow to the advancing waves ; and when I went forward In the evening to see my die-hard, behold, I fonnd no soul in the steerage. Hushed were the voices c.f the psalm • fingers, silent the chante'B of hymns, gone the wassailers, and i»one the players of cards; but from the keeping cabins all around me came a moaning nd « groaning that told me plainly -nongh that

" The il >wers o' the forest were a' wede away." Thus passed the first and second nights of our emigrants' Hfe at sea. The weather settled down now Into what we might call the moderately fine. There was a bit of a breeze, and it was in the right direction, blowing about east by south ; so fore and aft canvas was hung up, and this served to steady us, and gave the ahipatriflo of a liat to lesward ; and our cabin passengers, walking on the weather quarterdeck, were quite proud at finding themselves able, apparently, to use their sea legs. But there, with the cabin passengers I have positively nothing to do ; I must lay for'ard. Well, then, with a bright sun playing at hide-and-seek among white cumulus and gray cumulus, a fresh and pleasant breeze blowing, a (sparkling sea all around, and a whale in sight, what more natural than that the emigrants should forget all about seasickness, and come up from below ? They did, in crowds; and very happy and jolly they appeared. The laughing and joking were "immense," to use an ugly slang word. They seemed to fall into groups quite naturally. But the largest group—in fact It was more a mob than a group squatted, or Iry, or lounged on the weather side of the deok, close to the wooden bars that barrioated them off from the quarterdeck and toe quality. Here their chief amusement was watching and criticising vlh, our dress, our looks, our language, and the games we played, When some days had passed away, and sea-Biokness was as far aste-n as green Erin itself, what with the good living they had enjoyed, and the pure fresh air they were constantly breathing, our emigrants began to feel quite jolly and frisky. Why, it occurred to them, oonldn't they get up some amusement as well as tbe quality—a ball, or a concert, or eometblng ? the concert was the first to bo carried out; and a strange promiscuous kind of an entertainment it was, any one singing just as the spirit moved him. and sometimes even a girl letding with a sweet contralto. It was soon discovered that one of their number possessed a concertina; aid it was not long ere both he and his instrument were re quisltloned pro bono publico of the emigrants. In a rough kind of a way the owner could play a jig ; to which there was a deal of dancing or capering, with a lot of wild " hoachlng." Both myself and my diehard, I think, were somewhat respected and liked forward, for the die-hard had a kindly glance for everybody, and I had—well, spoken not unkindly to a few. ' Yeß,' I said to myself one fine evening, ' why shouldn't I go and give them a datoe ? Why should my dariing Cremona lie mate In Its blaze lined coffin. ? Why should I fuel sby and ashamed to give these poor creatures pleasure P ' I sent for the boy with the concertina, and told him what I was going to do, tuned my fiddle to his instrument, and told him his part. ' Don't attempt,' I said, 'to follow me in any air I play. Only stick to the key-note, and give me a kind of base.' A minute or two after, we were both seated on the top of the barricade. ' Clear the decks, boys,' I said, * and I'll give you a dance.' The cabin passengers, wondering, but delighted, crept up behind the musicians, and the boys speedily cleared the deck. I was in fine form; and with hardly a preamble I started off into one of the maddest, merriets Irish jigs that ever I learned, playing on three flats, and shifting oft, to give it that alight touch of melancholy, without which not even a jig can be thoroughly Irish. When I finished I was famous. But I didn't give them time to bother me without blarney, for " Hornpipes, strathspeys, and jigs and reels, Put life and metals in their heels."

You can Imagine the scene, reader; I shall not attempt to describe that. When I thought they were a bit tired, and a» my own fingers aobed, I sang that oharmlng song, "The Wearing of the Green." To tell of the effect the song had on these poor emigrants would Bavour of egotism on my part. I was glad to rattle off again into a jig, Then I went below, having done some good, I think. I give this little sketch to show what our Irish emigrants were at their best on board. A rough lot, it may be admitted—ln other words, the raw material from which the mighty Republic is manufactured ; and ' not bad stuff either ' as a Yankee observed to me. Let me now say a word or two about the manner cf lite of these emigrants on board, and about the onerous duties the purser and doctor have to perform i for these two offioers must go hand-in-hand in the work of supervision. I am not quite sure what time the emigrants have to g«>t up in the morning, but I believe it is at half-past six or seven. They, at all events, have had a good ' long night in,' as sailors call it; and their sleeping berths can hardly bs considered uncomfortable—they are six feet long by three feet wide. When they turn out in the morning they have a wash, there being two apartments devoted to this purpose—one for the men, another for the women. After this they oan go on deck for a little fresh air until breakfast is served. The hour for this meal is half-past seven, and it consists of bread and hotter and hot rolls, with tea and coffee ad libitum— the rnle being to let them have all they can eat, while nothing muit be reoklessly wasted. Dinner is served at twelve o'clock. Menu Soup first, and afterwards fresh boiled meat of some kind, with potatoes and bread in abundance. This meal is supplemented on Sundays by the addition of a substantial allowance of plum pudding. Then at five o'olook tea comes on the board ; but so generous is this meal, that it might well be called supper, oatmeal porridge or grnel being a staple di»h, and, In addition to this, there is tea or coffee with bread arid butter. Indeed, the whole dietary is on the most liberal scale. The emigrants are got below between nine and ten, and so ends the day. Smoking is allowed at any time on the upper deck, but pipes muit not be lighted 'tween decks. I hardly know what all the purser has not to do—often he has a hard enough time of it; and he must be a light sleeper,gfor he may be seen taking a walk through the steerage, like an uneasy ghost, at almost any hour of the night, so thit no impropriety of any kind is likely to arise. The principal part of his duty concists in seeing after the sanitary arrange ments, and that they are well and properly carried „ut. There is a great deal of washing and scrubbing of decks and berths going on dally ; and with the emigrants themselves the purser must be very firm, though by no means rough. He must see that they are perfectly clean in habits and person, and that they keep themselves so; the great objeot being to get them safely over to the other side of the Atlantic without the chance of illness of any kind arising. To effect this he has not only to keep them and all their surroundings sweet and clean, but he must try his best to keep them happy and in good humor. The first two or three days when he has to combat the physical and mental effects of sea sickness among his people, are by far the hardest on the purser ; but if the other officers of the ship are kindly disposed towards the emigrants, and forbearing, the load lies much lighter on the parser's shoulders. With the women I was told by this offi cer, he has much more trouble than with the men. I hope I may not be accused of ungallantry if I say that the purser's experience is precisely my own. As a rule, women are bad sailors and worse than babies at sea. Talking about bibles, we had one born during the passage. It came on board, too, on the only stormy night we had. The dootor and I had the poor woman in the hospital, whioh was right away for'ard on deck. The aeaa were hitting us hard, and tons of water coming on board over the bows, and over the hospital. We had over five hundred women on board, but not one conld we get to do the needful by baby ; so, with the assistance of the ship's steward, we did the best we cculd, though dnrlng the bathing process a green sea burst open the hospital door, and nearly washed us all away. The emigrants require very little assistance at the hands of the doctor In the matter of medicine. Some of them looked sickly and dull enough when they oame on board ; but, short though the voyage was, those same people were far less hollow about the cheeks and temples when they stepped on shore at New York. This Is, of course,

attributable to the fresh air an! good living Happy and jolly though we alt were on board, both fore and aft, nobody, I dare say, was very sorry when Jand w»s sighted at last. Next day we were alongsido the custom honss, and by-and-by our emigrants were taken on ► hore.

C»Btle fcJardon, a 3 it is called, is the temporary home of the emigrants »t New York. Phla placa was, I believe, originally an old Dutjh ohnroh. It next beoame a concert hall. Here it was, indeed, thet Jtnny Und made her debut under Barnum. It has bluco been taken up by the emigration authorities, and all the emigrants pass through it, and have their names ages, and so forth registered, and are afforded every opportunity of finding out the addresses of my friends of thei'S who may have come out to the country before them. At Castle Garden emigrants may also stay free until they oommunioate with or find their friends—rent free, I mean, for of course they have to fiid their own food supplies, and they are moreover bound by eartain rules or restrictions framed entirely for their benefit. This It a good thirg for them, for they generally have a little money, and if they once fall iito the hands of New York sharpers, better for them had they stayed at home in Ireland. But. indeed, tbe wish uppermost in the minds of these poor but hopeful emigrants Is to get right away from New York as soon as possible. They feel that they are in a strange oountry, that they are thrown entirely on their own resources, and they seem to have made up their minds to work. And bo they are booked right away through by emigrant traina to lowa, Nebraska, Nevada, or Wisconsin. When they get there they are bound to work for a time for other farmers ; but there is- one tbiog they cannot do—they cannot spend money, and so they save it, and by and-by they find they have quite enough to purchase a patch of prairie land and start farming on their own account. A nd for the first year it is the goodly custom ot his neighbors to assist the newly started farmer ; so taking everything itto acoount, the emigrants, once arrived at their new home, cannot really help doing veil. I may say in conclusion that from all I have seen and heard while in the States, thb emigration Boheme is one of the best things that ever happened for Ireland. But why for Ireland only ? Our own Scottish farm servants would do far better by emigrating than by staying at home to grumble.