I only paid three for
board, and was soon earning extra money by making dresses and hats at
home." Friends in Germany would be sure to hear of this new condition.
[Sidenote: A Pole]
Why do the Poles come? A Polish sweat-shop girl, telling her life story,
answers. The father died, then troubles began in the home in Poland.
Little was needed by the widow and her child, but even soup, black
bread, and onions they could not always get. At thirteen the girl was
handy at housekeeping, but the rent fell behind, and the mother decided
to leave Poland for America, where, "we heard, it was much easier to
make money. Mother wrote to Aunt Fanny, who lived in New York, and told
her how hard it was to live in Poland, and Aunt Fanny advised her to
come and bring me." Thousands could tell a similar story to that.
"Easier to make money" has allured multitudes to leave the old home and
land.
[Sidenote: A Russian]
A Lithuanian (Russian) tells how it was the traveling shoemaker that
made him want to come to America. This shoemaker learned all the news,
and smuggled newspapers across the German line, and he told the boy's
parents how wrong it was to shut him out of education and liberty by
keeping him at home.
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