... over again. Making the decision as the hardest part. Having decided to leave our country, I took all our savings out of the bank and left for Dublin. Reluctant to leave Ireland, Mary and I decided to stay in Dublin and try to find ork there, but e soon realized that it ould not ork out. Days later, I bought tickets for a steamer leaving for Ne York. The journey as a long one and although e had a decent cabin for ourselves, it as a stressful journey.Our journey as surely not as pleasant as yours. e had nearly lost all our savings back in Ireland, trying to survive. The decision to leave Ireland as made too late. e could not afford a decent passage. Steerage as here e spent our time crossing the ocean. Believe me, a steerage cabin is not a pleasant sight after six people have been living in it for about four eeks. Living don there as especially hard for Anne, as you can imagine. I am really sorry she had to go through all of this.ell, brother, everything ill be pleasant from no on. This is the land of opportunities. I ondered ho you managed to get a house in such a decent neighborhood, a steady job and the best education for your children. I mean, most of the ne immigrants ill have to go on living in the slums, orking in lo paying jobs and so on.Yes, that is true. The terrible end of the long journey. Let me tell you my story. Having crossed the Atlantic, e arrived in Ne York Harbor and ere transferred to Ellis Island. Unfortunately, James had caught a cold hich delayed the process of immigration for about a eek until he got better. You ere lucky that you only had to spend to days on that terrible island. I ill never forget the amount of human suffering I sa there, the expressions on the faces of those that had to go back ith even less money. I think I can say that this as the orst eek in my entire life. Anyay, after e left Ellis Island e andered around in this marvelous city, impressed by the height of the buildings and the number of people ho lived there. e asked here e could get a cheap place to live, and someone directed us to Mulberry Street, here e rented a small tenement. Mulberry street is the first stop for many immigrants. Germans, Irish, Italians, Greeks, Slovaks, Polish immigrants from every nation I can think of. Naturally, it is not very a very good place to live. There is a lot of crime because the area is controlled by the big crime syndicates. I did not ant my children to gro up in an area like that, but hat other choices ere there Soon afterards, I found a job in a textile factory in Brooklyn. It as definitely not the best job I ever had, but our savings ere decreasing by the hour, and the rent had to be paid, and the family had to be fed. After a month e realized that my job alone ouldnt be enough to keep us alive. Mary set out and got a job dying shirts in the same factory. Marys job improved our situation dramatically. Still e could not afford to live anyhere else but Mulberry Street and the education of our children suffered. e kne e had to make even more progress. Shamus had finished his Guinness and had begun to light his pipe. Memories came to his mind The voyage, Ellis Island, their life on Mulberry street. He still had vivid memories of all those episodes. He ondered ho his brother and his ife ould go through their immigrant experience. He cleared is throat and continued his story. Youve got to understand that the party runs most of Ne York. The Democratic party has enormous poer and influence. Party members hold almost all of the offices and most of the important jobs in factories, plants and even offices are hold by members, too. Since I agree ith most of the policies promoted by the party, it as an easy choice for me to become a party member. An important step in becoming a party member, is citizenship. I advise you to become a citizen as soon as possible. Citizenship ill help you in many ays. I ill tak ... Download