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In the matter of ZUKERMAN, HIRSCH, male 33 - Russian/Hebrew
At a meeting of a Board of Special Inquiry, held at Jewish Immigrant Home, 24th and Mechanic, Galveston, Texas, July 29, 1910 at 10:05 A.M.
Present: Inspectors Coykendall (Chm)
Miller (Secty) and Interpreter Muzar
Ex S.S. “Frankfurt” July 24, 1910 LPC Inspector Morton
Interpreter, Mrs. D. timberlake
Alien sworn and examined by Inspector Coykendall
My name is Hirsch Zukerman, I am 33 years old, I have a wife and four children in Russia, I am a Russian/Hebrew; I am traveling alone; cannot read nor write; I am a farm laborer; I paid my own passage, I have no money; I have nobody at all in the United States; I have never been in the United States before; in Russia, people stated that I could get work here.
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Q |
Have you the address of anyone in America?
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| A |
I have no addresses.
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| Q |
What did you do with the addresses?
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| A |
I did not have any
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| Q |
Were you not provided with an address on board the ship?
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| A |
No, I did not get it.
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| Q |
While you were on board the ship, did you hear the Dalmeister or any other of the ship’s officers announce to the immigrants that it would be necessary for them to have an address in
order for them to land at Galveston?
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| A |
The Dalmeister on the ship stated to the people that whoever did not have an address could not land.
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| Q |
The Dalmeister on the ship stated to the people that whoever did not have an address could not land.
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| A |
Yes, he gave the people an address and he wanted to give me one, but I would not take it.
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| Q |
Why did not not take it?
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| A |
I was sleeping at the time, and when I went to him for one, he would not let me have an
address.
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| Q |
Was this before or after the ship left Philadelphia?
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| A |
It was after we left Philadelphia.
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| Q |
Before the ship arrived at Philadelphia, did you hear the Dalmeister or any other of the ship’s officers advise the passengers to land at Philadelphia rather than to come to Galveston, stating that it was easier to land at Philadelphia than at Galveston?
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| A |
They told me to get off at Philadelphia, but I did not have an address.
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| Q |
Who told you?
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| A |
The ship’s interpreter.
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| Q |
Why did he want you to land at Philadelphia?
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| A |
He told me that was best to land in Philadelphia as it was not as strict in Philadelphia as it was in Galveston, I could pass easier.
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| Q |
Could pass whom?
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| A |
I don’t know.
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| Q |
By the Immigration officers?
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| A |
I don’t know.
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| Q |
Do you know whether any of the ship’s passengers left the vessel at Philadelphia rather than
come to Galveston?
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| A |
No, I think not, only those that were going to Philadelphia.
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| Q |
From whom did you purchase your ticket in Russia?
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| A |
From Mandelstam in Kiev.
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| Q |
How much did you pay for it?
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| A |
85 rubles.
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| Q |
Did that include your maintenance from the time you left the Russian border until the time the ship sailed from Bremen?
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| A |
Yes.
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| Q |
How many days was it from the time you left the Russian border to the time the ship sailed from Bremen?
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| A |
Two days from the border to Bremen, and two days in Bremen.
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| Q |
Where did you obtain the money with which to purchase your ticket?
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| A |
My wife’s mother sold her home and gave me the money.
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| Q |
What arrangements have you made for the support of your wife and children in Russia until such time as you are able to send them money?
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| A |
I left her without money.
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| Q |
How do you expect them to live?
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| A |
She will sell her clothes to buy something to eat.
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| Q |
How much did your mother-in-law receive for her house.
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| A |
110 rubles.
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| Q |
Did she give you all the money resulting from the sale of her house?
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| A |
Yes.
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| Q |
Has she any means of support?
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| A |
She has some money that will last her for a while.
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| Q |
Will she not contribute to the support of your wife and children?
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| A |
Yes.
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| Q |
How old is your oldest child?
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| A |
Eight years and it is a boy.
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| Q |
Is your father-in-law living?
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No.
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| Q |
Have you been supporting your mother-in-law in Russia?
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| A |
Yes.
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| Q |
Are you coming to America as a result of an advertisement or inducement offered to you?
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| A |
No.
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| Q |
At the time you purchased your ticket from the Russian Jewish society were you given a letter
or any other paper to anyone in America?
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| A |
I have a card here (shows identification card 3031).
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| Q |
To whom were you instructed to present that card?
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I am to present it to the Jewish Committee at Galveston.
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| Q |
Will you let us have this card?
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Alien, upon being advised that the Jewish Committee would render him such assistance as it
had offered without the card, allowed the board to retain same.
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| Q |
Alien, upon being advised that the Jewish Committee would render him such assistance as it
had offered without the card, allowed the board to retain same.
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| A |
They said that the committee would help me, provide me with work.
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| Q |
Then if permitted to land at this time, you would become immediately dependent upon the
assistance of the Jewish society at Galveston for your maintenance until you could secure
employment?
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| A |
Yes.
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Mr. Muzar: At the time they promised you all this in Russia, did they say anything about wages?
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| A |
They told me that some people make from $10-$12 per week.
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| Q |
Did they tell you that no matter how far from Galveston they secured work for you that they
would furnish you with a railroad ticket to that place?
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| A |
I do not know anything about that, they did not say anything about it.
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| Q |
Then who do you expect to furnish you with a railroad ticket in case you secure work outside
of Galveston?
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| A |
I think the committee will give it to me.
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| Q |
So wherever they secure work, you expect to committee to furnish you with a ticket to such
place?
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| A |
Yes.
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| Q |
How long before you left Russia, did you buy your ticket?
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| A |
8 days.
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| Q |
In the meantime, did they send you any instructions as to what to tell the immigration officers
at the port of landing in the United States?
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| A |
They wrote me that when I came to Galveston, the Committee would take me down.
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| Q |
Did the committee select Galveston as the port in the United States to which you should
come or did you suggest it?
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| A |
The committee told me that it would be best for me to come to Galveston.
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| Q |
Did they tell you that it was easier to land there, or easier to obtain employment than at any
other port in the United States?
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| A |
They told me that it was hard to get in everywhere, but they told me that I could land easier
at Galveston, and that I could secure employment quicker.
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| Q |
Did they tell you anything as to how much money a person should have to have in order to
land?
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They told me that I did not have to have any.
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Mr. Berman: We will send this man to Des Moines, IA where he will be taken charge of by the agent of our committee at that place, and employment will be secured for him. We will pay his transportation to Des Moines and furnish him with supplies, and he will be given all the necessaries of life until such time as he may secure employment and become self-supporting.
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FINDING: In view of the good physical appearance of this alien, and of the fact that the Jewish Committee has promised to make arrangement by which the alien will not become a public charge until such time as he may become self-supporting, he is unanimously admitted.
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