Part 2: Continued from Jānis Sirms's memoirs about his journey from Courland to America in 1888. Why didn’t he board the ship in Hamburg? What was the traveler seeking in Liverpool?
"So, we had some time to explore Berlin. First, we visited the Victory Column monument, then we walked by the Tiergarten, through the Brandenburg Gate, to the street called "Unter den Linden." It is said to be the most prestigious street in Berlin. That day, the street and the neighbourhood of the German Emperor's palace were very crowded, as a few days earlier, old Wilhelm I had passed away. Several honor guards, both cavalry and infantry, were stationed around the emperor's palace.
On our way back to the station, we stopped at a restaurant, had lunch, and each paid one mark. At midnight, we departed from Berlin. Around 7 in the morning, we arrived in Hamburg. We pulled out the tickets from our pockets that I had obtained from the Wolf shipping agency and held them in our hands. A policeman led us to the Wolf agent, who then took us to his office. Once there, we showed the papers we had purchased in Memel. When we bought the papers in Memel, we were told that each ship ticket would cost only 90 marks, so we had paid a deposit of 15 marks. But here, they demanded 110 marks from each of us. Now we were in quite a fix. We were short about 25 marks.
We agreed that we would have to pawn our pocket watches. I went out to find a pawnshop. It was still early in the morning, so no pawnshops were open yet. Having achieved nothing, I returned to the office where Biederman was waiting for me. Before I left, we agreed that he would not buy his ship ticket without me, but when I returned, I found that he had already paid the full 110 marks for his ticket, even though we were entitled to get it for 90 marks.
There happened to be a hotel owner at the office who took us to his establishment. I really didn't want to go because I knew we would have to give out money. My Biederman didn't listen to me and went to the hotel. So, I had to go too. Once there, he ordered some schnapps to take on board the ship, as well as blankets and other items, paying 16 marks for them. I resisted as much as I could, but he didn't listen to me. Now I had no hope of getting to America.
After a while, we had to go back to the Wolf office, where we learned that the ship Biederman was to sail on was leaving that same day. Once at the office, I didn't know what to do or where to go. Someone at the office suggested that I go to England, to Liverpool, where I might find work. I couldn't stay in Germany for long because I didn't have a passport. I decided to go to Liverpool, bought a ticket there, and learned that I could depart that very day. I had no money left.
Biederman gave me his watch so that I could pawn it. After pawning it, I got 8 marks. That was all the money I had for the journey. Around two o'clock, we had to board the ship and part ways. When we got to the docks, a docker inspected us. Then we were each sent to our respective ships. We parted without even shaking hands.
On the ship I was on, most of the passengers were Lithuanians and Poles, all traveling through England to America. In the evening, when it was already dark, we departed from Hamburg. The weather was very bad; it was snowing and raining heavily, with strong winds. I went to my sleeping place and slept soundly until morning since I hadn't slept at all the previous night on the train. In the morning, when I woke up, almost all the Lithuanians and Poles were seasick. They were vomiting and groaning terribly. I was only slightly sick. The weather remained bad the entire next day.
On the ship, I struck up a conversation with a young German who was also traveling to Liverpool to meet a friend, with whom he planned to continue on to Havana in America. He told me that the hotel owner where his friend was staying was German. I decided to go with him to that hotel owner. The next morning, after about 36 hours at sea, the ship docked at the port of Grimsby. There, we had to disembark and board a train to continue to Liverpool. We left Grimsby at 9:00 AM and arrived in Liverpool after 6-7 hours of travel. On the train, I ended up with three Lithuanians who also spoke quite good Latvian. They were also traveling to America and felt very sorry for me, knowing that I had to stay in England.
The railway passed through several cities. The region we traveled through seemed hilly, so the train passed through several tunnels. One tunnel was particularly long. England is a very densely populated country. Towns are close to each other, with many factories in them. Because coal is used to heat the factories and homes, the air is full of soot.
When I left home, it was still full winter there, with severe frost and snow. Here, there was no snow at all, and livestock could be seen grazing in the fields. It didn’t look like winter at all.
Once in Liverpool, I went with the German to that hotel owner. I wanted, at the very least, to meet someone I could talk to. When we got there, I inquired whether there was any work available and where I could stay. The hotel owner gave me the address of a Pole who worked in a sugar factory and provided lodging. The hotel owner also arranged for an English boy to take me to the Pole. I had to pay the boy a shilling for showing me the way.
The Pole wasn't home, only his wife, who ran a small meat shop. She also spoke German. I explained my situation to her. She told me that it was very difficult to find work here, as many locals were already unemployed. I began to feel strange, then thought, "Would I really starve to death?” The shopkeeper then had a child take me to a German named Heitmann. He took me in and promised to speak to someone at the sugar factory where he worked, hoping I might get a job there. I was very happy to have come this far. At least I didn't have to stay on the street, which could easily have happened since I had no money left."
(Continuation follows next week)
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