down [during a storm]; for
they prefer the bitterness and danger of the storm to the pestilential
air below.”
By the time of the largest influx of immigration post World War
II, the voyage had improved considerably. Marty Gervais, in "Keeping
With Tradition – The Working Man’s Choir: Forty Years
of Song with Il Coro Italiano" describes the voyage experienced by
Italians headed to Windsor in this later period:
These young men boarded ocean-going vessels like the Vulcania,
Saturnia, Cristoforo Colombo, Conte Biancamano, Giulio Cesare – not
knowing what to expect when they arrived in Canada, except from
the letters their uncles or cousins had sent them. They stuffed
bread and cheese and wine in with their belongings, and shared
what they had on the ship with others. Many had to travel steerage
class and were often seasick on the voyage. Each and every one
of these new Canadians arrived at Pier 21 after a nine to 12 day
voyage across the Atlantic. When they stepped off the ship, they
were met with Canadian immigration officials, who directed them
for medical examinations. The process often took up to 18 to 24
hours because the pier could only handle 250 people at any one
time...; That didn't end the process for these immigrants. Their
steamer trunks were examined carefully, and any liquor or food
was seized by Customs. The advice given to Colarossi even before
he sailed from Italy was to hide the cheese beneath the dirty socks
to discourage Customs from wading through his belongings. (p.30-32) |