Page:1883 Annual Report of the German Society of the City of New York.djvu/60

Rh  [sic] German emigrants should on no account allow themselves to he induced to make the passage in English vessels, but should make a direct contract with the offices of the Bremen Line (North-German Lloyd) or the old Hamburg-American Packet Line. For emigrants from the Rhenish Provinces, Southern Germany, and Switzerland, the voyage by way of Amsterdam, Antwerp, Rotterdam, and Havre is likewise to be recommended. No one should sail without his baggage. The promises of the agents or landlords, to forward the baggage by the next steamer, are often not kept, and in the most favorable case the owner will be put to greater expense—often beyond his means—than he would have incurred by a prolonged stay at the port of departure. In case, however, any one should nevertheless be induced to sail, he should, immediately upon his arrival in New York, notify the agents of the line by which he came, and leave his address with them. He should also, before sailing, write to his relatives or friends at home, and inform them that his baggage is missing, as the latter is frequently left at some railroad station, and the agent in the seaport merely agrees to forward the baggage after its arrival there. Only the most necessary and indispensible articles should be taken along as baggage, and should be carefully packed. Useless rubbish merely occasions heavy expenses of freight for over-weight, and is generally not worth bringing. Those who are well off should carry with them only as much cash as they will need during the voyage and for the first few days after their arrival here. The rest should be taken in drafts drawn by respectable, well-known firms on banking-houses in this city, and, under any circumstances, the holder should insist upon his signature being forwarded for identification, and upon the bill being advised by the mail of the same steamer. During the voyage, as well as on his arrival, the emigrant should be reticent with regard to his pecuniary circumstances and intentions, and be on his guard against 