March 21, 1912

My name is Autem Ziko. Our ship, the Atlanta, left Port Patras in Turky about midnight and we have a splendid wind carrying us on at a rate of 240 milesni a day, or knots as it is called at sea. I got very seasick, and vomited through the night. We are assigned a bunk for each family; because I was traveling alone I had to share a bunk with another family. The bunks not only had to accommodate all the members of a family, but their belongings as well.

March 25, 1912
The morning sun is shining across the water, and I feel much better today. I met a nice couple this morning walking around the ship. Their names are Mr. and Mrs. Davie, and they have 2 sons and 3 daughters, however only their sons are with them. Their 3 daughter are in America with an aunt. The Davies’ plan on meeting their daughters when they arrive at Ellis Island.

March 27, 1912
It’s cold and raining and I am sick again. The ship has been rocking back and forth since yesterday afternoon. All the small children on board are sick. One little girl was running around and fell and hit her head. Her father bandaged her head with an old cloth to stop the bleeding. I hope she will be ok. The smell below the deck is overpowering. Not only do passengers have to put up with the smells of disease, sickness and unwashed bodies, but also the smell from the cargo brought over on the voyage from Ireland. This grayish material, bird droppings, was used as fertilizer in both Ireland and Scotland.

April 1, 1912
To pass the time I have been playing cards with some of the other men onboard the ship. I leaned a new game called Hearts, however I have lost 1.00 and can’t afford to gamble anymore. My clothes are dirty and I need to take a bath. Maybe when I reach America I will be able to take a hot bath and have the use of a stove. I spend so much time waiting in line to use one of two topside cooking fires. (Imagine up to 300 people trying to cook on a pitching, rolling deck.) If it rain we have no fires. We are lucky to get a drop or two of weather and some bread to eat.

April 6, 1912
I woke up this morning hear the Captain sound the fog horn. I like I see the Statue of Liberty in the distance. Everyone is excited and crying. I am so happy to be almost there. After several hours we are allow to leave the ship.

I make my way across the gangplanks with lots of other people. The first thing I need to do is go straight up a long set of stairs called the “Stairs to the Great Hall”. There are several doctors and nurses at the top. They are asking people several questions. I saw some doctor put a big X with a piece of chalk on a man. I was lucky I made it through this test. Click here to see chart.
Next came the medical exam, and I also made it through this test. After you had been checked out by the doctors, you had to pass a mental exam. The doctors had you perform things that we think are incredibly easy, but if you were an immigrant who had no education, the tests were very hard. I had to put a puzzle together, it was hard but I
passed. After this was the legal test they asked questions such as:
What is your name? Do you have any relatives here? Do you have a criminal record? Have you ever been to the United States before?
I passed all the tests and was able to finally go to the USA?