'LEARNED' MAN TRAVELS TO AMERICA FIRST CLASS, WIFE IN STEERAGE
New York City (JFK+50) On January 8, 1922, the Sunday Star reports that Moses Melomod and his wife arrived here in New York yesterday aboard the Estonia from Danzig.
The couple, however, didn't travel in the same style. The husband enjoyed first class while his wife was relegated to steerage*.
Mr. & Mrs. Melomod's sons, meeting their parents at the dock, explained that "it was all right for (their) father to travel in better style because he was a 'learned man'."
Taking exception to that explanation, Immigration Inspector Cowan said, "I'll learn him something!"
Mr. Melomod's first class landing card was confiscated and he was given a lecture on "American chivalry." The 'learned man' was then sent to Ellis Island** to remain with his wife until she is examined on Monday.
*Steerage is the lower deck of a ship used to provide the lowest cost & lowest class of travel often for immigrants to North America from Europe and China.
**1st & 2nd class passengers were not required to undergo inspection at Ellis Island but steerage & 3rd class passengers were transported to Ellis by ferry or barge to undergo the inspection process.
SOURCE
"Puts Wife In Steerage, Man Sails First Class Because He's 'Learned'," The Sunday Star, Washington, D.C., January 8, 1922, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
