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 EXPERIENCE 
 
 OF AN 
 
 AMERICAN REFUGEE 
 
 BY 
 HOPE C. B. CHAPIN 
 
 (Mf\S. Howard WV Cha?^n) 
 
 Providence 
 1914 
 

 .Sl-V 
 
 E. A. Johnson & Co. 
 Printers 
 
The "San Giovanni" sailed from Naples 
 on Saturday, Aug. 15^ at 11:45 p. m., car- 
 rying some 750 American tourists, who 
 were caught in the European "cockpit." 
 This is only a very small percentage of 
 the American travellers now in Europe. 
 
 We were in Florence when the first 
 realization of the serious aspect of the 
 war situation was thrust upon us. We 
 had been travelling among some of the 
 hill towns and had seen no newspapers 
 for a few days before reaching Florence. 
 This was Aug. 4. We had, of course, heard 
 that Germany and France were at war 
 but when England entered the field we, 
 like many others, realized to some extent 
 the serious aspect of the situation. We 
 found that lettters of credit and banker's 
 checks could not be cashed and at the 
 same time we heard that all steamship 
 sailings were cancelled. We had a letter 
 of credit on Brown, Shipley & Co., Lon- 
 don, but we could not obtain money on 
 it anywhere. Having no other securities 
 and only a little Italian money, we de- 
 cided to return to Rome on our "Abo- 
 namenta" tickets. These tickets are is- 
 sued with a time and district limit and 
 although paid for, are used the same as 
 passes. As we still retained them, we 
 could return to Rome, where we supposed 
 we would find, if not plenty of money, at 
 least some. Much to our surprise and 
 rather indignation on reaching Rome we 
 found the situation just as difficult and 
 even Italians with large bank accounts^ 
 could procure only a very small percent 
 of their money. Very little definite in 
 formation could be obtained either con- 
 cerning the war or financial situation 
 
One thing was definite, there was no way 
 of obtaining money. We decided that it 
 was best to remain in Rome. Hon. 
 
 Thomas Nelson Page, United States am- 
 bassador to Italy, was in Paris at this 
 time but returned to Rome at his first op- 
 portunity. Americans besieged the Amer- 
 ican embassy and consulate seeking help 
 and information. Finally a committee of 
 more or less prominent Americans was 
 formed which held meetings daily at the 
 Royal Hotel, where Americans could 
 come and receive any information avail- 
 able. This relieved the stress on the em- 
 bassy and consulate. No information of 
 any moment was received and there seem- 
 ed to be nothing to do but wait and we 
 were all informed to hold on to any cash 
 we had as there was no knowledge of how 
 long it would be before it would be possi- 
 ble to obtain any more. Many of the ho- 
 tels in Rome announced that they would 
 take people on credit, and not present 
 their bills temporarily, still they expected 
 their pay eventually. The situation waa 
 not an agreeable one_ not knowing how 
 long we might be marooned there, hav- 
 ing only a few lira and anticipating that 
 Italy might at any time enter the field of 
 war. Mobilization was going on rapidly 
 throughout Italy. 
 
 "We cabled to America for funds and re- 
 ceived three cables in reply. First that no 
 means of sending money to Europe was 
 possible and finally in a day or two that 
 a sum had been deposited to our credit 
 with the Federal government at Washing- 
 ton and would be paid to us through Mr. 
 Page. We were unable to procure this 
 money as the Italian banks would not pay 
 
until the actual gold arrived. After days 
 of fruitless search for Information, we 
 heard officially that the American govern- 
 ment had sent the U. S. battleship "Ten- 
 nessee" with $2,500,000 in gold for the relief 
 of Americans in Europe. However, it 
 looked as though it would be a long time 
 before any of that would reach Italy as 
 naturall.v those caught in countries in the 
 war district, were most in need. 
 
 It was unbearably hot in Rome and it 
 was especially impressed upon us as very 
 few icculd afford to drive. We heard many 
 rumors without sufficient foundation to 
 believe. We were told that the United 
 States government was sending transports 
 for all the Americans in Europe. Then we 
 heard that they could send only for those 
 in northern Europe. When it was realized 
 how great a number of Americans must 
 be in Eiirope, some estimated it to be ovei 
 50,000, we realized that it must be impos- 
 sible to send enough transports for all 
 and it would surely be some time before 
 it could be possible to send for any. How* 
 ever we were all given printed slips to fill 
 out with the following questions to an- 
 swer : 
 
 American Committee, Rome, Italy. 
 (Please write plainly.) 
 
 N'ame in full. 
 
 Address in Rome. 
 
 Address at home. 
 
 Are you with a party? If so, name and 
 local address of leader. 
 
 Return ticket by. Date of sailing and 
 port. 
 
 Price paid. Class. 
 
 Funds — State in full amount of each: 
 
 American Express cheques, $ 
 
 American Bankers cheques, $ 
 
 Other resources cheques, $ 
 
 liCtters of credit on. 
 
Foreign gold. 
 
 Italian monej'. 
 
 What bank in America can you draw 
 
 from? 
 If no personal funds in America, to whom 
 
 can appeal be made for funds? 
 In case of necessity, to whom in America 
 
 must word be sent? 
 How soon must you be in America and 
 
 why? 
 Remarks. 
 
 We heard that the Pierce Bros, owners 
 of the Sicula-Americana line, were plan- 
 ning to send a ship on Aug. 15 to the 
 United States. They were to fit out the 
 "San Giovanni," which is ordinarily used 
 for steerage only, having room for but 24 
 first cabin passengers. This was to be 
 transformed in three days so that it 
 would be possible to carry 800 passengers 
 by dividing it up sometimes by burlap 
 and sometimes by rough wooden parti- 
 tions into compartments. We did not in- 
 vestigate this at first as we heard so 
 many discouraging reports as to the san- 
 itary conditions. Also the Sicula-Ameri- 
 cana line would at first only book those 
 who could pay for their passage in ready 
 money. As the bookings did not go fast, 
 they announced that they would accept a 
 small deposit, the remainder to be paid 
 in New York. 
 
 As the days passed the situation became 
 so alarming that any means of transport- 
 ation to America available seemed to be 
 wise. We left for Naples and secured 
 passage on the "'San Giovanni," at 550 
 liras each. The first cabin was of course 
 all secured and they designated the rest 
 of the ship "second class" although the 
 food and service was to be the same. For- 
 tunately for us, we knew an Italian gen- 
 
tleman in Rome who kindly lent us 
 enough to secure our passage, even 
 though he could get only a small part of 
 his own money, from the banks. 
 
 Also we succeeded in borrowing $30 in 
 Italian money from the U. S. consul on an 
 unsecured three months note. With these 
 loans we were enabled to pay our hotel 
 bills and buy our tickets to Naples. 
 
 There was much misgiving about the 
 ship's sailing, but finally we pulled from 
 the dock in Naples at 11:45 Saturday eve- 
 ning. Such a crowd of thankful people 
 we all were and all the inconveniences we 
 were to put up with for the next two 
 weeks oould not make us regret that we 
 had left Europe. Our compartment was 
 for two but most of them contained four 
 or six berths and a few had eight and 
 one 12 berths. Just as many were squeez- 
 ed in as possible and every one had to 
 literally "double up." The ship was clean- 
 ed up by paint and presented quite a 
 clean appearance. Sanitary conditions 
 were not of the best although effort was 
 made to make them as good as possible 
 under the trying conditions. Steerage 
 bunks were erected lin the cabins with 
 straw mattresses. New bed linen was 
 furnished and electric lights installed in 
 each room. It is estimated that the re- 
 construction cost $13,000. One part of the 
 ship was made into a temporary dining 
 room by the erection of rough wooden 
 tables and benches. The service was de- 
 cidedly poor at first but improved a lit- 
 tle. The kitchen and bakery on the top 
 deck were in full view and the rathei 
 unclean appearance and manner of pre- 
 paring food was not very appetizing. 
 
"Wash basins with pails of water and mir- 
 rors were placed in the hallways for gen- 
 eral use. The enterprising Neapolitans be 
 sides vending fruit from their boats be- 
 fore the ship sailed also got a supply of 
 steamer chairs^ in every degree of delapi- 
 dation, which were sold at a premium. 
 They also sold tin basins which proved a 
 great boom to the fortunate buyers. Some 
 amusing scenes were to be seen when 
 conventionality fell and every stage of 
 dress and undress could be seen in the 
 hallways, which served as boudoirs and 
 barber shops. Men as well as women turn- 
 ed laundresses as many had only a very 
 limited supply of wearing apparel, their 
 baggage being in various places in Eu- 
 rope. 
 
 The first officer was taken for army 
 service in Italy on the very day of sail- 
 ing. The stewards were of an ignorant 
 class of Italians, many never having 
 shipped before. 
 
 No steerage were carried on this trip of 
 the "San Giovanni." There were 24 first 
 cabin passengers and the other 700 were 
 designated "second cabin," although the 
 same food and entire run of the ship was 
 given us. All the passengers were Ameri- 
 can citizens. 
 
 The first few days were rather uncom- 
 fortable until we grew adjusted to our 
 conditions and all were thankful to be 
 leaving Europe at any inconvenience. 
 Until we had passed Gibraltar we were 
 all anxious, for of course we had no 
 means of knowing just what might hap- 
 pen to us there. Orders were received by 
 wireless to pass Gibraltar at 12 o'clock' 
 noon. We passed through the straits at 
 
noon on the 19th. As we neared the great 
 rock, our signal flags were hoisted to 
 designate who we were. We passed be- 
 tween British torpedo boats to whom we 
 dipped our colors and when they return- 
 ed the salute, we felt that we were to be 
 allowed to go through. Further out we 
 passed three British warships. We sight- 
 ed Santa Maria. one of the 
 Azores islands on the 22nd and pass- 
 ed rather near to it. The rest of the 
 voyage was uneventful. The days passed 
 in games of cards chess, gossip and com- 
 plaints, but on the whole every one took 
 the situation good naturedly. All being 
 grateful to be on our way to our native 
 land. Every afternoon an entertainment 
 was given on deck by the passengers 
 consisting of songs and narratives of vari- 
 ous experiences some serious and many 
 amusing. 
 
 It seemed to be necessary to keep tlie 
 port holes on the lowest deck closed al- 
 most all the way. Consequently rather 
 than spend sleepless nights in stuffy 
 cabins with four or five others, a great 
 majority of the passengers preferred to 
 sleep on deck and a unique sight it was 
 about 10:80 each evening when men, wom- 
 en and children appeared armed with rugs 
 and pillows and sometimes mattresses. 
 The choicest spots were taken first, these 
 seemed to be the broad tables erected for 
 temporary use on the deck. One being 
 used by the captain in the day time for 
 meals. 
 
 Although Captain Ziniti and his officers 
 tried to do their best for us all, we rather 
 felt that we were not receiving much bet- 
 ter service than ordinary steerage and at 
 
about quadruple the price. However, we 
 felt that the owners were to blame and 
 possibly not so much as it seemed, for no 
 doubt the food and service would seem 
 to them plenty good enough. Italian 
 cooking except in the very highest cir- 
 cles is pretty poor a.t its best and dirt is 
 synonimous with southern Italy. We have 
 all surely had a hard test on our diges- 
 tive apparatus as w^ell as our dispositions, 
 yet at the same time we are all duly 
 grateful for the opportunity to return to 
 America and hope that our fel'low-citizens 
 still in the hot-bed of Europe will soon 
 be relieved and have the opportunity of 
 returning. 
 
LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 
 
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,!r,l?,fi.'0;^^ Of" CONGRESS 
 
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