The Man Farthest Down: A Record of Observation and Study in EuropeWashington, Booker T.
History
The Man Farthest Down: A Record of Observation and Study in Europe
Washington, Booker T.
Poor -- Europe; Working class -- Europe
Every mile or two it seemed to me we met a wagon piled high with great
bulging bags as large as bed ticks. In each case these wagons were
driven by a little shrewd-faced Jew. These wagons, as I learned, had
come that morning from Russia and the loads they carried were goose
feathers.
A little farther on we came up with a foot passenger who was making
toward the border with great strides. He turned out to be a Jew, a
tall, erect figure, with the customary round, flat hat and the long
black coat which distinguish the Polish Jew. Our driver informed us,
however, that he was a Russian Jew, and pointed out the absence of the
side curls as indicating that fact. Although this man had the outward
appearance, the manner, and the dress of the Jews whom I had seen in
Cracow, there was something in the vigorous and erect carriage that
impressed me to such an extent that I suggested that we stop and talk
with him. As we were already near the border, and he was evidently from
Russia, I suggested that Doctor Park show him our passports and ask him
if they would let us into Russia.
He stopped abruptly as we spoke to him, and turned his black, piercing
eyes upon us. Without saying a word he took the passports, glanced them
through rapidly, tapped them with the back of his hand, and handed them
back to us.
"That is no passport," he said, and then he added, "it should have the
visé of your consul."
Having said this much he turned abruptly, without waiting for further
conversation, and strode on. We soon came up with and passed him,
but he did not look up. A little later we halted at the border. I
looked around to see what had become of our wandering Jew, but he had
disappeared. Perhaps he had stopped at the inn, and perhaps he had his
own way of crossing the border.
I was reminded of this strange figure a few months later when I noticed
in one of the London papers a telegram from Vienna to the effect that
some thirty persons had been arrested at Cracow who were suspected
of being the ringleaders "in what is believed to be a widespread
revolutionary organization of Russian refugees." The report added
that "a whole wagon-load of Mannliches rifles, Browning pistols,
and dynamite grenades, together with a large number of compromising
documents and plans of military works, were seized as a result of
searches by the police in the houses of the arrested men."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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