I was about to purchase my ticket in Belfast when word reached me that
Belle Raymond, a girl I knew in Belfast and who had already purchased
her ticket but had been taken ill, would be unable to make the trip.
I thought I might get this ticket a little cheaper. I did save quite
a little by purchasing her ticket, but I was obliged, on account of
the registration of her name, to come under her name. My enemies have
made much of the fact that I had gone under Belle Raymond's name. I
am sorry now that I did it after all that has come out in connection
with my terrible experiences. But I hope I will not be too severely
blamed for doing what so many other people, even business people of
integrity, have been known to do. To travel on another person's pass is
undoubtedly wrong, but it is not a heinous crime.
Belle Raymond's ticket was for Canada and not for America direct, but
to my mind all the countries over here were just alike, and as long as
one landed on the west side of the Atlantic Ocean, I was satisfied. It
was all a land of gold to me. So I went to Montreal on the ticket of
Belle Raymond.
On ship-board I made several acquaintances among the other Irish girls
on board, and they told me that the best way to get a start on this
side of the water was to get a position as maid to some great lady and
then interest her in lace-making. Then, they said, I could soon build
up a good trade for my laces among the people who had plenty of money
to pay for them. They said that any attempt to sell laces outright
would end in failure, as not one person in 100 knew real Irish lace
when they saw it, and they would think that I was a fraud unless some
great lady vouched for me.
I did not land directly in Montreal. The last stage of the journey I
performed by train from Quebec, where I left the steamer. I spent half
a day in Quebec viewing the sights of the city in company with several
other girls. I then took the train for Montreal where I went directly
to the Young Women's Guild home, where I knew I would be safe. The
Guild secured me a position with the Thornton family in Belleville,
Ontario.
I was overjoyed when I found that I was going into a great rich family,
for they told me that Mrs. Thornton's father was worth many, many
millions of dollars, and that he controlled the roller mill business in
Canada. This meant that if I secured Mrs. Thornton as a patroness for
my laces I could get all the rich ladies to buy.
Disappointment awaited me and my dreams were shattered. I worked nine
months as a housemaid. Mrs. Thornton was not approachable by servants,
although she was uniformly kind and considerate.
At the Thornton home the disillusions as to the golden land began
to disappear rapidly and my life settled down to the humdrum of a
housemaid's life. My dreams were shattered. I was tempted to do wrong
on numerous occasions. Disheartened, I finally left the services of the
family. I was given a letter certifying to my good character when I
quit.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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