Images of the Past

   

      

         
Angelo DiBartolo and his family, traveled on this ship
         from Italy to Ellis Island in Nov. of 1923.
         
         

      
      

         Presidente
         Wilson
         
         
Built by Cantieri Navali Triestino, Monfalcone, Italy,
         1912. 12,567 gross tons; 500 (bp) feet long; 60 feet wide.
         Steam quadruple expansion engines, twin screw. Service speed
         18 knots. 1,905 passengers (125 first class, 550 second
         class, 1,230 third class).
         
         
Built for Austro-Americana Line, Austrian flag, in 1912
         and named Kaiser Franz Josef I. Trieste-South America and
         later Trieste-New York service. Laid up at Trieste 1914-19.
         Sold to Cosulich Line, Italian flag, in 1919 and renamed
         Presidente Wilson. Mediterranean-New York service.
         Transferred to Adriatica Line, Italian flag, in 1930 and
         renamed Gange. Trieste-Far East service. Transferred to
         Adriatica Line, Italian flag, in 1936 and renamed Marco
         Polo. Venice-Alexandria service. Laid up 1940-43. Refloated
         in 1949; scrapped in 1950.
         
         
(From http://www.ellisisland.org)
      
   
   

      

         
Gus and Anna Eckhardt sailed from Bremen to New York on
         the Elbe, arriving Feb. 18, 1882.
         
         

         
         
 
         
         
Photograph of the ELBE about 1890.
         Source: Arnold Kludas, Die Seeschiffe des Norddeutschen
         Lloyd, Bd. 1: 1857 bis 1919 (Herford: Koehler, c1991), p.
         30. Click to request a 
         larger copy of this
         scan.
         
         
 Passengers in steerage class did not enjoy great
         luxury but their accommodation was no long provisional. A
         minimum degree of hygiene was possible and with a
         considerably shorter crossing time of 8 days, the voyage no
         longer filled people with dread.
         
         
In steerage class there were iron bedsteads and space for
         796 adult passengers. Bathrooms and toilets were two floors
         up on the lower promenade deck. Meals were eaten in the
         cabins. The cabins were disinfected after every crossing and
         the mattresses changed. Since the bedsteads were not
         permanent fixtures, freight could also be taken on board on
         the return voyage to Europe.
         
         
 ( from :
         http://www.deutsche-auswanderer-datenbank.de/enships.htm#1)
         DAD, the emigrant ships.
      
      

         
 
         
         
 The express-steamer "ELBE" (1881-1895) 
         
         
The first express steamer of the Norddeutscher Lloyd, the
         "ELBE". This ship combined speed with comfort and was
         designed to give passengers in 1st and 2nd class
         considerably more space. The interior designer Johann G.
         Poppe was the first to realize the idea of a "floating
         luxury hotel".
         
         
At the beginning of the 1880s NDL was able to offer
         several departures a week on the "ELBE" and her sister
         ships, the most frequent and comfortable service between New
         York and the Continent. The "ELBE" was virtually always
         fully booked. She also went on three voyages to Australia.
         The "ELBE" sank following a collision with a British
         steamship in the North Sea in 1895. 332 people lost their
         lives.
         
         
Shipyard: John Elder & Co., Glasgow
         
         
Construction date: 1881
         
         
Use: Passenger ship
         
         
Type: Express steamer
         
         
Length: 127.46 meters
         
         
Width: 13.72 meters
         
         
Draft: 10.81 meters
         
         
Gross tonnage: 4,510 gross register tons
         
         
Passengers: 321 in 1st and 2nd class, 796 in steerage
         class
         
         
Present whereabouts: Sunk on 30th January 1885