At a quarter to ten we steamed for Ellis
Island. We were then marched to another
ferry-boat, and expected to be transported
somewhere else, but this second vessel was
simply a floating waiting-room. We were
crushed and almost suffocated upon it. A hot
sun beat upon its wooden roof; the windows
in the sides were fixed; we could not move an
inch from the places where we were
awkwardly standing, for the boxes and
baskets were so thick about our feet; babies
kept crying sadly, and irritated emigrants
swore at the sound of them. All were
thinking-"Shall I get through?"
Intro
Based on this immigrant's description, what did
most immigrants worry about most?