What is a steerage compartment?

Passenger accommodations “In some ships, the second-class passengers are called steerage passengers. The admiral’s cabin on the middle deck of three-deckers has been called the steerage.” The steerage area of the ship was once used to accommodate passengers, often placing hundreds together in a single large hold.

What was steerage like for immigrants?

Conditions varied from ship to ship, but steerage was normally crowded, dark, and damp. Limited sanitation and stormy seas often combined to make it dirty and foul-smelling, too. Rats, insects, and disease were common problems.

How much did a boat ticket cost in the 1800s?

Even though the average cost of a ticket was only $30, larger ships could hold from 1,500 to 2,000 immigrants, netting a profit of $45,000 to $60,000 for a single, one-way voyage. The cost to feed a single immigrant was only about 60 cents a day!

What did steerage immigrants eat?

What did steerage immigrants eat? Food and diet Live sheep, pigs and poultry were carried and killed periodically to provide fresh meat for the cabin passengers’ table, where fresh milk was also served. Those in steerage survived on salted and preserved meat, ship’s biscuit, flour, oatmeal and dried potatoes.

Where are the steerage passengers on a ship?

Steerage Passengers – Emigrants Between Decks. The “steerage”, or between-deck, often shortened to “tween-deck”, was originally the deck immediately below the main deck of a sailing ship. (Norw: Mellomdekk or Mellemdekk) In the early days of emigration the ships used to convey the emigrants were originally built for carrying cargo.

What was steerage like?

Steerage is the lower deck of a ship, where the cargo is stored above the closed hold. In the late 19th and early 20th century, steamship steerage decks were used to provide the lowest cost and lowest class of travel, such as for European immigrants to North America and Chinese emigrants .

What was the definition of steerage passenger in 1882?

In the United States Passenger act of 1882 the definition of “steerage passengers” is quite clearly defined as:

What’s the difference between second cabin and steerage?

In the second cabin the food is excellent, is partaken of in a luxuriantly appointed dining-room, is well cooked and well served; while in the steerage the unsavory rations are not served, but doled out, with less courtesy than one would find in a charity soup kitchen. The steerage ought to be and could be abolished by law […]