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The CHAIRMAN. | Will you give your name to the reporter, please? | Mrs. ARANA. | Mrs. Antonia Arana, 1599 Madison Avenue, New York. | The CHAIRMAN. | Are you married? | Mrs. ARANA. | Yes. | The CHAIRMAN. | Any children? | Mrs. ARANA. | Three children. | The CHAIRMAN. | And your husband is working, is he? | Mrs. ARANA. | He is working now. | The CHAIRMAN. | What is he doing? | Mrs. ARANA. | He is working in the country. | The CHAIRMAN. | When did you come from Puerto Rico? | Mrs. ARANA. | In October--October 1, 1939. |
| REASON FOR MIGRATION TO UNITED STATESThe CHAIRMAN. | What did your husband do when he first came to the United States? What did he do then; what work? | Mrs. ARANA. | In Puerto Rico he was working as a fireman in the railroad company; as a fireman. | The CHAIRMAN. | Has he worked at that job ever since? | Mrs. ARANA. | He was working there. | The CHAIRMAN. | How much was he making? | Mrs. ARANA. | $50 a month. | The CHAIRMAN. | How did you happen to come here to this country? | Mrs. ARANA. | Well, he sent me money and gave me a passage first. | The CHAIRMAN. | I did not understand. | Mrs. ARANA. | My husband gave me some money and sent me over with the children, and then he came after, 1 month after. | The CHAIRMAN. | Who did you live with here? | Mrs. ARANA. | With my mother and sister. | The CHAIRMAN. | Did they write and tell you that this was a good country and you could get a job here? | Mrs. ARANA. | Yes. | The CHAIRMAN. | Then what did your husband do? He is working on a farm? |
| LIVING CONDITIONS IN NEW YORKMrs. ARANA. | He is working in a club in the country, as a dishwasher. | The CHAIRMAN. | How much is he making now? | Mrs. ARANA. | $11 or $12 a week. | The CHAIRMAN. | $12 a week? | Mrs. ARANA. | Yes. | Mr. SPARKMAN. | Why did he quit the job in Puerto Rico? | Mrs. ARANA. | Because I became tired of the living conditions in Puerto Rico, living so poorly, and so, since I got these letters from my family telling me about things over here, I decided to come here and make some headway. | Mr. SPARKMAN. | Your husband is making about the same money here that he made there. Can you live as well here as you could there? | Mrs. ARANA. | But my sister works also, and the money she earns is spent on the family. With the additional salary of a sister working, making another $12 a week, that combines and makes the household income more. | Mr. SPARKMAN. | You all live together as one household? | Mrs. ARANA. | Yes, sir. | Mr. OSMERS. | May I ask how much it cost to bring you and your three children here? | Mrs. ARANA. | Well, my passage--I had half tickets for both children--and that is one passage for the children and one for me; that is $57 altogether. | The CHAIRMAN. | Any other questions? | Mr. PARSONS. | Are you working yourself? | Mrs. ARANA. | Not now. |
Mr. PARSONS. | Had you been trained in any particular work in the island before you came here? | Mrs. ARANA. | No. | Mr. PARSONS. | You are listed here as a textile finisher. | Mrs. ARANA. | I worked 2 or 3 days in a week, and that is all. | Mr. PARSONS. | How much did you make per week? | Mrs. ARANA. | Well, I'd say I used to work 2 or 3 days a week at $1 a day. | Mr. PARSONS. | About how many days, average days, in a year, did you work, receiving $1 a day? | Mrs. ARANA. | I do not understand your question. | Mr. PARSONS. | How many days a month did you average working in the island before you came to the mainland? | Mrs. ARANA. | That answer was wrong; I meant here. I did not work in the island at all. I got married immediately after graduation from school. | Mr. PARSONS. | Where did you learn the textile finishing? | Mrs. ARANA. | Here in this country. | Mr. PARSONS. | Since you came here? | Mrs. ARANA. | Yes. | Mr. PARSONS. | You had no experience in the island before you came? | Mrs. ARANA. | No, sir. Finishing does not require much experience. |
| LIVING CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICOMr. PARSONS. | What were your living conditions in the island when you say your husband was making $50 per month? | Mrs. ARANA. | Well, the salary he was making was spent for food and we had just two rooms and no furniture of any kind and the condition and everything was dreary and shabby and having been a high-school graduate I had better notions of living. | Mr. PARSONS. | Well, with the standard of living existing as low as it did, in the island, I should think that $50 a month would be the equivalent of at least $100 or more per month here; is that true? | Mrs. ARANA. | No; that is not true. Prices are almost on the same level, if not higher, because the man pays there $15 for a suit of clothes, and it is so bad that it tears away in 6 months, and if he came to New York and paid $22 or $22.50 it might stand 2 years, so practically they are paying three times the price here. |
(Whereupon the witness was excused.)
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