You never know what you will find when you start rooting about in old newspapers. I came across this beautifully written piece quite by chance. I was looking for details of a ship that brought Yellow Fever to Swansea and instead found in The Cambrian a story about a ship taking German and Jewish emigrants to America. It is absolutely fascinating.The story comes from July 1882 when The Polaria docked in Swansea.The ship had been launched on the Tyne in the north of England by Mitchell and Co. in February that year for the Carr line of Hamburg. It was 300 feet long, 38 feet wide, with one funnel and two masts. It was built of iron, with a speed of 10 knots. It had been specifically designed for the emigrant service between Hamburg and New York and had accommodation for 1100 passengers. The company was contracted to carry 18,000 people over the subsequent six months and The Polaria was an important part of the huge fleet populating America. Crossings normally took between 17 and 19 days. This was its second trip, the maiden voyage docking in New York on 15 May 1882.Swansea has always been a busy port and sailors from all over the world have always come ashore, but it was unusual to see foreigners in such large numbers as this. Early on Monday morning the passengers from the ship were suddenly on the streets, no doubt grateful to feel the solid ground beneath them for a while. They still had a way to go, across the Atlantic. Few of them would ever have travelled this far before.The Polaria was docked for three days, during which time it became the object of the highest interest on the part of the local community. It was a drama from another world with 731 characters, which had called briefly into Swansea to pick up tin plate and coal from Wenallt and Resolven collieries.The paper tells us that he majority were Germans from various areas of the newly constituted but not as yet well consolidated German Empire. Whilst the cargo was being loaded, the passengers became a local curiosity. They were, we are told, stared at and joked about by the small minded and the thoughtless idlers which is very reminiscent of Shakespeares Merchant of Venice where all the boys in Venice follow Shylock and laugh at him. Certainly, Swansea has never been the most cosmopolitan of places. Soon the locals gathered at the docks for a closer look and many were taken on a tour of the ship, as if it were some kind of entertainment.The ship is described as a small town, with a most diverse population. There were nearly 200 Russian and Polish Jews from the troubled dominions of the Czar where they had been cruelly treated. They are of a very degraded standard dressed in rags. Their faces and hands would be all the more seemly for a freer use of the soap and water which are so liberally supplied on board ship. Their fares were paid by international relief committees, which seem to suggest to the reporter that he can treat them as curiosities.The newspaper adopts a rather superior tone throughout, with a curious mix of sympathy and outrageous prejudice. The odours that ascend from their quarters are not of the sweetest kind. The writer was not at all troubled by the sort of restrictions we have today and at times there is an awful cruelty in some of the things that are written. He is confident that no one will see anything improper in what he says. He tells us that the Jewish emigrants may not be as poor as they look, he writes about the Semitic type in their physiognomy and their peculiar genius for petty bargaining and money changing.The reporter is more comfortable with the Germans, who are respectable working class, clean in habits. They paid about 5 for their passage, though 140 of them had tickets pre-paid by family and friends who had already made the journey. There were new passengers as well, for two children were born, one off Mumbles Head and the second whilst the ship was in dock.Thousands of people gathered to see the departure of The Polaria at 9.00pm on Wednesday. It was apparently a touching sight. The poorer spectators allegedly expressed their wish to join the emigrants. 30 men went to the captain and offered to work their passage. 50 loafers and would-be stowaways were found and sent back in the steam tug. Is any of this true? It is hard to say. The reporter adopts a narrative style throughout and perhaps such details just helped to make it a good story.The article ends with some reflections on emigration and how it is most successful when families and neighbour hoods go together. There is no loneliness, no misery save through the unavoidable accidents of life. For this reason he appears to be encouraging entire Irish villages to relocate across the Atlantic.Sadly I have been unable to find the passenger list for this particular voyage. However, the list for the maiden voyage of The Polaria which docked in New York on 15 May 1882 is available on-line and it brings all the stories about emigration to life. You can see whole families desperate to improve themselves. They uprooted themselves completely and headed into the unknown. For them it was a new beginning in the New World.Back in the Old World boys still laughed at strangers in the street.You will find a longer version of this piece, containing additional information, on my website - www.storiesinwelshstone.co.uk.You will find it in the Shorter Tales section.