While first-and second-calss passengers enjoyed the passage across the Atlantic on the upper decks conditions for the third class or steerage passengers in the
stuffy lower decks were terrible Some ships carried as many as 2000 steerage passengers in crowded and dirty conditions. in the early days the journey took six weeks although that was cut to two weeks by the mid-1950s. To pass the time immigrants played cards sang danced and talked. Some even practiced answering the inspectors questions and spent hours learning the new language