In New York, as in Liverpool, immigrants had to contend with the runners who awaited their arrival in packs. They were there to help immigrants with their baggage or to direct them to particular hotels, eating places, and boarding houses. Their methods were as rough as their appearance. When the opportunity presented itself, they stole luggage from the quay; or they might carry an immigrant's bundles to a boarding-house against his protests and extort a fee for doing so. From the boarding house keeper they took a further cut and they were always ready to sell railway or canal tickets that might be forged or double the normal fare.
