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247
Occupation of Aliens in Finsbury.—A glance at the
above table will suggest something of the occupation of the Italians in
the Borough. Between forty and fifty per cent, of the Italians now
in Finsbury hail from the province immediately around Naples. In
the main it may be said that the immigrants from this district are
engaged in Finsbury in ice-cream work, organ-playing, and miscellaneous
occupations. The second district sending,most Italians to
Finsbury is that around Piacenza and Parma, which provides twentysix
per cent, of the total. These places are situated in Emilia, on
the railway between Milan and Bologna, north of the Apennines.
Their occupation in London is mostly as asphalters, paviors, and
mosaic-floor workers. The district just south of the Apennines—
Massa-Carrara and Lucca, in Tuscany—sends many of the plastermodel
makers and the masons. The distribution of the various
Italians when they arrive in Finsbury is characteristic. They club
together according to occupation.
In January, 1903, we found that the occupations of the Italians
then in Finsbury (numbering some 705 adults) were distributed as
follows:—