The letters from the first emigrants announced to their friends the favorable conditions of the labor market abroad, and especially in the United States. A rush of emigrants followed immediately. Soon the good news was confirmed by returning emigrants, with "fortunes" of a few hundred dollars. Since then the stream of immigration continued with two interruptions caused by the two great industrial crises of 1893 and 1907. Most of those from Fallascoso passed thru Ellis Island, New York and the Port of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on their way to the United States. Others went on to Canada, South America and other parts of the world in search of better way of life. The official statistics of Italian immigration into the United States, from 1831 to 1908, are given below. It should be remembered, however, that the figures previous to 1890 are not so accurate as those for the succeeding years.

Immigration Statistics from Italy to the USA.

1831-1870:   25,082 immigrants
1870-1880:   55,759
1880-1890: 307,309

1890:     52,093
1891:     76,055
1892:     62,137
1893:     72,916
1894:     43,967
1895:     36,961
1896:     68,060
1897:     59,431
1898:     58,613
1899:     77,419
1900:    100,135
1901:    135,996
1902:    178,375
1903:    230,622
1904:    193,296
1905:    221,479
1906:    273,120
1907:    285,731
1908:    128,503

Total: 2,743,059

Between 1821 and 1850 the Italian immigration into the United States amounted to 4531. Since then the figures by decades are as follows:

1851-1860:        9,231 immigrants
1861-1870:      11,728
1871-1880:      55,759
1881-1890:    307,309
1891-1900:    651,899
1901-1908: 1,647,102

It should be borne in mind, however, that a large number of immigrants returned to Italy, and therefore, in the official statistics, some immigrants are necessarily counted twice and even three times. Statistics have not been compiled of the number of immigrants returning to Italy, but from what has been obtained during the last few years when more attention has been given to this important phenomenon, it is safe to say that almost one million of the Italians counted in the general total of immigrants into the United States have returned to Italy. Their number, however, is perhaps more than made up by the children of Italian parentage born in the United States. On account of the peculiar environment of the Italian quarters of the great cities, many of these American-born Italians may be considered as Italian rather than American. The number of the Italians in the United States at the beginning of the year 1910 can therefore be roughly estimated at about 2,250,000.

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