Annie - a first class passenger reads a letter from her brother in New York - in which he says he has opened a shop - things are going well . He workd til 10pm each day and is thinking of expanding - and invites her and her family to join him . She and her husband are owed a lot of money in her New Ross shop . The people cant pay - beacuse they have no money - so they decide to leave New Ross and try their luck in the New World .