Document text
August 111,
William fele*, (Week)
13C West Yereytk-st•,
Net Gleaner and Nat
Sleeker,
OVA Si 0.4,
Jaoksenville, Morita.
Rose Shepherd, Writer.
26015
WILLIAM SILOS, SAT CLIANKR AND SLOCINR.
Gus Oempemes business wimples the double amide
et 130 west hawyth..0%.• aejoiniss the Seminole lists].
Olber hams is Pawl. Pronouneed "felleo," but the.
umerieens galled him *Pillars", "Failes", "Felix" and
"Piling" but everybody soul d remember "Gus" so that
is the name on the big sigm over the front .or, briniest
with colered electric light globes ut night.
Piro% there was "Old Gus" end "Young Gus," end. ilow
there is "Little Gus".
The Seminole hotel is one of the older hostelries
of Jaeksonvillie, with a steedy traveling dlientele. It
is also eopular as a dining taut gathering place for the
elder residents with retentive memories of its past glory,
and is nartieularly liked by smaller organisations of
women for dinners, banquets, and meetings, en &emu% of
its well appointed public reception rooms and its dining
servioe. You can eat all ever the rilacle.
Its adjoining building is a good location for Ous h Os.,
toe, and there is a Steady stream of transient customers
Gaming in for their shoes to be•ehined or repaired, or
old huts battered by traveling, to be roblocked and cleaned.
"Old Gus" established the business in 19010.
One, the son, short, bleak...eyed, with a fringe of
sleek bleak hair over his oars ant around his bolt pate 4..4-
William roles Oreek Rat Cleaner api alisksr is
nervously up and down, snapping his fingers to
gmlvaniso into esti** the small nee tors when o.ous-
tenor walks damn the polished aisle Ada SOIDSO 0110 of
the high shono-shine chairs with their metal foot rests;
darts to the **sib register to mete ()hangs for a ;departing
oustomorl turns the radio en to got a faverile masa,
and turns it off when the Wogel'ait is finished liks
be was saving gas the minute it is oven watehos the
two front doors, es he is the olfioial "greeter" ant
oontacts *auk customer ad he arrives and departs',
A complete shoo repair department easupios the entire
east aroado, aith noisy elocttioally-oporatot up...tip-date
machinery for all phases of the with, a row of chairs
lining the well for the persons who sit in steskingei*
feet while vaitin4 Xor minor repairs to their shoo*.
The west aroads is taxon up with the show -shins
stand acoommodating Venty peroons at a time, a very
exalting place aith this noire shine boys Jigging is time
to the eloctrio vietrola, usually blaring; away at tell
speed to drown out the nolo* of the heavy shoo repair'
machinori,
At the out of the amide is the hat department
"Cleaning And re-blooking at reamenable primps." in
the glass ease in trout of the end wall, tram floor to
°oiling are the hats big, 14ttio. Oath, light, felt,
straw, 1446140-- au array of fifty or mere, some ready
for delivery, ethers waiting for customers who forgot to
some beak.
William Poles 2.
Young Gus tives though the west aroade quickly naming a
pries for new soles mud straightening the raw -ever heels en a
psi: of brown and white oxfords, which a woman alighting trim
an automobile she h4.4 just parked at the earl', holds out gin-
gerly, inquiring, "Now onviih t*
Today he is followed by two youngster* one about ton
and the other twelve darting here and thole like ateuple
of flat-footed decoke. The third generation of hat*blookers,
shoe•repalrers, thee -shiners of the Pelee dynasty adapting
themselves to American methods.
"William Pelee gone to lunch. Hack in ttouty minutes."
salt Gue,the second. "You see him. Ws secrets* the
churoh, coed seholar. vsish I could help Av., but aolet
knew anything. He's mart. Be eau talk."
"How is your father,"
"Re sick, very sick men. Oases down to business ne
more. These two my boys. Big ono /us, the other Geerge."
Gus, the III, and ;mans George looked almost like twine,
and were dressed alike in tan shirts, khaki trousers, and
awaken on their feet. Their light brown tooled heals
beWAet a viewde*, and their bright brown woe sparkle& &boom
their sensitive mouths and pointed (shine. An elder sone
who had been operating the electric shmesseler, new joined
the interested company, wiping his hand on the leather apron
as he glanced erStioally at the upturned shoe in his left.
hand.
The "tueklings" almost as tall as Gus listened eager-
ly to a earsful explanation of the information desired, the
shoe repairer started the miler, ant Qua 11 halSyelled to
"illiam Palos
make himself heard ahoy* the din the mushinory„ the
elsatria viotrela grinding out a "het -she to whiok the
negro shoeshine toys wore keeping time with their polithia,
rags, saphasising the loud swells with a doable simpity-
snappiti-sump-ausp, the twe big eloatrie fans whirring
lug
steadily and noisily at the selling as their ift revolving
blados fennel the air heavy with the *der of biasing', leather,
banenna oil and polish "You come baok at 2180. 1 till
him „ea some."
At 200 William Poles had Minima from lumsh, and with
A
log sensitive fingers was earefully prossing ints shape a
bias sweatband to be sewed into the lovably °leaned Panama
hat upon the long glass showcase bask of whisk he 0444
ut the end of the shoe -shining department.
He is a tall man, with a strikingly handsome Safe,
fine-grained fair skin, wavy iron -gray hair worn in a pompa-
dour, und light brown eyes. He was tressit in gray trousers
and blue and white striped shirt, with ataxic blue silk tie.
"I am sorry busy new. Nabs you could ems beak 4,
•fear? I be through then." He speaks etowly„ measuring his
words, with a slight drawl through teith oleos together, and
a slew friendly smile..
At four etolook uilliam Pelee had finlike& his work
for the day. With the early edition of the Jaukonvillo
!Marna spread out before his on the giaesstoppai ease,
new alienet of its smear ofibbito polish, the bemoan* soaked
rags, and. the .ehamois akin finisher, he was aiming ever the
spirt
willies Poles
II been nere, right here in Jackeenville,twenty-five
years, My home in L -e -o -n -t -a -v..1 -o -n"-- Mr. Pelee carefully
spelled out the name, at the sane time printing it on scratek
pad in eareaully formed square letters.
"It is a email country village in the provinoa if
Amalie*, near the seaport of parts, in P-e-l-g-P-i-A-1-11-1041
he again resorted to the seratch
"Xi father W44 a farmer. I startet to sok0,411 whom
was six and graduated when I was fifteen, that is fres
high sohool. I had to walk a long maim— took an heir
to go and oome. But I was glad., bonitos* I liked to go to
seheel.
"I learned reading and writing, and to figure in the
gramma', 'wheels. All children go boys and girls, togeth-
er but in high **heel the towe end girls go 'separate,
have different rooms and different teachers all men teaoha.
ere, though, and very straight (strict).
"In high school i etudy geometry, algebra, ealculatiest,
Honer, ammo the Greek ()lassies. For languages we took
up Latin, tipanioh, /rend', German, Greek, and sachem 'ancient)
Cireek"- again the *watch pad. It was difficult to under-
stand his low vole. amid the din of the busy Aso', but he
was very patient, and anxious that avIrything should be
put down 3orreetly.
"The anehen 4reek you know like the tine of Christ.
It is itinerant, Just like pure lEnglish, and Anglish mixed
with Amerlean along but like Hamer wrote the Weems"
kg gulled it Vidivighme,"
kilhia 2010* I.
*I 10v* Hems:. Jut test of Al I liked aft:4111001y.*
He prenounood it as if it were spell**. "akotrono-o-m0.
'You know, in arises* ars such lovely blue skies at
night, aud 'Cho stars so ulooe you oun almost reseh out
and touuk them. It is like that hero, aometimes when
there is no fog. But 1 Aw't go on hore, 1 find nobody
int3rested to toauh me ubout the eta". I have my books, yos,
but one gets tired trying to figure things out 19, himself.
"Do you have u telescope,"
"Ns telesoope, but u vlry goodtiold glass. It is per..
foot. I make my °harts ..nd wstub tha °hinges in this evening
au& noran4 stars, tha rising 4Azia 'amino; oonatellatione
but it is all so wondurful, a nevers.ending study.
"I finished sehool in 1914. My father was verg 40117,
and no. long to live, and when my uousin Gus in the doer,
winter
there an to -one in the IMMOU of 1914, my (other sayd
'You, go buuk to Amerioun A.th las. You hove bettor shone*
there. Bormany, Italy, the big powerful nations of &swops
will soon swallow up the emullor mountries and Grose*,
the great 3reeos of olden times, of 2erioles, Oloores Homer,
Pythagoras will ba no mole* just target for bullets,
or Willa: for the big war °wahine.'
"Young aux one on to the old village and visited
a wLilo vith us, and on ilanaury 26, 1914, we sailed from
the port of ?straw, on the nnglish 4. S. yranosnia.
"You woo, Grosse had boon embroiled in the war in the
Balkans in 1912 seemed liko tharo was always troika.* in
William Piles G.
the Balkans
end .rOat many yenng Greeks in the United
tnates same ever to help eut the mother country.
"Ne, they were not obliged to they just velunteered,
but the trouble was soon ever, uni they ull returned. Than
when it seemed there would be u general war in Rums, uobea
know what would hwopeu to flreeos„ zo my father thought it hot-
ter for mo to Jen o with young ans.
"Old Gus, that is, my unals is wir father's brother,
and his health not so good, (tither, so he thought* young
man like me would b t help in the business, and here I am.
"we were about ten .days °tossing the _Atlantic. We
landed in Bel% York City, ,And, oume right to Jacksonville.
That wue in 1Pebruary, 1914.
ILA 4 time learnin4 the language I still get
sti,ok onus in 4 while he laughed. "1 oan still speak
Proneh pretty good, but have forgotten the Latin wit German.
1 read bhe Greek, of (wares, but I have not kept up with
the magazines or pal:we al* tho old .„ountry. I did have a
lot of books 4 brought ov4r and pletures I ,Leh I had them
now, you iould enjoy loukin t them, but they are all mons
lest in a fire that burned my home four yours age.
"1 have bought ethor books, but they are American book,
and as mu4Y as I could ,.....ford on ustronemy.
"Where I oume from the people lead a very simple life.
The farmers my father was farmer, he diet long ago
raised most of their foetstuff. Womiorful beans, okra
garrets, cabbages, potatoes all wow nice in the fertile
valley of the Daphne River.
William Palos 7.
"There was alwaws plenty to sat. Bleak bread no
low-veetaleety white bread like the Amerleans use se mudh:"
By this time it was arparent that William Paw intonations
were of the throaty, alone -lipped ()reek, but his aeoent was
decidedly Yrenah.
"Mush melons they hadS Like this (he measured off
two ft with hi u hands and fingers far apart) but big and
round like your watermelon. They tests like the honey dew,
but are larger ttenty-five to forty-tive pounds. They
ship them to nsurivi countries, whore they are greatly relish-
ed.
"We did not have much moat, but it was freshly killed,
twioe 4 waek. Ua pork. But plenty fish and geateed. Lots
of fruit. The elimate in the valley is warm, like here,
but not so much rain. There were oranges, lemons, limes,
and en the hillsides, lire vineyards of grapes.
"Averyboi4 drunk wine, mostly sour wino you woult
probably say veenegar but it was more healthy than water.
There wore no sewer 'veteran, no sanitary net mugh ounce-
tation. It was not possible, on mac:count of the floods when
the mountain emirs melted in the spring and the Daphne rushed
all ev)r the valley. It ',bald have torn out sewers.
"Thu lountry people had wells and mountain springs, the
water cold taut -ood, but they did not drink it. Mt wator in
Greco. for drinking, only wine. The water used for bathing
and washing.
"The Greoian women Lid their own we* we hove no
blacks there and cooked good meals for their tkAiilles„
willism Polls S.
seasoned with the green peppers, gmrlio, looks, and nips
big sweet onions. They did the fmmily waehing, tee. one
times beating the clethee on the flat rouke at the mounteks
streams they were all about. There are no lanntries there,
and stiff, staruhed collars.
"The farmer, raised eheep, out the wool, which the
women welshed snow white and °girded and spun lute yarn,
weaving it into clothing for the men ant boye, with 34
eottens lixe you say, prints for the women and
girls.
Its stopped talking, reaehing behin4 into the tall
ghass-fronted ease with its many shelves, and removed a
Poinwsu hat the seine one he had been preparing the taint
for earlier in the afternoon. A woman, v4th a ton -year
old Rill hud enterod the areade and was urproadhing the
hat counter.
"My; It looks like now, she oommented.
William Moe said not a. wort, but he hamellabemw
handed him a five dollar bill, he toucshod a boll on the (moun-
ter, at vhich Gus =slid up, gratLed the hill, with the
stub the woman h.d produoed, and whirled himself to the
°ash register who ,;11.6 11 wk40 already stationed, in an-
ticipation, handed out the eorroot °hangs, which Gus III
eovered with nis two small handse'and slid back to the
hat counter. The woman etufiJd the money into a small
ohan4e purse.
Oblivious to her surroundings, she plaeed six small
purehases from the ten-eont store on the (muster.
"Give me an extra bag," Os smialist.A. Silently
willies Fells 10.
the slim, strong hands fade' another green "Gus 6 Os.
Rat Cleaners ant Slackers' bag in the mildie dont slipped
it into the other beg with the hat.
"Let as see if Igget all ny (shames." she emptiet her
purse on the counter, and mentally scants& up the *hang,
she should have as she removed the salefuslips fres the
numerous bundles. "Virginia, you get the bustle with the
baby's rubbor pants?"
"Yes, m-a-a-ala," trawled( Virginia, her left elbow
on the counter, as she testa& her small.baok tired toms
mash trotting exeunt with adult *bopping, her loft foot
tapping out the rhythm of the elootrie victrela, as she
watohot the shoe -shine boys jigging bmak and forth.
"And the safety -pins?"
*Uh7huh."
"Well, I guess everything'• hero. 114aCh was the hat?"
hilently willies Poles produced the &wiliest* of the
numbered claim alma plainly marked in large figures
111.2b.
Out same t:e tills &gain dUlt all the small shamss en
the counter. She wont sarefully over it all, counting out
lout. "Usk. Oeme en, Virginia."
William Pelee slowly closed the ease.
"Did you think she had a right to the extra Illarr
noh, it's all right. She wanted that to put the baby
pants, the safety -pins, the buttons and snappers, the
*an opener, and the new stopper for the bath -tub that she
hat bought at tresses. Nut Virginia will early one bag,
willies Solos 10.
probably the one with the hat, as it is lighter than the
ether one, and the mother will earry the one stuffed with
the smaller Wadies. Ome è 0o. in big letters six inches
to the other riders in the bis
on the outside will advertise our lousiness' ant When she gets
home the neighbors will say 'Just saw Mrs. Se -and -se sone
in with two hats from Gus's. I did not knew her old man
had two sumaJr hats.'
He smiled his slow smile, and his grave oyes twinkled
at the thought of the double advertisimg.
"You want to knew about the Sparten lam/ Well, it
is an old. as yoeu way, the hills I do not knew when it
started. Jut the Greeks, you know,in the olden times spent
nuoh tine in developing a fine, graoeful body. It was part
of their daily life for Gents:Les a poor body was a &W.
Sines. *hen a baby was born deformed or crippled, the w-
rests were informed; it beoams the ward, so to say, of the
community, the tooter had oharge of it for a year in the
almost.. The parents mould one and see it, and the tooter
tried everything, her know to eeriest the condition, but at
the end of a year, if it was no better, and the tooter felt
be had done all he possibly ',outdo the baby was destroyed
thrown in the river.
"A alba low? Perhaps. But we have always hat bad laws.
Thor. was the ulnas law where the girl babies wore drowned
in the Ganges they did not want girt babies, only bey
boldss for the wars. Then there was Xeredis law at the
time of Christ when the boy babies were ordered killed,. no
have net *hanged, mash, when it somas to *guilty. Jew we
killiem elea 31.
build planes that drop bombs, and suns that shoot two
hundred miles net to kill pests or carry on seanterce,
but to kill pieple„ inneoint pleas, and aim, )40wmg son
in the world's armies, who never harmed a thing larger
than a flea all for what, To keep up the nation's bonori
"Will, the nest disease we have tn Grosse is the terrible
malaria. I used to have it *itch summit. Ivory ether day,
°hills gad fever, all dgy long, until I get so weak I °could
hardly stand."
*Weren't you afraid of being threW6 in the river,"
"No," he laughed. *But after I finish whoa, father
think I better ease to Amerioa with young Gus.
*I'll never forget the trip. The Blue Mediterranean,
teuehing at the age-old seaports Palermo, Oorfu, Marseilles,
Bareelenaoin Spain Valenoia, Garthagenis„ Malaga new
stripped of their historie buildings, their people killed
by shells and bombs in the oivil war all for whit?
Political prestige! I an glad I saw them in their alt
settings of bpenish (metes and beauty. It took a long
time, it seemed, before we got to the Atlautio.
"Semi of our people suffer in the homeland from tuberou.
lesis„ the sans as everywhere jut like here but' it is
net prevalent. They go up in the mountains and sometimes
live a long tiam on °hoes* and goat's silks sour wine and
kart bleak bread.
*Per the melaria the tooter gives us a bitter netioine.
William Poles 12.
I de net know if it is quineens 4-- but it is bitter, yes,
and helps with the fevers"
Is had stopped talking as his eyes fixed themselves up*
en a bare-headei man slowly appreeeking the hrt'oounter,
his mowr"wlim$4041 Wow PMOring forth from behind sold fashm.
lone& gold-rinno4 glum. his gray hair parted primly all
the way book in the smut °enters
Calmly aillian Poles reashed bask into the saes an&
brought forth a ydllowed Panama.
"Looks like new. How mob/ queried the customer,
as he rammed the hat on his heads
Silently the tioiset was presented 'Ws The man
preaused a dollar bill, William Palos" hand sou.* the
aounter..bell„ and this tine George the younger
skated up, slitting the last two feet, grabbed the dellar
hill, and in double-quiok slid beak with a quarters
everything about Gum Company's moves to the tam,
of the fast -playing aleotrio viejirola that is, everything
but Demetrios, the shee-repairer with his roving, ex -like
eyes, his mouth full of tasks, his hands neehaniselly driv-
ing a half sole on the rown and white oxfords; ami William
Poles, the soholar, with the far -away look in his reeve eyes
and his nine en the stars.
"I have not told you about the wino? Lots of it they
sake, all kinds, the cane an 3tare port, olarst, Sherry,
nuesatels In the sour sine they put resin, in foot in
most of the wine thay do this. It makes it smooth 411
*ay, and gives it a tang that is goods
willies Solos
"The par I sans sway, on. of the oaf** in sparta
ordered five hundred. gallons wine from our meigthorhood
difforont kinds which was delivered to him and pissed
in the long cellar dug in the rooks and seal, deep under
his plaos of business.
Another bars-heatod old gontlenen Game in, and silontly
willies reauhod behind in his Justonaxy gesture and this
tins brought forth a °loan, stiffened brown loghorn.
"Just like new. Here's a dollar."
Gus rallitherod up in hie soft sneakers, oonfisoatod
the bill and handed it to his father, she rang it up on
the oash register with a loud *latter.
"The man hat no -*saloon. Do you over get then nixed,
and ',Ivo out the wrong derby?"
willian lolos laughed. "Not this man, hes old friend.
And the hat, too. I clean it so lifts*, pretty soon I should
own it. I would knov, that hat if I nest it in the middlo of
Forsyth and Broad ltrots."
"When I was a toy," he plaited up the thread of his
story, 'the farming iu our section ik‘s earned **with
oxen, and mostly wooden plowse with steel or metal sham,.
Horses Gould not twist around tho reeks. Meyer could they
use %ranters. Now thoy—havo steel plows. Bat moot of
the fields are small, on the *die of teen, net whole mo-
tions of land like hre five or six hundred sores. Just
little fields, of a bleak or nor., mad lots of it oultivated
like gardens by hand, with hoes and rakes.
Piles 14.
In snorter to direot question the said,
"'hero are -very few Greeks in Asia Miner new. Wore
1,22 it tas seventy-five peCsent Greeks, but after the
uprising in 1922, they meetly leave, swatter out different
place. Just few there now in business.
"I forgot to tell 7011 about the University. In, Athens
there is tha 0;reat governnent-owned .631as University, where
they teaoh all tho soioupos, law and medico. It is kw's*
the world over, &aid has existed ier oenturies. It is grout
to be Ixaduats from there."
"But you like it here you are satisfied?"
"Oh, yes, yes! American 14 the greatest oountry ant
the rialtos* country in tho world today. The old sapitel-
eestis (he deliberated en the pronunoiation) mourn is
passing. They once efted the laboring Malan& the meohanios,
but no more. The working man the forget man is new
coming into his win. livery MAU should be honored for what
hi oan de if a hat man like nyseLf, it he is expert'
he should be honored the some as a dootor or lawyer. The
some with a restaurant man, a shoemaker like Demetrios,
or a ditohi.digger.
"I think President Reesevelt is the greatest um of
my yours of my lifetime well, what I mean to say is
of this day wiiit age. Re tries to help everybody. His
ideas geed, but sometimes the politeoshians prevent them
to be oarried out, There is sikuu4s in Anomie" that awful
graft! like to see honest men in oftiee, men not afraid
to hold up their heads, and not always with their hands be-
hind them looking for oontributions•
Wi4lian Yale lb.
*And Ship gambling* That is imerioals ouroo. I talk
to these my young cousins, and I soy 'Gus aud George,
dent stort to gullible. It will ruin you.'
rfou se. 1* at country them, is the National Lottory.
If you wish to gentle„ that is your eon basins's, bat it
suet be a000rding to lei, mad everybody gets a little
motto, only o niskelis worth, tut something.
"The money over there? It is a unit called the
dramatise liks the French franc. No, it does not go like
the doemonawl (doolmal) but liks this" he wroto en the
scratch pad ono, two, five, ten, twontrlivo„ fifty, 1
one hundred two hundred, mud so en, *pads five thousand,
ten thousand any amount.
The value is around five cents in ow money.
No, I have no family. I woo married in 1930, but
separate in 1943. Ny wife elms an imprioan girl, but
he threw his hands paln upward, in a /Womb gesture of
dispair "it was no good.. "anorieau girls not likm the
Grecian, 011 tor the home. They want to go plum's, to
things, hos* cosnManyg non, toe, and no quastions asked.
The mum --it demi no ass to argue with then, tat SOf
what you expect they have all the wavers, at least
all tho good *nos, mad a man gets no change. It is noun,
money ail the tine."
"Do you always knock off at four
"'amok off? The, mostly i be through by that tins.
I work hors possibly five hours a Lay you soo, I mn
soeretary of tho *harsh the Orthodox Greek Community
hero-- and in the morning 1 de that work, write *Attire,
William pole. 16
keep tab on the three kindred and fifty Greeks in this
looality, and help the priest, Rev. Alias tkipitares„
with his work.
"Mr. Georges L. Stkatkis is the President of the
board, end we hove five other erasers besides ourselves.
"You may say that ninety out of every ens hundred
Greeks in Americo*, ore naturalise& Mariam sitisens. their
are peaceful, law-abiding people, mostly in business fez'
themselves email businesses like fruit ant sandy stores,
grooeries, restaurants, ant shops like this. They are
quick to adapt themselves to your waysItere, ani arc meet
anxious to bring up the eomi4g generation as full-flotget
Amerloanos
"I am a Demeerse, and vets at the regular amnions
like other nor/Liam.. We pay our *hero of tamp, ant
our minds are easy. We see not afraid of being eallot
scamps or trioksters."
MT. %Lilian Poles was folding up his evening paper.
preparatory to departure, as if this was all he had t•
tall. It was five eelsok. in the hour, Gus =ant
young George had made six trips for him to the sash register,
totaling a eentribution from his department of the sum of
net bag for one hour!
"Rave you ever been to Miami!"
"No, I have not travel mush in 'Lerida."
"The University of Miami teaches astronomy mat they
have a email observatory there."
William Palos 17.
"VW" Hie face lighted up onthuslastioally. "NM*,
*ems CA4 4 tako time off au& go there. It would be west
to view the awathern Gress thraagh u good teloseopo.°
And so if the idea takes root William /aloe,
Greek.Amorioan °Maim of Jacksonville, Florida, may some
day add to his knowledge of u-h-s-t-r-sia-m-e-m-o-0.