Document text
Jell.' Lyndh
CSCU20.1._ ,_ssietant„ Jr,
:rederal ,riters' Project
T",,T. TOOL ,7•IIIITITIZ
it was a dingy, bleak., disordered room, sp
furnished, uninviting save for the rich sunligt which
f4ltuned throuh the unwashec
Ine0i715•
ere 0a:-.1 unfolded
:lie story between heavy notions of grappa. "(:u.re, I know
you're all rir,Irt or I wouldn't tell you a thin',. Lut if
you over try to .oUble-crotas m an this, well, you know
what's comin,r.; to you eh? •Lith assurances that I knew
what voull'1 be conin('* to 2c and that no double-cross was
possible, he began: "Ne, Iriu citizen anyway, so it
don't -1.1s,he no difference.
41.111
so I've seen a lot of this
7runite business. In the sheds, =say. 1.here it comes
direct from the quarry. IT°. I don't go no the quarries,
never have. I ot anouch of it, right here, in the sheds.
•Ivo wor:7ed in lots of 'an. They mark than and sot them
In the sheds. L. man lines the stone up for the surface
cuttin47 madhinc, either for the polisher or the hammerer,
they make a joint on it arid it's most all reel: face stuff.
:er? I was born in Italy. tin -Tic lave with y.7y
narents jijOfl I war younf:T. Yes yes, t:ey wort Iluch bettor
off in Italy but they had children over :lore vho wanted
then to co7m over Tiore and live. 7.7y brothers the -,7 were
and they worked here, here vau let,, of tall: over in Italy
about all the money they made over in 1.nerIca. Lind all
they talked about was the zioney here and the groat things
connected vith thi c
.old they mentioned a lot,
19853
That was attractive. That
them come too, L3ut they
lived in a. beautiful country. rountains and lakes and
flowers and all that surroundinc. The lakes were pretty.
Deep bine waters and hills everywIlere near them. rabbi:nos
in the fields and all our gardens. I'm going back for sure.
In 1042. :To, no. Uot to stay, 37.1st a visit. And soe my
old hone and the kids I used to play with and all the people
of the town I knew. big celebration in Lome, you know,
like the eorld's Pair in :;ev York. Maybe it's a world's
fair t'nere. but everybody's going. iy friends from here.
.1.1 of them. You can came with us and I'll introduce you
to Italy. Go to 1"ome. You should see home. You'' like it
very much. The old buildin7s, the streets, the customs of
the people and the dress and calety. Come with :1]e and stay
in Florence. That's where you'll learn Italian. The northern
part is what I like, The southern part it is not co good as
the north. The north is the best. I came from the north.
Lisuschlo, the province of Como. That's the place the
royalty of urope went for honeymoons and vacations.
yes. It is beautiful indeed. You've heart) of Lake Gomo.
C:f course.
beauty. It is lasting, up here (InC icatin the head) and so
we want to co back for a little while and see it. vorybody
like to sec ..lometown once rlaybe in life, after he leave.
There you crow up where associations are made, you undex%.
stant to see these old people. 7y wife she a co
with tie too. I have great respect for women. nether too
everybody else. It is all color and much
lon':7, there too Co we landed in ::ew York,? Fourteen
uaye. Lang trip, eh? T;i;e11, things have changed a lot since
1912. nipc and nachinery and people too. Iverythin( seem
to have CangC Since then. 1,7ostly people. 7,vea 7ranite
heWs changed. ilachinery he.s cbanf:ed v. .Ito. :7en out of work,
lots of thorn. eU the time.
better yorkinc conditions
too. Jf course. 7;:odern machinery has done lots for granite,
lots of ood. But It has thrown in out of work. It has
Changed granite tolla you. I was much, very pinch lone..
cone when we landed but soon I Get over it. I an yatuy4 then,
e rot over It quick. I knew lots of people hero in short time.
ter while, we know everybody. It mix, sec, Fot like some
people, some ice,t:Iey don't mix but ue mix and noon know
everytody in town. Ilion we e -:-.end money. '13en you know lots
of people you spend ueh money, eh? I went to public school.
It's rood, tl.le public school. ood. ut I don't like echool,
no. I like work rx1 I left school, I was thirteen uthen
left school. -o cm to work. ork, I've had plenty of it
cSnee. I got what wanted, eork. bet. :fnly ehen the
etrikes come tAen I gotta no work. :Alt before I loft school
i work in granite. Sure. I start your,vith cranite. Lo
fore 7. was thirteen I work from six in the morning till eight,
then I 0 school. I work from four to five or E;ix at niellt,
every right after school. I st.art with granite when I um
little and I [Tow up with granite. I knew granite. I have
never made :moil money in the business, I have no trade that
pays a lot, like cutter, or sculptor. Dut I work all t'!:•,
5.
time at scnriothin. When the strike first cane I went to
7:ewari: to find work. I worked in store there. Thirteen
is youn3 to start work with granite, oh? row the young
people 3o to sdhool lonc after tat, the -y do. :hey want
collece too. my peoplc fre in granite o I have to
start in granite. I 0,rin(7, tools. Yes. Grind. 7ou think
people work hard today, wells we work hard then also. 7arly
and late we work. Al in the sheds. All the hours I could
I worked. Durinr7 the big war, wilon Americans enter, work
in nip yards.tine then. I had hard job there, Build
ships. -cat's hard Job, but riust be done to win war. I
rivet. I rivet in the ship yards. :jot riveter, no. Just
heatin3 rivets, that's a ny job. ior the riveters I heat
them. I wort bettor with oranite. au it takes three days
to yarn out a stone but in ny early days it took about a week.
rust work t'acy turn out teday. .Ladainery has on that. !Nen
in the quarry they have better 71achinery. It was tmigh for
everybody in the early days. iOt c Granite Aen die from
tlie tools, tlw.t s b, no eqtd.cnt to save life. To they
:,ot lots of equipment. It helps but there lots to -xmrroves
I know. You betcha my kid, he won't ievcr 1:c to work in no
damn 72..e.nite. It'll ta!!:e long tine before it's safe to work
viith it. rilica. That the t4Ing that kills evorybody. body touch .;ranite. nooner or late it kills everybody.
;et co :ludh. -'t1713.0
ftmart I don't so mudh
13oney but I don't cot so nu. silica. In my end of the shed
there's not no rludh dust. I can laugh at the damn granite
because it can't touch me the way it wants to. Fa, :la, ha.
hat's a no. I ain't got no money but I ain't cot much
silica, no? 11 end of the shed le not so dusty. It's like
a %nife, you know, silica.
ny name: I told you. Yes, I %now some I?- names
art hard to spell. AxrIcan na:Tes too, they arc not so
easy. lAuschi. .That's a n7 name. I never brought home no
steady wor% but we just same. When the big strike
ca7rJe in '22, 1 was learninc7 the blacksmith trade. :lad to
move to cot a job. Lo jobs here. Lvorybody out of work.
Vlhen ranite men out of work, everybody affected 'round here.
71ard to get groceries. P,o I move to Newark. I finally went
Into the hotel business ane married an Italian girl. he and
I we were both sinic, neither had been married before. ae
came from Ttontpelier, her parents lived here. They came from
Italy. L ;ifc, she came near beinc, born an the boat but no,
she was born in America. That was good luck. The parents
are all dead. now. 'lore and mine. LI 1933 they are all dead.
an cattelica and ry wife too, she is eattolica. e oave
one child. g-Xter we return frou Z,ewark. rt vic were 7tarried
eleven years before we have bambino. Tenr tirx to co with-
out a child. I am proud because the child is boy. 'o has
been very sick but now he is bir. -Te is stronr and healthy.
That Is way I want it, strong, and. a boy, that makes me proud.
I have 7;ood time of course. I play butch, that's Italian
sane we. all play 'round here. 'Butch,' yes, it's fanny name.
Like bowlins, but not same. They played it in the old country
and it is one of the old Italian cuataaa they bring over here
with tl. Fvery race brings some good things with them and
maybe some bad. Butch is rood thing they bring. Makes
Italian people happy when they play butch. They remember
old eountry and pleasant times they had in Italia. We play
cards, sure. Cards recreation for many. Tice game we play.
Called tscoppa., It i real Italian game. Ve play it lotn.
Very nudh. We drink, you bet we drink. You elf*e me laugh.
Jo I drint? Beer for one thing. Dut beer is not my drink.
I drink nore Ivine.t nostly vino, that's a my drink, „and I
like it. You have to drink if you work with granite. The
eoddam silica kills you anyway. You are no good to live if
you live a little while with granite. Only a little ehile
Italians live. They all die young. I am in my forties.
Tut I have no duet in ny end of the shed, very little, not
so Laudh silica and I am happy. No money but little silica.
If you want to make money in runite you have to get silica
and that means you die. No, no, not me. I no die yet.
I have no money."