Document text
Miss Mary Tomei
GO Barre St.
Montpelier, Vt.
The Granite Worker
BARRE, EL CLUB ESP OL
)18fib
The Spanish Club rooms breathe Old Spain. They flaunt
Fr cal the far wall letters in shrieking red prophesy,
*wire El Faecitsapt Faeoisa Sala .W.1 Death the wads
a crudes hand,knittod figure extends right ars hsewenward,
the other to the ground. It in encased in glass, and maple
framed. Beside it a padlooked contribution bes sakes the
plea, salvemoe. el mat miasma. Fleming Loyalist posters
hide the east vall. Ayuda Al pastas) Aevappk$ Aympis a
Emu* I gnig Else Espanol. A laig, hembsritten list at
Barre subscribers hangs from the Spanish Red Cross Certif-
icate,
'El Club overlecan North Min Street, Inst abowe Barrels
'deadline., The furnishings are simples practical. Smooth,.
worn benches line the walls. Sturdy card tables are mat-
tered the length and width of the main roan. Two are marble
topped tables with metal bases fastened to the tare, hard.
weed floor, relies, perhaps, of some ewe fashionable
Barre club. Red -and -yellow streamers brighten the cettng,
Their (winces* hae been lost to the moist hetness of Zane
days. Nos the colors rustle their patriotism limply.
JOhn Bavine„ born Juan Bavine some sixtr.five years
ago in Santander, Spain, is El Club's efficient secretary.
If over his vas the heritage of sp.in, raven hair, olive
19811
1.
skin, flashinc eyes, time and sorrow have claimed them,
have faded the thick hair to gray-vbite, burned the oyes
to a dull ash. There is kindness in these eyes, and unm-
derstanding; and when be speaks of his wife and three
children 'trapped' as be says in 'Franco's Spain', auf-
fering and helplessness veil then. Manuel Torsi, his
young Larre-bern companion, is more truly a son of Spain
in feature and action. Coal black hair, dark eyes, fine-
ly chiseled nose wit spirited flares at the nostrils,
impetuous, bold in speech and ideas. A little of the
braggadocio in him, but nevertheless a young Spain loyal
to Old 2pain. For six years 17anuel has been secretary of
the Lame branch of the Stonecutters' Union.
Joe Luis, a third companion, sits at a table nearby,
silent and thoughtful. Eis English is better than Davinese„
yet he makeo no move to help his friend when be falters and
ropes for a word. It is Tlanuel who picks up the sentence,
twists it into a bolder expression of his own.
"This Club was start' back in 1926," iavine said.
"There were few ,panish hero before 1900. It is funny,
they start to come over fast after the Spanish-American
Aar. It in funny, too, that ninety percent in Barre, an'
in all of Vermont, couo from ane province in Spath called
,antander. It is a place with as many people QS Vermont.
r.dicre is granite in that province, bard an, soft, but I
cannot say that most of those who came to Darr° ba0 already
learned the true over there. '2o, I say maybe a half of
them. ryselfs I was a farmers ant my father, too. I learn
the stonecutting here. Yes, I still work in the sheds. ror
fifteen years I work in the Ionaszi sheds in flontneliers
now I wort hors in Larre. In Santander the sheds are built
in the opens like in Italy. They Co not use much machinery,
ever hinc. lc banil works so with the fresh air ant all there
is little dancer for the lungs. The pay is pretty goods
better than other skilled work like carpentering or plumb-
ing. 7oct of the TumIsh in Barre are in the granite
business, Louis Ajas who lives in T:Tontpeliers was the first
Fpanish baby born in Larva,. That was only forty-two years
ago. t south :,nd there are ton Spanish owned sheds, ant
at the :Torth 1.'nd almost as many. Spanish non-union
:.lenre r0,I do not know of any here
Young anuells eyes flashed angrily. "S:anish non-
union men! I should say nett It is the irenchs damn them,
that are nom -union. Of the scce 150 nun -union men in the
i_arre Cistricts most of them arc I know. I ought
to know. bunch of squawkers and suokors. I knoc. They've
come up to me and pulled their cob story. 'Looks! they
complains tm, work is us food as So -and -Sots. 7e cets his
50 a days I get only :6.00. Ilm worth as much as he is.
I put in jut as much time. You've Tot to help me. lihat
can I do about it?" c dark forehead creased into
a frown. "'Al:triers:" he spat. "I should tell them to ,o
to hell. I should say: you were satisfied to sneak up to
scrIc sL.edi boss behind the !iniants back and beg your miserable
el5.00 or 06.00 a day. Toalve got no right to bellyseehe
now. Get out*" Memel shrageed nooblAhaalars *I !Wad,
tell them that. Bat the Micelle* rules. I hive to stilk
to them* 0. I., I tell them, yeatve been working for $4040
a day for a year, hmtil 0. K. then, pm, up the Union due*
for that period and you'll get year Maim wages."
Beane spoke in his bolting Englieb4 "Some of these
French, they are good Unianiomen. I know a few of them,
fine fellows -s."
Luis, the silent one, nodded agreeably.
*Fine fellows!" Manuel nixdsked. His full, red lips
curled soorntully. "These Preneh spoiled everything far
ue beck in 122. We'd have a lot nmwe today if it hadn't
been for those strike -breaking rats* Farmers, bakers,
anyono she had hands to work with. Boma of sem had never
seen granite, I bet
"Maybe we Should have stop' them," Bovine suggested
adldly. He sat very still* The =soles of his moaned fee*
were quiet. Only his calloused palms 'gabbed together rest..
'sway. "You were pretty young then, Manuel," he reminded.
',mot too young, Bovine. Not too young. Don't forget
I've been stonecutting for sixteen years. You know what
we should have done? We Should have messed together, all
of us, down at the Montpelier railroad station, and the
Barre station* we should have net then at the train.
Warned them to keep out. we'd have kept them out. It
wouldn't have come to a good fight. They're too yellow
Li
for that. 3ut the Union wasn't so stroxv; then, it wasn't
what it is today. Today it would be easy."
14 well Manuel, that is over, no?" Lavine hinted.
"Oar friend here would like to bear about our ClUb. I will
tell you: most at the Lame C•paniards are members. Every
night they are welcome here. In the winter sometimes forty
or fifty gather here at night. That is when they have the
rood time. VAD talk about the sheds, an' politics, about
everything, an' if they get what you say 'too hot under
the collar,' they so in that little room over there. They
shut the door. There they can yell all they want without
disturb' the card players out here. Oh, they play
all kind of [Ames: briscola, trisette, tutti, run. But
it is our rule that never they should play for money. They
play for wine or a beer. That vie eell with no profit to
the Club, they pay just what we pay. Twice a month we
have ladies' nilits. hcn t:le hall is the and us men
we keep out.
f:panish are good Loyalists, so you see by the
walls Lavine ln(leated the vivid posters. "Cur Club
has Jane .7,00d work for the victims of Fascism. Mn Erance
there are WO refuLees in concentration eamps. That
war in pain, it started in JUIy of 1936. It did not take
us in ,:-,raerica ionic to lenea hand." avine took a Club
led or from the shelf. "!':oe," e ran a stubby, calloused
fine r down a page filled with fine writing. It was in
nunish, neat, the letters nuch like printing. here
IC the record. It say we start' to take in contributions
In .aucust.. is fast work, no'. Since then, up to date,
we have taken in 1.5,000. Just hors in Barre. Oh, there
are nany ways we raise money. lestivals„ dances, picnics.
:ow we even have little stampe, like the double cross ones
you see at Christmas. Titre they are.. Ii:hey were about
an Inch square. On them were printed Sociedades Hispanas
Confoderadas. ...i_yuda a I sptma.
t have them frac .2b to 4";.,00," Lavine explained.
"The nembers have little books, like bunk books, ant when
they buy u stam they stick it in the book. In the United
!'„tates today there are I7G Clubs like this one that raise
money for our sufferinc countrymen. It is what you call a
bic. confraternity, these Clubs. c have had a coni3ress in
V-41a0,elhia, in l'itteburc, ant in other laroc cities. The
money we send to the 7,panisll Confederated society in New
York, and to the 7edical 72uroau to save 7-panish Democracy.
.:arole, Ickes, he is cairn of that committee."
anuel spoke._ '7foufve lIeard about that ship that ar-
rived In Vera Cruz exico, two VVOILS ace? ,ith 1,900
re acme abourc.. ,e11, it was =key frau our
rican Clubs that cot tbau here
Lavine was nursuilvhis aun thoucilte. "I do not under-
stand itspr he paid half to lAmself. ho 'pain I knew years
aco VUO a quiet country, she love' peace. ::or farriers work'
the rich fields. :Ter artists were proud to rake beautiful
our biz: cities ant cathedrals. 4r) were 20,000,000 people
to want' only to be left alone, an nev what. 7ou coo
the beautiful cathedrals all snathl an buried, the cities
in ruin. friend of mine, he say the other day that one
''paniard Ile is tilled every nine rInutes. rvery nine
rinutes. •od, that in terrible. Tort than one million
of tl;um are lay dead from this var.."
"7'ranco!" 4=101 scoffed. "%neral rranco. Putty in
7!assolinils bands, that's what he is. And what is that
damn "nssolini. 7is avn countrymen hate bin and his Paso/sm.
7ost every one of our 0100r UMW Italians bate him. Only
the younr: onee speak well of him. Uby? Because they know
no bettor. lecause he is a crabber =0 a co -getter, they're
nrauf.". to be of his blood. 1710c a conqueror, and it's 7one
to their heads. *.ell„ arre born, but no 7pance coos
to my had
we a wife ant three children in rpain, Lavine
said. he spo. the words as if they were a sorrov lon7
v4thfrawr. in hinself
wife, she took the children
there just before the war to see their crandmet7ler. They
stay' too lonc. 2fter the war is tart' they arc nct allow'
to eone hone. It is my rActake, a foolish mistake. Always
it been in my '2:tart to become the :.:mcrican citizen.
.aways say, tomorrow I will take out the papers. 1:11.t al-
ways there is somsthinc else to io, an' so I wait. 1311t now
T have take them out, eh yes, quick like that. Ant lust as
soon as I have them, I will send for the family.
vIll not o over for nem, I feel safer here. It makes
e.
me sick an' afraid to have them over there. Tetters? Yes,
my wife she writes, an' I write to her, but what rood is
that? he letters, they have been open'. rho cannot say
what is in her heart, she cannot tell tic truth about what
is go' an, _all my letters to her, they are open', too. I
Co not even dare tell her about all the money we have col-
lect' for the unfortunate rnanish, or all the rood we are
do'
o T2,avine spoke Ianuel stepped across the room and
tool: from the wall a photocraldh of a group of young non.
eiblAtips a dozen, 7e pointed out two in the front row,
"These are two of our Dame royalists who went over to
fir'llt for a just cause. This older OM VW born in f::pain
but I:10d lived here for a 7oed ten years, was wounded,
he rot away, he told us that was ,7oinc an in rpain. 70
saia if they hear that you belong to a bakers' union or a
tailors' union, your life Is not safe overnight. This
younc7er fellow was born here In iJarre. :c was a flood
friene of mine. rave fellow. is brother was in 'pain.
his fafl.y. 7e was killed. 1That does my friend do?
70c never soon epairl, but he Deem up right away, and 7006
over to fig!:.t. 77-o Cidn't cork bacL. :e was killed. etre
Foirr to have a rood picture of him, of alone. -011
rut It there between those windows, cli Davine?" he asked
erly.
Tavine smiled tolerantly. hc, I don't care. -,:herever
you viant. TIC humho himself in his chair, "lather Leocadio
LOW is doing gOad work for our muse. lie is a very intelligent
priest* an' good. Be came to Armories to find help for the
Spanigh people. For twentywfive years be said Mass every day
in a cathedral in Madrid. He was well liked by the people -w
Devine paused.
Manuel oantinued seelausly* °Heys been making tours all
over the United States in behalf of the refugees. He eame
here to Barre April twenty-fourth* and spoke in Soampini
Hall. The place was peeked. Raloomyor Gorda:teas one at
the committee to get him here* he got in trouble for it.
Father LOW had spoken to the Spanish In Chicago a couple
of days before* his next stop was Bosten. HO was goodie
Manuells eyes ahem. He stood up there in his Raman cellar.
sure, itm a Catholic* he'd say. Catholic like Franco and
his followers. But this killing is not necessary. It is
againet the command of the church.,"
Luis* the silent one* nodded.
Manuel continued. It was a dirty trick The priests
here in Barre absolutely ignored him. They ands no gesture
to receive blni. It won't stand so good with same of the
Barre Spanish. They're Catholics even if they &malt go to
ahurah every Sunday. Spain is a Catholic country.
Before this war the Spaolsh governmemt was contributing
0.25,u00 a year to the Church. Naturally the Church officials
and meet priests sided with Franco. It was to the advantage
of the Church. Father Lobo sees it as we do. That the
Church can take care of herself through voltmtary churl& con.
to.
tributions„ each one give ao he can. Father Lobo vas a groat
inspiration to our Club nenberv. 4ince he cane bore the
stanre have doubled their sales."
',twine agreed, "Yes, that is true. I know, because
sell them,"
bad an ,:.mbulunce Drive a vbile back," l'anuel said,
"Pad° :056.00 in one night. Last week we bp4 a Cpanish
Fiesta in the Armory took up no ealections, only
straight admission fees. _ichty cents and fifty-five cents.
A Professional from flov ork cane to dance for us. -arquita
I'loreo. A small :irl, no more than four feet eleven, but
could she dunce! :bp's touring the country, too, for the
victims of Fascism. She gets no pay. ::er heart is with
the Loyalists. All we did was pay her fare to :3arre, and
her living expenses while she stayed here. There was a
crowd there that ni7,bt. _axl not only unicb people. how
much dift we make, Lavine?"
"I cannot say for sure," the older man said. "All the
oxnenseo, they _lave not yet been fi7urel. ;:ut I :-.7ueos there
will be a 2ti0.Ou :72ere for our poor Spanish--"