The San Francisco call. [volume], April 30, 1911, Image 5

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

Image provided by: University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA

                
Vivian Pierce
THE Little Italy of North beach
has a new hero. And his name
is Giuseppe Garibaldi, the Second,
grandson of the great hero of the
liberation of Italy. If you walk down
Montgomery avenue any day. you will
realize that our Little Italy, separated
by 'thousands of miles from eternal
Rome, nevertheless never forgets the
heroes that made Italy, nor her spir
itual share in them. In all the littlo
book and print shops there are always
engravings or chromoa of the three
great ones that made the liberation
of Italy possible—Garibaldi, Mazzinl
and Cavour, with the red, white and
gre«n tricolor somewhere displayed..
the splendid fall of Rome and the
march of the thousan tey are
Hill in skirts; and "by the time they
are \
Therefore, it is especially fitting to
i that this new hero is Giuseppe
Garibal'ii. the grandson: and that our
Little Italy In San Francisco welcomed
remarkable young man on his
errand of peace only a little over a
need not here discuss the right or the
wrong of Madero's pretensions in
Mexico. Enough that Garibaldi be
lieved and believes he la fighting for
the political liberty of a nation when
he fights under Madero. And he Is
at present on Madero's own staff as
major, commanding a legion, and one
of the most valued of the pretender's
staff.
The fact that ! young Garibaldi ■ was
so short a time ago in San - Francisco
In the Interests of the projected Italian
agricultural colony near . Bakersfield;'
the Idol of Little Italy, which I was ; al
ready familiar with his South American
"exploits, has made,the Interest in f his:
fate with he insurrecto army of thrill
ing Interest to all San Franciscans,
both Italian and American, who met
the young man ;in this city. He was
taken to the heart of Little Italy in the
first j place. for . the sake of« the great
liberator and for the sake of hie father,
General Riclotti Garibaldi, the hon
ored old military : leader of .; Italy. ",But
before ,the boy • had ; been "■ in * San : Fran-}
cisco many days, he was'loved; tor him
•self, quite apart, from \ his illustrious
forbears: and i romantic past ; exploits.
'So when : the -■ news vcame■ that th»
young Major Garibaldi had been killed
In the "death trap at Casas Grandes not
, only did General Garibaldi i and X the
Italian government cable to the ; San
Francisco l'ltalla here to have the facts
Investigated but all ->rth beach
• mourned.; Now.that the fact that young
Garibaldi'survives [ has been established
there Is a' revival ;of Interest here in
his career and in his future. That
career reads like " a romance and is
worth telling.
To see Justly the career of the grand
sot, then, on whom the eyes ■i Italy and
Little Italy’s
New Hero
Our own colorful Little Italy are Just
now fastened, it is necessary to revert
to his illustrious grandfather and his
father, General Garibaldi, the elderly
veteran of the Italian regular army,
who, it will be remembered, led the
last red shirt leg-ion on the fields of
Greece. There is no clearer proof of
the influence of heredity on a career
than la the case of this youth—he is
little more—brought up on the splen
did Garibaldi tradition. The same tevew
to right wrongs that is driving tins
young descendant impelled the grand
father as a young man to give up the
comparatively secure life as captain of
a merchant vessel for the exalted role
of liberator.
It was from his father, Riciotti Gari
baldi, that the boy Giuseppe heard the
intimate details of those stirring South
American campaigns over the wild
reaches of that virgin country for the
liberation of the Rio Grande territory
and afterward Monte Video. It was
amidst such scenes that General Riciot
ti had been born. It was there in
Montevideo that Garibaldi the lib
erator formed his first Italian legion,
the legion that was to make the red
•hirt famous around the world. The
dark, red shirted soldiers, the black
regimental flag with its flaming vol
cano thereon, were the first things tha
little Riciotti remembered. And he
was taught the significance of that flag
—Italy mourning with the oacred fire.
in her heart, the longing for liberty.
This tattered rag, the ftftg of that
first legion, now preserved In Eolo^no
as priceless, woke In the second Giu
seppe, as it has wake.l in thousands of
Italian lads, the longing to emulate the
dead hero. All the sacred traditions of
Italy's sTfuggle for TTberty, above all
his grandfather's glorious part there
in, he absorbed eagerly as a child from
his militant father. Not a detail of
that lmmemorable Roman siege, hope
less from the- start, but necessary In
the eyes of the leaders to awaken the
world to the truth that Rome was In
deed eternal, escaped him.
The boyhood of young Giuseppe was
haunted, not so much by the trimphant
march <^f the thousand, not by the
aldls gift of a kingdom to
but by that splendid failure at
urite picture of his
it moment when,
all hope over, his red shirt soiled, cut
and blood stained, Ids sword too bent
to enter the scabbard, he faced the
assembly of the Roman republic at the
capitol for the last time and begged
leave to fight on outside the city.
"Pavunque saremo, cola sara Roma!"
("Wherever we go, there will be
Rom<
And the words that are printed on
the heart of this second Giuseppe Gari
baldi are those unforgettable words of
his grandfather on the day the retreat
began, when lie bade farewell to the
thousands upon thousands in the Piazza
of St. Peter's and bade whosoever would
foMow him:
"Fortune, who betrays us today, will
smile on us tomorrow. lam going out
from Rome. Let those who wish to
continue the war against the stranger
■ come with me. I offer neither pay .ior
quarters nor provisions; 1 offler hunger,
thirst, forced marches, battles and
death. Let him who loves his country
In hii heart, and not with his lips only,
foHow me."
"Far- ■ forzate. battaar
lle c murte ' —("Hunger, thirst, tare**
The Local Colony Rejoices Over
the Escape From the Mexican
Government Troops of Major
Giuseppe Garibaldi, Chief of
Madero’s Staff, and Grandson of
Italy’s National Hero
maTrmes, --nattles and Tieath.") The
young grandson from his childhood
thought them glorious word's, like the
rest of the world, and determined to
break bounda and follow in his grand
father's footsteps.
Though General-, Rlclottl Garibaldi's
own career haa been devoted to the
great trade of war, like his father's,
he objected to the same career for his
eon, Giuseppe the second. General
Riclotti himself, as all Italy knows,
when little more than a child had fol
lowed his father to war, shared the
triumph at Naples and the sorrow at
Aspromonte and Mentana. As a volun
teer In the Franco-Prussian war, where
he had generously enlisted on the los
ing side of Napoleon, Italians will re
member his capture of the only Prus
sian flag of the Sixty-second Pomera
nians taken during the war. ,It was
a deed that recalled the Great Liber
ator to Italian hearts.
It was General Riciottl Garibaldi also
who led the last red shirt expedition,
where Italians wore the costume that
the liberator of Italy made an imper
ishable tradition. This was in 1897 in
the Greek war. The generosity of
Italians in risking their own lives
for the freedom of others has become
a tradition, and in imitation of the
dead leader several hundred volunteers
enlisted in General Garibaldi's regi
ment. Many of the English volunteers
also taking part tn the war nave spo
ken of the conspicuous valor of the
Italians, who, it was said, deserved
more warlike allies.
But the youthful Giuseppe, his mind
full of dreams of conquests and war
plumes and red shirts, was denied a
military career by his father and was
•ent to the university, destined for a
civil engineer. After this schooling, to
please his father, he tried to follow the
calling of peace, but it could not hold
him. Impressionable, lovable, hand
some after the dark Italian fashion, his
fiery Imagination was to send him also
wandering over the earth, in spite of
his own efforts, to follow hia chosen
profession.
That he has tried other callings is no
idle statement. Like his grandfather,
he has the deepest feeling for the arts
of peace, esp'dally the science of agri
culture, as Ms own work, apart from
his career ai a spectacular soldier of
fortune, demonstrates.
He was eraployed by the government
at lta.Jv to investigate the condition* of
The San Francisco Sunday Cal
rtte Italian laborers for the United
Statea on th©^ Panama canal, exagger
ated reports of existing 1 conditions hav
ing reached Italy. His diplomatic gifts
as well as his lovable personal quali
ties were brought oi!t during this In
vestigation. He was finally formally
thanked for his services both by his
home government and by the Panama
canal commission.
It was about this time when his sta
bility and tact were being most praised
that he started oft at a tangent for
South America. Rumors of wars to be
fought for the people against petty
dictators had reached h'm, and, be
sides, South Amerind had always called
to him because of his grand father'a
romantic and stirring exploits there.
How many revolutions young Garibaldi
figured in in South America and Cen
tral America no one knows. There aro
records of his work for Venezuela, a
cause that appealed to hi 3 heart and
his sens© of justice; and he struggled in
the van against Castro until that dic
tator fled from the country. The
Venezuelan revolution especially ap
pealed, for the Latin tak.."i easily to
such struggles in the dark. Intriguing
Is necessary to expel tyrants of the
Castro brand.
In all the time spent in South
America little Uruguay, the republic
freed by his granlfather, was not vis
ited by him. Wfasn he left he left in
a hurry, for the small remaining group
of silent smiling enemies of th« coun
try had no love for him, and through
a traitor turned traitor he >ot wind
of their plots. It is not a country
where there is much war in the open.
But he had heard of another country
that needed him, Central American
Honduras, in the toils of another dic
tator, who had absorbed the banana
and oil and every other trade, and
with a little well drilled mercenary
army was bleeding the people. Af
fairs in Honduras are too well known
and too recent to need detailing. The
United States was drawn into the ris
ing of the people owing to the execu
tion of the two Americans, Groee and
Cannon, in November of 1903. it was
!n this fracas that young Garibaldi fled
the roofs in disguise, pursued by
corrupt government spies. After for
eign interference restored peace* in the
republic, the young zealot for
liberty turned northward, tired for the
time being of war as the South Ameri
cans played the same, and absorbed in
an idea as big as the Idea of liberty
and an Idea that involved only the arti
of peace.
This was . th« Italian a^riaultura;
colony that was to be attempted neaj
Bakersfleld, with the object of educat
Ing hundreds of the southern Italiam
from the old country In the methodi
of modern agriculture. This Is a worl
that is sure to come to the fron
again and again and bear better fruit
The colony was well started; but fron
the first was handicapped more by lacl
of proper backing than lack of enthit
siasm on the part of the young leadet
of the enterprise, eager for the betten
ment of his poorer countrymen alon|
the lines best adapted to their indu»
try.
It was during the Inception of thli
colony that young Garibaldi was foi
some months In San Francisco strug"
gllng with the financial end of the col
ony's plans. Here he speedily becami
the Idol of Little Italy. After he wai
forced to abandon the work and maki
plans for the future, conditions In Me*
ico, that had always interested him
seemed to call for his aid. He ha(
long predicted such an uprising. Hi
went immediately to the front to con.
fer personally/.with Madero, and in.
spired by enthusiasm .'and'faith: In '. th<
honesty.; of ; the; pretender, •he becamt
hie chief of staff, with the rank 01 ,
- major. s^Efflß ;. '^HHIpHH
It may be well to repeat- at thli
point that many as are the revolution!
In which the Italian boy has taken part
like n*ls warrior grandfather he doei ;jt
not approve of war. On that last viM JJ
to Rome ' the old ;herb, had said that hi
looked, forward to the day 'that tin
sword; would give place jto .the pruni I I
hook. This utterance of nearly 50 yean _
ago the grandson j has often repeated
He whimsically say a that his battli
for .the' pruning hook failed, and tha'
us long as there j are battles to bt
fought for freedom he ;wants as : a rep- :
resentative of Italy, to be In the vai
with his sword.; . .
A trivial but characteristic anccdob
that * brings out the 5 gentleness of . th<
man is being told concerning this lati
engagement in Mexico in 'which: Gari
baldi figured. The , story was repeats*
when - his death; was reported, andlthi
story not" only -reminded 'sorrowing
Italians here of the heart of the youni
i man himself., but: of his* * grandfather.
The Inhabitants of the Mexican ham
let of Casas Grandes ha.l fled befon
the approach of Colonel .Cuellar's fed'
eral army. Madero's army was en
camped *' three miles from the town
The column under Major Garibaldi wsj
ordered forward to take the town
That little huddle of adobe houses
rutted streets was fronted in a semi
circle by the government troops. Th«
lnsurrectos i entered the . town itself : and
forced the , advance..; Street • fighting
began,' and the deserted houses wen
entered and barricaded !by the insur
rectos. But, for Cuellar's field pleci
remorselessly tearing down- walls. Ma.
jor Garibaldi's little body of ■" troopi.
could have held the town unaided.
■■ Major Garibaldi himself, with a llttl« v
crowd »: of *" foreigners, defended « theii
position from a low square adobe build"
Ing set away ; from i the ■ town' proper : ft
an open space, and fired from the win
dows and hurriedly contrived loopholes
The government troops soon surround"
ed this point. '
• • "When - the "■ major "'". and his men ha<
rushed -• into the: deserted \ building—on«
of the i superior dwellings— of th«
men stepped on a little brightly dressed
doll that some child has dropped in he)
>haste as she fled. ,Though. bullets wen
raining 'in ; upon ' them, the ; young majoi
• picked up* the ;toy|ihat' spoke of th«
disrupted i home, fleeing/children and
cruelties of even V the '■ most . rlghteom
war. The American -who "reported th«
incident; says .that the v major's 'boylsll
lip trembled as he looked . at th«
crushed toy," and'carefully put It In nil
\ pocket. *! "I'll have \to replace that,". hi
muttered. „ »
" In a ' few minutes ' many of „ the \ Httl«
■ detachment of 30 that were holding th<
house ; with \ him - had •- been ',' shot down
and he himself , wounded. A few Ameri
rcans In the party made a side rush and
* escaped ? from 7 the I building, that wai
now .drawing" the heaviest fire ! and
had a gaping roof. ~ ■ Major Garibaldi ,
and . the, others: held \ to; their post and
f would S have • -}. died there, .. as ' the first ,
I erroneous dispatches said they did, > but
for the advance *of Madero's main arm)
to the rescue.' Had it not been foi
Cuellar's field piece the insurrectoi
would have' held * the. town. unaided.
■• The ;*• Americana ■ who - escaped and
tramped a couple of ■ hundred miles its..
the American line, and gave " the newi
: that * deceived!' Americans ■ and Italians "
until recently. One of these men, who
had seen. Garibaldi fall*wounded,; told
'the' Incident of the doll. "And you car
bet he'd have ; got that other doll •
• first off If'he'd lived,? he said. "
S' Cuellar's:army was in reality driven
back, and the j town) recaptured hv*V«. .
dero's " main army. Young Major -Carp
baldi is at present with this main army
while : awaiting the outcome „of * peace
negotiations, ; it* is , said. .Certainly,
when Mexico is free in fact and ; young .;■
Garibaldi return* ;to i San Francisco, a«
he ; has promised to do. Little Italy will
put on her gayest red, white and green
for * the ) man who is • recalling to many
nations, not because of his name only,
, the 5 exploits of the dead hero.
The fact that iat ; this :; moment th«
liberation of '. Italy, ■ which his grand- '
father so largely helped to bring about,
f Is being celebrated with an : exposition
at Turin, lends ; special "point -to King •,
■* Victor" Emmanuel's proud boast * when,
he epoke the other day at the openlnal/*
-f of : the Roman jubilee, , "Italy Is devotdlJL
to the independence of every race."
Here in -this alien land, far from the
'"plaudits:of; those crowds of his coun
trymen, this youngr descendant of the
;| great ■ liberator '. is • trying .to make that
proud statement good.