L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2019 www.italoamericano.org 22 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D ear readers, NO- VEMBER notes with Italian connec- tions: AUSTRA- LIA had a shortage of young Italian women in the 1950s and 60s, so many young Ital- ian men had to "look for a wife" back home. Marriage by proxy was partic- ularly popular in the post war mass migration years. My cugina Palmina (now Pamela) went to Melbourne as a proxy bride. The bride was often the sister or cousin of another fellow migrant who would show her photo of his friends. *** BASEBALL fans in Italy are not as abundant as soccer fans, however, here are a few Italian baseball terms. I found quite descriptive the term for coach - suggeritore (a suggester, but if you ignore the suggestions you will not be on the team long). Bat - mazza, catcher - ricevito- re, diamond - diamante, fans - tifosi, left field - esterno sinistro, pitcher - lanciatore, play ball - gioco, umpire - arbitro. *** CLASSROOMS in Northern Italy would have been empty a few yeast back, if Umberto Bossi of Italy's Northern League, well- known for his anti-southern feel- ings, had his way. He complained there were "Too many teachers from the South in northern schools." Bossi didn't realize that the "too many teachers" (from the South) scored much higher than others in the qualifying exams for certification. That's because they are better prepared. Period. And without instructors and principals (from the South), northern schools would have many empty classrooms. *** DEFEAT of the Barbary Pirates of Tripoli in 1805 buy a US Marine-led expedition, result- ed in the first raising of the American flag in the Old World. As a result, President Thomas Jefferson wanted to organize a brass band of the US Marine Corps, which was to become very popular. By mid-September 1805, fourteen Italian musicians from the US frigate Chesapeake landed at the Washington Navy Yard. They had been recruited in Sicily by order of Pres. Jefferson. Gaetano Carusi was the first leader of the band now known throughout the world as the United States Marine Corps Band. Also in the party were the three children of the band's leader, Signor Carusi: Ignazio 10, Samuel 9 and Louis 6. Some of the musicians wives also arrived. Since those early days, five more Italians have served as lead- ers of the United States Marine Corps Band. They were Venerando Pulizzi (1816-1827), Antonio Ponse (1843-1844 and 1846-1848), Joseph Lucchesi (1844-1846), Francis Scala (1855-1871) and Francesco Fanciulli (1892-1897). *** ETHIOPIA was occupied by Italy from 1935 to 1940. At that time, Mussolini was happy to announce: "L'Italia ha finalmente un Impero." Unlike France and England, that had colonies in Africa and elsewhere in the world, Italy truly needed colonies because it was over-pop- ulated and with unemployment high many people were emigrat- ing to Argentina, USA, etc. not being able to find work "nel Bel Paese." Italy brought many improvements to Ethiopia and many "old timers" fondly remem- ber life under Italian rule. Years later, my 1960s classroom copy of profiles of African Leaders, described the conflict from a dif- ferent prospective. Although Ethiopia is part of the African continent, the country is neither black nor white nor even yellow. It is in part Semitic and in part Arabic, with a very strong Negroid mixture. It seems that before Haile Selassie was Ethiopia's ruler, Menelik II, said to be a great grand-son of Queen Sheba, ascended to the throne. Immediately after his ascension, the Italians rushed to have him sign the Treaty of Ucialli, a treaty which was the seed of trouble for both Ethiopia and Italy. The terms of the treaty, in the Italian view, gave Italy complete control over the country's relations with for- eign powers, in effect, making the country subservient to Italy. Menelik viewed the treaty differ- ently, claiming that it left full control and sovereignty with him- self. As part of the treaty settle- ment, the Italians gave Menelik 38,000 rifles, twenty-eight can- nons and loaned him 4,000,000 francs with the Harar province as collateral. The fist thing Menelik did was to repay the loan but the question of Ethiopia's sovereignty continued to fester. Meanwhile, the Italians got a foothold in the north -eastern part of the country and christened the area Eritrea. Menelik, ever alert to the ques- tion of his country's indepen- dence, began to rally the populace behind him. He slowly added arms and equipment to his arse- nal. However, Italy also started moving men and material into the country. Finally in 1896, 14,500 Italian officers and soldiers moved toward Adwa, the Ethiopian holy city. With a false estimate of Menelik's strength, the Italians were attacked and routed on the plains of Adwa. They left behind some 12,000 killed and over a thousand prison- ers. Finally, in October 1896, the Italians sued for peace. There were no further ques- tions of sovereignty, and Britain, France, Turkey and Russia sought concessions and monopolies in the country. The French built a railroad and tried to turn control of it over the British until Menelik stopped them. With one major exception, most of the bor- der disputes were settled. The exception led to the Italo- Ethiopian War of 1935. In 1908, Menelik suffered stroke and gave active control of the country to others. In 1913, worn out by his strenuous labors, he died, paving the way for Haile Selassie some seventeen year later. In 1935, Ethiopia was attacked by Italy which was still nursing a grudge over the humiliation at Adowa in 1895. Member nations of the League of Nations did not come to the assistance of Ethiopia. Although Haile Selassie took command of his primitively equipped soldiers, he was not able to withstand Mussolini's 250,000 troops or his airplanes and tanks. In 1936 Haile Selassie went into exile in England. With the aid of the British, Haile Selassie in 1940 drove the Italians from the Ethiopian soil. *** FACCETTA NERA (little Black face) was a song often sung to Italian picnics between 1935 and 1940 when it seemed the Fascist were doing well in Ethiopia. Faccetta nera, bella abissina, aspetta e spera che' gia' l'ora si avvicina. Quando saremo vicino a te. Noi ti daremo un'altra legge e un altro Re. (Pretty little black face of Abissinia, wait and hope, the hour is near, when we will be close to you and will give you other laws and another King.)

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