All the New Innovations of the 20Th Century

By Salvatore Montalbano

The idea of this book has been born in my mind. It came from the desire to express and introduce the difficulties and the sacrifices I went through in my life, as an emigrant- an outsider, in a new and very harsh country. In this book I will attempt to describe my life and perhaps some customs of the Sicilian Society in those days and the gradual evolution in terms of inventions and social change I witness from the beginning of the Twentieth Century. It was a challenge to express myself in writing since English is not my first language. I had to learn not only a new language to get to this point but also I had to teach myself how to use a computer. Consequently at my age a lot of things get slower including the memory and that too was a challenge, yet it has always been my motto that nothing is impossible. Please excuse me for the jargons I use and redundancy of idea or constantly repeating myself in the course of writing this book since the level of my education is basic elementary instruction and might not allow me to space properly the language. I cannot over emphasized that the fact that as a young Sicilian age 21 graveling a living trying to survive in a world with a cultural and linguistic baggage that delineate me and left me lonely and cold in a very frigid society. Yet the wish to disclose my autobiography has been such that it exceeded these pronounce difficulties. I augur you a good reading and a good travel.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Aug 11, 2010
• ISBN: 9781450031318

Book preview

Copyright © 2010 by Salvatore Montalbano.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

0-800-644-6988

www.xlibrispublishing.co.uk

[e-mail]

300017

Contents

Preface

Chapter 1:    The True Story of a Sicilian Immigrant

Chapter 2:    My Father was nearly a genius—Although he could not read or write

Chapter 3:    The New Life in Another Country

Chapter 4:    The First House I Bought

Chapter 5:    How I Bought My House in Torino

PREFACE

The idea of this book has been born in my mind. It came from the desire to express and introduce the difficulties and the sacrifices I went through in my life, as an emigrant—an outsider, in a new and very harsh country. In this book I will attempt to describe my life and perhaps some customs of the Sicilian Society in those days and the gradual evolution in terms of inventions and social change I witness from the beginning of the Twentieth Century. It was a challenge to express myself in writing since English is not my first language. I had to learn not only a new language to get to this point but also I had to teach myself how to use a computer. Consequently at my age a lot of things get slower including the memory and that too was a challenge, yet it has always been my motto that nothing is impossible. Please excuse me for the jargons I use and redundancy of idea or constantly repeating myself in the course of writing this book since the level of my education is basic elementary instruction and might not allow me to space properly the language. I cannot over emphasized that the fact that as a young Sicilian age 21 graveling a living trying to survive in a world with a cultural and linguistic baggage that delineate me and left me lonely and cold in a very frigid society. Yet the wish to disclose my autobiography has been such that it exceeded these pronounce difficulties. I augur you a good reading and a good travel.

Salvatore Montalbano

CHAPTER 1

The True Story of an Sicilian Immigrant

The Battered Life (La Vita Martoriata)

This is my story. I am a seventy-eight year old man. I would like to tell you all about my life and about all the innovations of 20th century that I have seen through my eyes.

When I was 21 years of age, I emigrated from a provincial town in Sicily, to forget and give a cut to all my past, and to start a new life and perhaps maybe make a little prosperity for myself.

I escaped and ran away from the everyday life, which was a nightmare. The arrogance and injustice all the children received from their parents, in my infancy has stayed with me all my life.

It all started when I was a baby, a one year old just starting to walk and understand that my troubles were about to begin, troubles were always around the corner waiting for me. I don’t remember when I started to work. I saw suffering and experienced the cruelty myself, and saw other children in their infancy, suffering at the hands of their parents who knew no better. They were totally illiterate, and used the children as adults to work in the sulphur mines. They were made to carry rough sulphur on their backs for miles underground, These children were called (Caruso) which means’ carry boy’.

They were forced into doing dirty and hard work in order for their parents to survive.

These were aware of life for many unfortunate children in the 20th century in my towns.

It was real brutality and torture for these children who were only just five years of age. The torture caused to these children gave them hunched backs which stayed with them for the rest of their lives.These people were creating so much pain and sorrow without knowing or realizing what all they were doing to their children.

Personally I felt depressed and I still carry the scars from then.

I had illiterate parents who did not understand how they were behaving towards them children; this was common practice in those days.Theywere Parent and Owners (PADRE AND PATRONE).This was how thing were then. Maybe it was because they were forced by the need to survive and for the families in a world without any future!

Imagine a world such as this where parents send their young children to work many kilometres below ground in mines in tunnels and caverns to carry loads of sulphur on they’ire backs with little or no light to guide them where to go. And doing up to 30 trips and running as fast as possible and only stopping a few times when they were short of breath, and had to release the pain in their back due the load they were carrying on the back. The little rearward they got for these work was by completing 30 journeys’ as soon as could, they could go home to rest for the night until the morning, and all would start all again.

The sulphur all these children carried on their back after long journeys running up, and dawn, the mineshaft when they arrived there was a lot crying creaming and pain for everyone big s and small really terrific ant lamenters for all the carry boys.

All arrive a central area called (LOCO) with several sells, or place ones each for all where they would tip they sack of raff sulphur loaded on them back.

From there be loaded onto trucks for the transportation to the furnaces where the really sulphur be extracted. Send were all over the world

This was cruel exploitation of the worst kind, and yet the only means available for helping their families to survive, and this happened for over 3000 years in Sicily.

Which was the only source Sulphur supplier in the word.

The English traders controlled the market with they ships and had the monopoly all over the World, and with all this doing they became very rich indeed. On the proceeds of a market they had control over all.

Whilst Sicilian workers mines were dying of hunger slaved just to survive with they own families. Work with their children for a pittance and many died as a result or were crippled and remained disabled for life. Working in disastrous and dangerous conditions. With they on children.

There were more than 700 little mines , which were all independent and had a Work force over 25,000,of mines. The whole male side of family including children and all other relative worked in the mines as independent group.

All these mines were run by, The Sicilian company All were paid little for the sulphur, this caused much misery for millions over all the Island of Sicily.

Al because Of the English And Americans Monopoly glide Scams. The became rich the other were stave.

The Economic condition of all mines was very poor they all lived and worked in misery, may be all these forced the fathers to take they children to work for the survival of all.

There were thousands of children CARUSI, to work in the mains in particular in my town , Al my Mammy Family And relied All worked in the mains and many were in illiterates like the others.

I wonder if they all had any idea what value the sulphur had, and what it was used for.

Was called LORO GIALLO THE YELLO GOLD.

May many don’t know that the sulphur is indispensable for the maker ofover40 Elements they can’t be done without it, and is used to make essential things like; dynamite, matches ,medicines, creamers, zinc, rubber, iron papas gasoline, etc..

TO the 50 last century the most of the population was illiterate, total ignorance used they children as they were slaves, indeed they were as the were forced to work for the need to survive the families in a Word without. Future, full of illiterate and had Dormant minds and nothing to hope for .I was borne in a poor Sicilian family.

At that time there was a large community all over the world who were all born poor! All children had to help their parents to survive! I am now financially and physically secure not really rich but if I need to buy something or go somewhere I can do so without worry. All this I have gained from my recent hard working life, the seeds were planted well and now I reap the harvest from the lessons that I learnt mostly from my father and my poor grand, NONNA Croce and hand FEILIPPA. They worked night and day in the baker shop to give their families a piece of bread to survive. My mother never had any time to cuddle or kiss me, all I ever remember was she would always be cleaning my nose with her apron (facade), but we never experienced starvation, even during the war when millions of people were hungry and dying every day we had food to eat.

THE 20TH CENTURY CHANGED ALL THIS . . .

The illiteracy disappeared; the sleeping mind in the people awakened and schools arrived for nearly all children. The ignorance disappeared and Men became educated!

THE WORLD CHANGES EVERYDAY

I have seen a huge amount of progress during the 20th century. In the area of technology, energy and travel, the geniuses of today made all of the world rich for everyone and have made it full of many good things. This all has happened so fast it has been all like a dream.

There are machines for every need, and industry, agriculture, fishing, and domestic appliances for house holders etc. There are so many things now we have never seen before, they have made everyone’s life so easy, easy to travel, easy to communicate and to see the entire world in an instant.

The Trains Arrived

By pure coincidence, an Englishman making his tea while boiling some water saw that the top of his kettle was moving up and down and so he realised there was a form of energy there. From there we had the steam train arrive powered by coal, then diesel, and then electric and maybe one day by solar energy. All these have made travelling easy!

Morse Code

A telegraphic transmitter, using dashes and dots to send messages or telegrams.

It was a nightmare to send news, be it good or bad—so when someone received something all the Neighbourhood would go running to hear all about it. Next came the gramophone, the first speaking record. Then there was the push bike to peddle instead of walk.

The Electric Light Arrived

That put an end to all the darkness in the evenings and it allowed us see each other clearly.

Without light at night there was total darkness for thousands and thousands of years, the only sources of light were Candles, lamps that worked with paraffin or for the large majority of the people they would use a hand held spoon with cotton wool dipped in olive oil and then lit (Spichio), which would be their only light apart from when the moon would shine brightly. All the people would go to bed early and would tell tales and fables for hours and they would make babies with their partner until they went to sleep. This is why everyone had large families

Something for all of us to reflect on

What the electricity has done for a lot of us is extraordinary it has given all of us the potential to be rich and thanks to the genius who created it. It changed all of our lives in a profound way. So much so that we leaped out of a simple way of existing and enabled us to live as men in a new age. This has led to all the new technology we have today.

I managed to live a long time without electricity that was how my life started. Due to a recent power failure which lasted about two days, my mind has been forced back to a time before there was any opportunity to use all the advances that electricity brought—there was no light, no phone, no TV, no central heating, just dark and cold, no cookers, no ironing, no reading, too dark to dress yourself properly, no shower, you could not make out what was on the plate to eat; and the darkness became a very prominent eerie figure. Thankfully to the very ingenious inventors, our lives have been changed for better.

The Arrival Of Electricity

Changed the entire world and helped us to develop new technology. The first radio transmission was one true innovation of the age. Invented by Gugliermo Marcone.

Then photography arrived, a wooden box standing on three legs with a man’s head covered with a blanket, he had to produce a flash light in order to be able to make a photo.

The Portable Cinema

Approximately twenty photos placed in a drum and rotated by hand. One photo at a time was shown inside the wooden box which stood on three legs. Only one person at a time could look at the film.

Music Is Made By the Pianola

This was a portable piano on wheels that was pushed by a man through the streets in every town.

Each note was produced by a hole punched in a paper sheet hitting a wooden peg. The entire page was filled with holes forming one song. The pages were joined all together like a concertina to form one book with many songs. The man would turn a handle to produce the song he was asked for.

All the music and new songs were brought in towns all over the country by a man called Canta Canzoni, a sing song man; the entire audience would gather around him, to learn the new songs they had never heard before.

The Aeroplane Arrived

At the beginning of the 20th century it was the dream of man to fly in the air like a bird. All of this was accomplished with the arrival of the aeroplane. The first planes that passed over our heads were loud and noisy, something we had never seen or heard before.

Everyone would run out into the streets to see it fly over the town. One day at school we heard and watched an aeroplane fly pass, It cost me three days of punishment on my knees, as there were 30-40 of us children, as soon as we heard the noise all ran to the windows to see it pass, I was the last one at the back so I climbed on top of everyone to reach the window but while I was doing so, someone fell down and I managed to swing on one of the windows that was 1m 50cm high and as it was rotten the hinges came away from the frame and all the window came out, so to avoid this we all moved away as it fell on top of the teacher who was at the blackboard it fell on his head and he collapsed as it nearly killed him. All the children screamed and went to call the Head master and doctor for help and for this I was punished.

When the first plane came out, it had one engine and afterwards two and three etc. Then, the jumbo jet—supersonic etc. The planes reduced the distances between countries and united the entire world. They made the world one place whereas before it would take months to travel from one place to the other. Then the PC (personal computer) arrived to help develop new technology, the internet and broadband and wireless to help news to travel to the ends of the earth. Also you can find on PC’s everything you want, whatever you’re looking for in an instant. New magical technology that makes it easy to teach in schools universities, medical colleges, conferences etc. From one single place the entire world can be reached, connected and seen.

The First Industrial Revolution Arrived

Motorcars—were the first carriages without horses. Many types of machines had arrived, changing the entire household, and textile factories.

Machinery revolutionised the way people were living and all the manufacturer’s businesses.

The War That Lasted 5 Years

The war brought destruction and death.

It exterminated, many millions of innocent people, brought, hunger, misery, and very much suffering to many innocent people, all because of some crazy humans like Mussolini and Hitler and their associates.

The End of the War

The fascist dictatorship disappeared and liberation arrived with Peace.

After this came the liberty for the men as they knew how to see and plan their future, and it enabled us to travel and immigrate and escape from our own countries. There was now, the potential to think of peace and the chance to have a future with a house and family, and to hope for a bright future in the world.

THE RADIO ARRIVED

The first transmission without any wiring was carried out by William Preece and Guglielmo Marconi which lead to the new technology of the radio and TV we have today. A real innovation then and is still now with new models of TVs computers, radios, phones coming out every day.

It all started with the radio and then with the TV in black and white with cathode valves 475 lines on the screen that was experimented before the war and then abandoned. After the war this was reproduced with 675 standard lines that were used all over Europe. The black and white TV had its place, but was then replaced with the new colour TV with transistors which arrived with new chips and this introduced the new era of technology and electronics helping with the arrival of the computer, which is now helping to make it possible for the second industrial revolution.

Now the new generation of phone has