December 2, 2013

In another lovely twist of time and fate in this project, I was working on this letter while I was actually in Boston. Right as I was madly transcribing these words, we were en route to my "old haunts" as I described them to the kids. And very shortly after these words became digital, 119 years, 187 days after Camillo put them to paper, Gwendolyn, Chloe and Eloise, Camillo's great-great granddaughters visited the very same "red brick" buildings he did.

Boston domenica 27 maggio 94

Cara mamma,

Se non fosse stato per una piccola cartolina che ti ho spedito quattro o cinque giorni fa ho paura che tu saresti inquieta pel mio silenzio.  Ma...che vuoi..ho avuto tanto da fare.

Dear mother,

If it was not for a small postcard that I sent you four or five days ago I’m afraid you would be worried about my silence.  But...you want...I’ve had a lot to do

Ti ho lasciato, nell’ultima mia, quando ero ad Albany ove mi fermai due giorni e mezzo.  Feci da Albany una piccola escursione in biciclo fino a Troy, ove visitai una specie di universita vecchia ed interessante.  Troy e un a citta industriale assai ben situata su di una collina sull’Hudson River, il gran fiume navigabile che is getta nell’Atlantico presso New York, che deve a lui la sua prosperita.  Ritornando, misi la mia cavalcatura e me stesso sopra un battello e mi lasciai trasportare fino ad Albany.

I left you, in my last letter, when I was in Albany where I stayed two and a half days.  I did a small bike excursion as far as Troy, where I visited a type of old, interesting university.  Troy is an industrial city that is rather well located on a hill near the Hudson River, the big navigable river that spills into the Atlantic near New York, to which that city ows its prosperity.  On the way back I put my “horse” and myself on a boat and I drifted to Albany.

Partii da Albany il mattino ed arrivai a Springfield (Massachusetts) dopo le dieci.  Visitai un poco questa graziosa citta manifatturiera e poi a cavallo del mio caval mi recai a Chicopee Falls a sei or sette chilometri di distanza, nella quale cittadina vi e fabbrica del mio biciclo.  Essa e qualcosa di enorme e dopo averla visitata mi convinsi che non era una vanteria l’asserzione che essa era atta a fabbricare novecento macchine al giorno.  Mi presentai al signor Overman felice proprietario di tanto ben di Dio, e gli dissi che avrei desiderato vedere la fabbrica malgrado il divieto formale scritto all’entrata.  Dopo qualche difficolta mi pose nelle mani di un ragazzo che mi accompagno per ogni dove.  Fu per me assai interessante e mi convinsi della difficolta nella fabbricazione di tal genere di macchine.  Dopo aver visto tante belle macchine nuove, guardai la mia vecchia.  Specialmente dopo il viaggio della Yosemite essa era ridotta in uno stato da far pieta ed avevo sempre paura mi scoppiassero le gomme.  Chiesi quanto avrebbe voluto per cambiarmela con una nuova, persuaso di andare fino a 50 dollari e non piu.  Invece il signor Overman mi chiese 35 dollari ed conoscendo il valore molto relativo della mia macchina comperata di secondo mano un anno prima ho accettato e cosi ora mi trovo posessore di una delle piu belle macchine esistenti che spero non cambiero piu per almeno quattro o cinque anni.  E leggerissima (13-14 chili) e assai elegante.  L’ho fatta spedire direttamente a New York.

I left Albany in the morning and arrived in Springfield (Massachusetts) after ten.  I spent a little time visiting this gracious manufacturing city and then riding my “horse” I arrived in Chicopee Falls about six or seven kilometers away, the city in which my bike was fabricated.  This was an enormous place and after visiting it I was convinced that it wasn’t a boasting exaggeration that the place fabricated nine hundred machines a day.  I introduced myself to Mr. Overman happy owner of a lot of good things and I told him I wnated to see the factory despite the “forbidden” sign at the entrance.  After a little difficulty he put me in the hands of a boy who accompanied me everywhere.  It was very interesting for me and it convinced me of the difficulty of manufacturing this kind of machine.  After seeing so many beautiful machines (bikes), I looked at my old one.  Especially after the trip to Yosemite this one was reduced to pitiful state and I was always afraid that I would burst the tires.  I asked how much he wanted to trade for a new one, I was inclined to go up to $50 and no more.  Instead, Mr. Overman asked me for $35 and knowing the relative value of my bike bought second hand a year before I accepted and that’s how I find myself in the possession of one of the most beautiful bikes in existence that I hope not to exchange for at least four or five years.  It’s very light (13-14 kilos) and rather elegant.  I shipped it directly to New York.

Lasciata la fabbrica andai a visitare Bellamy l’autore del famoso libro Nell’anno duemila.  Egli si trovava in New York, ma suo moglie (o figlia che sia) mi invito a ritornare dopo una settimana, il che forse faro perche tornando indietro da Boston mi tocca ripassare vicino a Springfield.

I left the factory and went to visit Bellamy, the author of the famous book “In the year two thousand.”  He was in New York but his wife (or his daughter, that is) invited me to come back in a week, which I might be able to do because I’ll be turning around from Boston and I have to pass over near Springfield.

Lasciata Springfield feci una tappa a Worcester (pronunzia vurster) ove visitai una bella universita ed un politecnico e fui in entrambi ricevuto assai cordialmente.

Finalmente sabato sera giunsi in Boston, nella cosi detta Atene degli Stati Uniti.  Presi alloggio pel primo giorno in un hotel, ma poi mi trovai una buona stanza ammobiliata a buon mercato.  Boston e di tutte le citta americane, la piu europea.  In certi momenti mi par di esser nel West di Londra.  Boston propriamente detta e fondata su una penisola tra il Mistic, il Charles River, e la grande Massachusetts Bay, ma oltre Boston propriamente detta si puo considerare come facente parte della cita il South ed East Boston, Cambridge, Charleston e Chelsea che sono separate da Boston soltanto dai due fiumi sopranominati.

I left Springfield and made a stop in Worcester (pronounced Vurster) where I visited a nice university and polytechnic institute where I was received rather cordially.

Finally Saturday I arrived in Boston, the so-called Athens of the United States.  I took a hotel room the first day, but afterwards I found a good furnished room at a good price.  Boston, of all the American cities is the most European.  At certain moments I feel like I’m in West London.  Boston proper was founded on a peninsula between the Mystic, the Charles River and the grand Massachusetts Bay, but around Boston proper, and considered a part of South and East Boston, are Cambridge, Charleston and Chelsea which are only separated from Boston by the two rivers mentioned above.

Boston e una citta molto elegante.  Splendidi teatri, un parco bellissimo, strade assai belle, comeche alcune abbastanza strette e tortuose.  Il servizio di tramways elettrici e americano e poco si adatta alla struttura della citta, tanto che non e raro vedere qundici or sedici carri uno dopo l’altro che interrompon la circolazione.  

Boston is a very elegant city.  Splendid theatres, a beautiful park, rather pretty streets, however a few are rather narrow and winding.  The tramway service is Amercian and is not well adapted to the city, so much so that it’s not unusual to see fifteen or sixteen, one after the other, interrupting the circulation.  

In Boston ebbi il piacere di conoscere il prof Gaetano Lanza, professore di meccanica all’Instituto  tecnologico.  Egli mi fece visitare benissimo l’Istituto tecnologico, che e il primo in America.

In Boston I had the pleasure of meeting Professor Gaetano Lanza professor of mechanics at the Institute of Technology.  He gave me a wonderful visit of the Institute of Technology, which is the first in America.

Il laboratorio di meccanica e uno dei piu completi che abbia visto.  Bello pure e il laboratorio di elettricita diretto dal prof Cross, che io ebbi il piacere di conoscere a Chicago e che mi accolse assai bene.  Il prof Lanza mi invito a casa sua ove passai una bella serata e fu assai gentile con me.  Egli e nato in Boston, ma e figlio di un palermitano e parla assai ben italiano.

The mechanics lab is one of the most comprehensive that I’ve ever seen.  Professor Cross’s electrical lab is also very nice.  I had the pleasure of meeting Professor Cross in Chicago and he received me rather nicely.  Professor Lanza invited me to his house for dinner and I had a lovely evening and he was quite nice to me.  He was born in Boston but is the son of a man from Palermo and so speaks italian pretty well.

Fui in Cambridge a vedere la famosa Harvard University, la prima degli Stati Uniti per numero di studenti e per la fama che si e acquistata.  Fondata nel 1636 e la piu antica in America e conta ora 2900 scolari.  Gli edifici dell’universita sono assai numerosi e sparpagliati in un gran parco nel cuore di Cambridge.

I went to Cambridge to see the famous Harvard University, the first in the United States for number of students and for the fame that it’s acquired.  Founded in 1636 it’s the oldest in America and currently has 2900 scholars.  There are really quite a lot of buildings that are a part of the University and they are scattered in a big park in the heart of Cambridge.

Sono costruiti tutti con un certo buon gusto in mattoni rossi che contrastano piacevolemente col verdi che abbonda all’intorno.  Anche la mi accolsero assai bene e visitai scuole, laboratori, biblioteche etc.

The are all constructed in a certain good taste in red bricks that contrast pleasantly with the green that abounds in the surroundings.  There also they received me rather well and I visited schools, laboratories, libraries, etc.

Ieri fui a Lynn, poco distante da Boston, a vedere la fabbrica di macchine elettriche della societa Thomson-Houston-Edison.  Il prof Thomson in persona mi accompagno per ogni dove e mi mostro alcuni segreti che mi potranno tornare assai assai utili.

Yesterday I was in Lynn, a short distance from Boston, to see a factory of the Thomson-Houston-Edison society that builds electrical machines.  Professor Thomson himself accompanied me everywhere and showed me a few secrets that I’ll take back with me that will be very, very useful.

In questi giorni visitai pure musei e biblioteche comeche questo non sia il genere di cose che amo meglio di vedere.  Ho ricevuto la tua lettera di quattro pagine di cui ti ringrazio assai.  Sono disperato perche non so che portare all’Emma, ai bimbi, ad Ep e Tom dall’America.  Spero pero che qualche santo mi aiutera.  Ho aspettato a far compere per non dovermi portar dietro troppo peso e poi perche in New York si compera tutto meglio e piu a buon mercato.

Addio salutami tanto tanto lo zio, Ep e Tom.

Baci da

Camillo

Nella prossima mia ti scrivo data imbarco. Tieni il francobllo per umberto.

Over these few days I’ve also visited museums and libraries however, these aren’t the kinds of things that I love to see.  I received your four page letter for which I thank you very much.  I was desperate because I don’t know what to bring back for Emma, the kids, Ep and Tom from America.  I hope, though that one of the saints will help me.  I wated to shop so that I didn’t have to carry too many heavy things, and also because in New York you can shop better and more cheaply.

Good bye, send lots of good wishes to Uncle, Ep and Tom.

Kisses from,

Camillo