Life in Italy

5 December, 1912
Expanded Version of the Triple Alliance

Treaty of Lausanne, October, 1912.
1. INTRODUCTION.
Italy declared war on Turkey September 29, 1911, because the latter had failed to accept the Italian 24-hour ultimatum to allow Italy to occupy Tripoli and Cyrenaica. By formal royal decree, November 5, 1911, confirmed by an act of Parliament, February 25, 1912, these two provinces were declared to be under the full and entire sovereignty of the Italian Kingdom.
  

The first officials that immigrants encountered face-to-face on the island were federal physicians in search of newcomers with contagious diseases, mental abnormalities, or physical deformities that might limit newcomers' abilities to support themselves. Those whom inspectors wanted to examine further were detained and chalked with a code letter to indicate the reason for the holdover--"K" for hernia, "L" for lung, "E" for eye, "H" for heart, "X" for mental disorder.

After completing the medical examination, immigrants were assembled in the Great Hall.

Before America - Life in Italy
I was born on September 17, 1903 to Lucano and Maria Federici in Ischia, a small town near Naples, Italy.

When I was 18 months my father sailed to America to find a better life.  The coal mining agents met immigrants and told them of jobs in Gary, West Virginia.

In 1907 Maria, my mother, joined my father in Gary, McDowell County, West Virginia.  

Three children were left behind in Italy with my Grandmother Feerici, (my brother, Vincent, my sister, Aminta and me).  We enjoyed the closeness of our relatives and the spacious orchards of citrus, peaches, apples, etc.) and olive trees while living on the farm.
While living in Gary my parents had a baby boy and a baby girl.
In the year 1910 my father moved the family to Berwind, where another baby boy was born.
My father worked as a stone mason on tunnels for the N&W railroad.  My mother kept several Italian boarders to help out with the family income.
In 1913 the Ferrantes sent for my brother, my sister and me (the ones left in Italy).

Chapter 1 - Ship Ahoy - "Only in America"
My Trip to America
One year prior to the declaration of World War I, where 5 million people were slaughtered; 9 year old Guilia Ferrante, her 13 year old brother and 11 year old sister were put on a boat for America.  They left behind a broken hearted grandmother who had cared for for the children since 1907.  The grandmother died a short time later.
My story - My life
In 1913 I was put on a boat sailing for America.  I was 9 years old.  It was November.
My trip to America was during rough, stormy weather. Most of the passengers were seasick.  They seldom left their cabins.  I had "seafaring" legs so I took food to  passengers, night and day.  The Ship's Captain noticed what I was doing and invited me to eat with him at his table.  He said to me, "Looks like you have been working hard. You deserve to have dinner with me". That made me feel very special.   Passengers were given numbers to get meals and when I kept showing up with more numbers, the ship's cooks asked me where I got all those numbers.
The food served the captain was different from what was served passengers.  It was really good.  I felt special.

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