Garibaldi's Conversion

General Giuseppe ("Peppino") Garibaldi of Manhattan and Connecticut is the grandson and namesake ofItaly's late great Liberator and no mean soldier in his own right. In 1897, aged 17, he climbed out of a window of the Technical College at Fermo, Italy, and made off to Athens, where his father was collecting a band of Italian volunteers to fight in the Greek war against the Turks. It was then that he donned, for the first time, the Garibaldis' traditional red shirt ("because a man in a red shirt can neither hide nor retreat").* General Garibaldi resents being called a soldier of fortune, explains that the only time he ever fought against his convictions was in the Boer War, when he joined a mounted column under Kitchener. At 23 he was leading 3,000 Venezuelan rebels against Dictator Cipriano Castro, held the title of Citizen-Colonel-&-Commander -of -the -Artillery -of -the -Army-of-the-Orient. Faced with mutiny, he shot every tenth man in one company.

Later he was captured, chained to a damp wall in Puerto Cabello Fortress, whence he escaped by swimming through waters thick with sharks.

In 1910 he fought for Francisco Madero against Dictator Porfirio Diaz of Mexico.

In 1914 he rounded up his six adventurous brothers from all parts of the world, raised an Italian Legion of 14,000 men to fight for France. When Italy got into World War I he volunteered, emerged as a brigadier general.

As head of a clan of tyrant-hating Red Shirts, peppery Peppino Garibaldi naturally did not think much of Benito Mussolini's Black Shirt". IN 1924 he called the Roman Legions of the Fascist militia "a gang in the pay of the Government" and the Legions' commander, General Varini, challenged him to a duel. Peppino refused, said the insult had been meant for Mussolini, whom he would gladly fight any day. General Italo Balbo, then commander of all the militia, thereupon challenged him. Peppino still wanted Musso lini. So he shook off the dust of Italy, moved to the U. S. He married Mrs. Madalyn Nichols Taylor of New Orleans, settled down in Manhattan, where he did some radio broadcasting, and in Connecticut, where he tinkered with a Diesel motor of his own design. When he thought about Mussolini & Co. he got mad.

Four and a half years ago, when Italy attacked Ethiopia, Peppino suddenly pledged his" unconditional support to my country in its hours of need." Subsequently there were other signs that he was home sick. Last September he opposed his brother Sante's recruiting of an Italian Legion in France because he was afraid Italy might join Germany. In December, when he thought Mussolini was for the Finns, Peppino got busy organizing Sante's legion to fight in Finland. He was too late.

Last week General Garibaldi, now 60, was back in Italy again to see his aging mother. In smooth Italian fashion he made public a letter to Benito Mussolini. Since he had "had the opportunity of seeing the profound transformation of the political and economic life of the nation under Your Excellency's leadership, "wrote he, "I wish to assure you from this moment of my disciplined obedience and sure faith."

* The Garibaldi red shirts were first worn when Grandpa Garibaldi's independence fighters in Uruguay uniformed themselves in a supply of slaughterhouse workers' blouses.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.