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Chicago, had been satisfactorily disposed of. Deiro was granted absolute
freedom on three counts, two of which were desertion and default. His wife,
Julia Tatro, is a western girl." -- Deiro Scrapbook No. 1, page 35.
Another newspaper clipping in the archive stated more poetically:
DIERO [sic] SMILES. There's a Reason -- Something Pleasant Happened to Him.
You who have seen Diero [sic] smile while playing the soulful melodies on
his accordion at Poli's theater are now to learn how one of those
fascinating smiles of his cost him $4,000. Once upon a time he beamed that
radiance on a bewitching damsel of the far west. That captivating smile did
it. They were married -- long, long ago. End of Act I.
Act II -- The plot thickens, storms arise. She plays the piano, but not in
harmony. Thep [sic] separate. The smile has lost its use for domestic
purposes. It is turned on only in emergency cases on the stage when he is
pleasing the people with his music. Curtain.
Act III -- Lapse of several months. Smile returns this week at Poli's with
the news that he has been granted an absolute divorce in a Chicago court.
Cost $4,000. Never again. Smile is educated, and restricted to professional
purposes only.
Diero, [sic] who is an Italian, was asked if he would be called upon to go
to war if Italy takes sides in the European conflict. "Why speak of war when
I have just come through a divorce case," he replied.
--
Deiro Scrapbook No. 1, page 35. (See end note 4.)
End note 1: When he immigrated to the United States, why did Pietro Deiro
settle in Cle Elum, Washington, and not a major city like New York or
Boston?Two reasons come to mind:
A. Pietro
had family which lived in Cle Elum. His Uncle Pietro Deiro immigrated to the
United States from Italy in 1890 and he settled in Cle Elum, where he worked
as a coal miner. Uncle Pietro's wife Mariana came with their two children in
1893. Pietro naturally preferred to stay with his own relatives. He arrived
at Ellis Island in the Port of New York on September 21, 1907, on the
steamship S.S. La Savoie sailing from Havre, France. The immigration record
can be seen at
Ellis
Island Records.
B.
Pietro came to work in the coal mines, as he had worked as a miner in
Europe. Cle Elum, meaning "swift water" in the Kittitas Indian tongue,
originated as a gold claim in 1883. Three years later coal was discovered
and Cle Elum gained a sawmill, a school and a stop on the Northern Pacific
Railroad. Coal Mining in Cle Elum en
Guido's son, Count Guido Roberto, wrote, "Contrary to any thing heard so
far, Pietro never played accordion professionally in Europe. Guido never
lived in Cle Elum...I have been there and searched the vital statistics and
met my cousins...several including another 'Guido Deiro,' who passed away at
91 (his son Tom and I are cousins and good friends, in fact it was he who
put Peter Muir on to me). I Remember my father visiting Cle Elum, but always
immigrating to and playing accordion in Seattle. It was father who
encouraged Pietro to become a professional musician -- teaching him to read
music and play the piano keyboard instrument." Letter to the webmaster dated
February 16, 2002.
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