Transcription of Letter from B. Vanzetti to M. Donovan

This is a very strange document, and I'm not entirely sure what to make of it.  I even feel a little bad for Mary receiving this letter for a few reasons:

1) The letter seems to be written without regard for being logical (maybe this is explained with the cuts made by the censors).  He begins the letter more or less normally by thanking Mary for her visit (to the prison I'm assuming) and telling her about his reading material.  He then makes some esoteric references to correspondence he has with other people (a mysterious Mr. Ch., Mrs. Evans, Keave).  The bulk of the letter recounts his weekly schedule in the format of a numbered list, but it sometimes repeats numbers.
2) It is full of spelling errors (zoupper for supper; wishel for whistle; checkes for checkers; mouvig for movie, to name a few among many others).  Vanzetti is even inconsistent with his mistakes-- he misspells wishel only twice, but then proceeds to spell it correctly for the rest of the letter.
3) The overall syntax is bizarre.  For some reason, he leaves quotes and parentheses open-- which seems completely random to me.  His sentence structure is also strange; he is fond of using multiple colons, semi-colons, and dashes at will.

It seems to me that the letter itself was already very choppy even before censors changed its content.  Also, all of the grammatical and spelling errors may be attributed to the fact that English was a second language for Vanzetti, but I think that it is also possible that the letter was deliberately coded in some way, considering Vanzetti's political affiliations and that maybe he knew that censors would read his letter before Mary got to read it herself.

And Megan, I'd like to know-- Who is Mary Donovan? 

[PAGE]

Mary Donovan

130 Myrtle St.

            Boston, Mass.

(ink blots and smudges toward middle of page)

[VERSO]

                                                Dec. 19, 1926.

Dear Comrade Donovan:

            At the fierce music of the cold and strong wind

blowing through this bright winter morning, I am thinking

how good of you it was to pay me a visit during

this cold waves.  As I told you to be expecting, Mr.

Thomson came yesterday afternoon and brought me

several our weely from Europe and South America,

many letters, “The Authorized Life” of Eugene V. Debs, &

“What His Neighbors Say of Him.” (Debs.  So that I

have much to read and much to write presently, Mr. Ch.

tell me that Mrs. Evans will send some money to Jim’s family,

and I told him of what we had talk about—it will be settled.

Since he told me that he will come back soon and since

I have had no time to write my letter of consent

to the comrades of “Freedom + I indeed expect to see

him soon again and must therefore get busy.  He did

not express adversation to the letter’s publication, but

repeatted the advice to dwell on “why we were armed.

He also said that I was not looking so well as the time

before—I answered to have took “salt” two conservative

days—first Thursday and Friday, and that I am O.K.

(Keave interrupted this writing at this point this

morning to go to the “yard” were Jim—who show M. Ch.

yesterday, after me, told me that the later will be here again

next Tue., or Wed.,--am glad to know it.)

            Returning to us, you deserve indeed a better letter than

this poor one that I am so willingly writing.  Well I

am going to give you a tableau of our daily life-routine: 
(1)   At six o’clock, A.M. the wing’s bell rings once: We can

[PAGE]

                                                 2

“get off” and light the pipe even before to begin to dress-up.

From 6 to 7 A.M. we can do what we like, in our room.

(2)   7 A.M.: A second ring: we must be ready to go

to take the breackfast at the ckichen “window,” and

return to our room.  From 7 to 8 A.M. we can do what

we like in our room.

(3)   8 A.M.: A third ring: now we must have our room

clean and ordered and be ready to left it. One wing

after another (the occupant) goes indisdain [?] line to

em^pty the bucket at the dump, situated against the

wall that faces the freight-yard.  From there we

line again, two by two this time, and go to the shops.  

(4)  11.20 A.M.: The wishel blown by the shop’s officer,

means that we can get to the front of the shop, where

we can freely talk and play checkes.

(5)   11.45 A.M.: A second wishel tells us to leave the

shop, line on the yard side-walk, then go to the ckichen,

take our dinner, and carry it to our room.

(6)   There we must stand at the door, gluiging [?] one

of its bar untill the officer counts us and locks our doors

From then to one o’clock, we are freely locked in our room.
(6) At one o’clock, another ring.  The room must be
in order, we go to the shops, us always in line.    

(7)   3.40 P.M.: A whistle tells us that the day-work is

finished: we are already dressed for “the “yard,” we go

to the shop front, there to talk or play for a while.

(8)   3.55 P.M.: A wistle tells us to go to the yard—the

general signal is given by the “yard bell, In which talking,

playing and yacking [?] are allowed- 
(8)   4.10 P.M.  The yard bell rings: we line, go to the ckichen,

[VERSO]

                                             3

take our zoupper, and go to our room.  After that our doors

are locked we can eat, or not, and untill night o’clock

we can dispose of our time to make, write, read, or

walk, thing, swear, and so on.  We have evening schools,

voluntary, not obbligatory.  Some prisoners go two or

three evening a weeks; some a thers don’t go: it lost

an our and a half.

(9)     8 8.55 P.M.  The wing bell rings again, we must retre and     

stop to smoke.

(10) 9 P.P: the last bell ring of the day—the light gogoff

we must be at bed.  This is our daily routine.

The “yard” time is changed several times during the year,

according to the lenght of the solar-day; in Summer

time we stsay more in the yard—though we quit working

lately than at Winter.

Now, about the “Lord Day:

At six o’clock the first ring: at seven, the breackfeast

one; than we can go to the first c atholic service;

than to the second (protestant service—or we can stay in

the room.  The batter service end after eleven o clock—

more or less after according to the lenght of the two

priest bunks—and, everybody goes to the yard from

which we returne to the ckichen and our rooms, at

11.45 A.M. In the afternoon, we have the “Neither Christian

nor Scientis service, exept one Sunday a month in which

we have “methbidist service.”  We have also “Ebrew service.”

As you see, the only thing of which the State class not

economizers on us, is “religious dope—and the State is

skunnely wise.  As a rule, we have a “show” or “a mouvig”

every another Sunday. Praise be the Lord.  Amen.

[PAGE]

                                   4

For long and for many time I have forgotten to tell you

a good thing that we own to you: after the inspection

of many ispector to our shop, and after many delays,

they finally built a powerful “draft,” in our shop,

which freed usof almost all the gas; It was indeed

a great deal better, Vthan a forets.  It seemed to me

that you look better, much better yesterday than two weeks

ago.  Then you must have been troubled somehow—maybe

by passenger trouble, and if I did not cooked[?] about; it

is because I disliked you tell you if you were indisposed:

some time it discourage one; some time it may imbarasses

one; all the time you wish me free of preocupations and

consequently you wish to hinder from me anything which

may trouble me.  For all these reason I have expected you

eagerly, and I am glad that yesterday you seemed to

be in good condiction—so have care of yourself, and try to

komback, next time, even better, that that gluden one.

Now, dear Mary Donovan, I will inclose with

this letter, the copies of three items, hoping they will

rich you soon, and spare you the trouble of acquiring

them else how.  “The “Why I am in Favor of Death

Punishment, did not appeared, as I told you, in

the Boston Globe of last Sunday, but in the B. Globe

of Dec. 5, 1926.

I could write something for the coming  Buletin”:

either the continuation of the journalistic topic or a

comment-reputation of the tw included item.  But I have

very much to write.  Yet if the coming Bulettin” is already

completed, and if you dim uself “comment”—let me know

it in time, and I will try to do something.

[VERSO]

                                           5

This is all for now.  Be of good cheer.  Tell Mr. Ch.

about that journalist, please.

With hearty greeting to you and many expurds

praying  you to share them to yours Ones, I am

                  sincerely yours, Bartolemeo V.

P.S.  It was my intention to inclose the
“B. American clippin, about the speech of Mr. Bushnell-

but I am unable to find it, exept its traduction

by the Gazzeta of Massachusetts, of the 11 Gem.

If you write to Jim Larking, give him my regards.