In New York he found that Tresca could give him little new
information. Luigi Quintiliano, the chairman of a committee to defend
Palmer raid victims, warned Vanzetti that there would soon be more
raids and urged him to tell his Massachusetts friends to get rid of
any anarchist literature they might possess.
Vanzetti passed on this warning when he returned to Boston, but about
Salsedo and Elia he had no more to tell than was known before.
In spite of the Attorney General’s prediction that a gigantic bomb
plot and general strike would erupt on May Day, the day was for the
most part a quiet one all over the country. Palmer’s zeal produced
only a few victims, among them members of the Association of Harvard
Clubs who, marching in Washington behind their crimson banners, found
themselves mistaken for a Red parade. Public opinion began to turn
against the Attorney General, even as his shadow still loomed large
over the alien radicals.
At their Sunday meeting on May 2, the East Boston Anarchists were
not aware of any change in the public temper. To them the times
seemed desperate, with the possibility of a police ambush at the next
corner. Most of their talk was about getting rid of their anarchist
literature. Orciani, who had recently seen Boda, reported that the
latter still owned a car; he thought they might use it for rounding
up the literature. Sacco suggested that he and Vanzetti and Orciani
should meet with Boda some time early in the week. Vanzetti reminded
everyone that there would be a meeting in Brockton on May 9 to raise
money for Salsedo and Elia.
After the meeting Sacco told Vanzetti that on the ninth he and his
family would be on their way to Italy. He suggested that Vanzetti
come back to Stoughton with him for a last visit. Vanzetti promised
to come down the following afternoon.
Monday morning Vanzetti visited the Boston piers but found that fish
was still scarce and too expensive for his pushcart customers. He had
lunch with some Italian friends near Haymarket Square and heard the
news of Salsedo’s death. Late in the afternoon he took the train for
Stoughton.
Only Rosina and the child were at the bungalow when he arrived. Sacco
had quit his job on Saturday, but had gone back to the factory to
help break in a new man. He returned just after five o’clock.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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