------ dawn that coffee was "night and day" via De Rossi was full of customers. They went cold, the wet months of November already predict the cold December near were railway workers, seamen, craftsmen, workers of the company Larocca, tomatoes, salt cod, peaches in syrup. They still face the taste of sleep, the smell of the homes from which they were enchanted and that air of early morning.
------ The coffee smelled of rose oil, rum, of "whispers", long toned cups of coffee liqueurs from oranges, lemons, tangerines. The railroad men took their hats fell well on the head, their coats which seemed buried in waxed to win the cold streets, stations, trains .. They were great storytellers of their journeys, their locomotives, the heavy work. The fireman complained to put for hours and hours of shoveling and shoveling coal into the mouth of the fireplace to get more pressure on the steam boiler. When you do not go by train, dressed neat and clean, but to look good on the face were still signs of blacks, the traces of carbon that soap of Marseille, while used in abundance, could not clean. He dreamed of being able to drive him the locomotive was getting tired of putting more coal than the driver's gaceva pull the rope long sibilant whistle of the train. He had great But compared to his boss, a great big man, a giant, almost as powerful locomotive, entrusted to his strong hands.
------ said that he was happy when, on the flyover of Corso Cavour, he saw many children suffering from pertussis wait. He was convinced then that this ailment is cured with the smoke of the train. And the sick and their families, asndavano to lurk where they spent the ten. With the cold weather or hot sun, with the heavy rain or snow, slow s'appollaiavano those kids on bridges, on overpasses, in the places where the steam trains of the long white sprigionarsi.Il enveloped them in its grip, on their visit , we put it all to slow down the speed of download steam train as he could: to bind, in tonic healthy, children nested on those steps required. They were all wrapped in shawls and scarves and cloaks, parents and grandparents next, and the driver to empty all the steam possible for curled up in the mist and water saving. Then when the train resumed speed, young people and families from the bridge with scarves and coats, arms raised high, hailed the railroad that had given them a lot of smoke. ------ The fireman, that always dirty coal, he said yes, his head was fine and good, but also had a big ass like that. People are twisting a bit of coffee 'mouth feel foul-mouthed those words, but almost all were involved in those gossipy chatter of early morning, the day probably had to be heavy, and some 'gossip did not hurt. The fortune of his driver was to make the trains arrive on time. Ten minutes late? Never is, sir. And not even a minute, not even a second, his train, at the appointed time, he was invariably at the station. No, it was not luck, it was not even train the organization of time that the convoy was to arrive on time. He had invented a contraption, a contraption he had built himself. The railroad, he said, are good, very good, but he was superbravo. "We before entering the train - he said - we must make the" masterpiece ", namely that the evidence must show the ability and readiness of the aspirant. "When that confronted the driver test, did a thing but a thing, a thing so great that all ... then asked what he had done. The fireman was still a bit 'confused, then exclaimed: "Buh." And uncontrollable laughter broke out in the cafes full of people.
------ The fireman continued however to say that, because of its wizards, his boss knows he invented what devilry: inserted at the appropriate time and the locomotive purchased the speed necessary to make them superarwe delays. He was smart, that engineer-inventor. Once he had set the locomotive upside down, but had not found out what that invention was he did get the train in orario.E concluded: "It was more a matter of ...", and he repeated the word that shocked the visitors early morning coffee" night and day. "
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Maurogiovanni Vito - "La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno" of November 13, 2006
