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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