Maria Teresa Rosa TINETTI
1868-1942
Born: Torre Canavese, Torino, Piedmont, Italy
Died: McAlester, Pittsburg, Oklahoma
1868-1942
Born: Torre Canavese, Torino, Piedmont, Italy
Died: McAlester, Pittsburg, Oklahoma
<font face="times new roman,times" size="3"><p>In 1885, Louis Bonino went back to Italy to visit and to marry Rosa Tinette. Louis then brought Rosa to the U.S. As they came to America there was a bad storm on the sea. Rosa had went up on deck to go to the bathroom and when she started to come out of the bathroom a huge wave hit the ship so she closed the door and waited for it to pass. When she opened the door again someone that worked on the ship saw her and helped her below deck again out of the storm.</p></font>

What is missing from this story is that the toilets were constructed in such a way that they hung out over the edge of the ship. They were open from below a persons knee level and above the persons head level. Therefore a person could be washed overboard by a big wave... especially in a storm. A steward on the ship saw Rosa Tinetti Bonino go into the toilet. She was seasick from the motions of the stormy sea. He pulled her out of the toilet and threw her over his shoulder, as she told it "Like a sack of potate". Rosa was a tiny woman who could have been easily washed out into the ocean below. He took her back to her cabin and instructed her to use what was provided in there if necessary. But she was to spend most of her time in bed and not to leave the cabin unto the storm abated. In other words he saved her life. During a storm it was not even safe to walk around on deck for most passengers and sometimes dangerous for even the most experienced sailors. How brave the immigrants were to make such a voyage to begin life in a new land where hardly anyone spoke their native language.