The Stable of Michele Cavallo
At the beginning of the school year 1833 – 1834, Giuseppe Pianta was supposed to have accommodated John Bosco in his Cafè, but the premises were not yet finished. So, for a while, he was given shelter by the baker, Michele Cavallo, who offered him a corner of his stable located in Vicolo Valimberti on the corner with Via San Francesco (now the offices of the Tax Police), in return for the student’s help in looking after the animal and doing some small jobs in the vineyard outside of the city. In exchange, John Bosco managed to obtain some free time of Saturday evening to go to confession.
The House of the tailor, Cumino
During the next school year 1834 – 1835, John Bosco was given accommodation by Tomaso Cumino, in the building at Via Vittorio Emanuele II, 24. In this case, the young student demonstrated his ability in doing magic tricks, including relatives of his landlord as his audience, until they began to suspect that the magician had some arrangement with the devil. After some of his tricks Cumino reported him to the ecclesiastical authorities, who had him questioned by the canon, Burzio. Here, John Bosco knew how to reply perfectly to the questions about Christian doctrine and demonstrated that it was not a matter of magic, but simply sleight of hand.
