The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-22
HE FOUGHT IN ABYssINIA.
Giovanni Tells OF the Horrors of His
CAPTIVITY.

| Of Casarza, that 1 should feel thankful
if he would come and tell me about the
war. THE African heror' I said. as he
was ushered in-for the ''paese' had been
ringing with stories OF him and four other
soldiers. whose relations had worn mourn
ing for them.
fear my voice spoke to him OF surprise
/ and disappointment; for Giovanni rushed
into cOmical explanations about his uni
/ form. This is not African 'tenue,' he
/ said. My linen uniform is in the wash.
/ and had to put on my old regimentals.
/ But 1t was the man, not the dress, that
/ took my breath away-a little body,
! shrunk away from the tunic, and stand
| ing scarcely FIVE feet high; eyes dim and
dull, like a sleep-walker's, and scarcely
| the flicker of a smile possible to his poor
| face. Every other Italian can beam upon
a friendly greeting. and has a flashing eye
when interested in conversation. Poor Gil
/ ovannl
80 you fought at Abukarima?"
| name would send him off from any
point in the campaign He best liked to
i reel of his story in rapid Italian patios,
but he sometimes spoke very originalD
French-having worked ia Paris before he
was recalled for MS military service.
Eyes, indeed" he said. I'VE had march
/ ed, and marched, twelve hours at a
! stretch, l think. Then we lay down. But
at midnight we were aroused. To Abuk-
arima-eight hours march, and we start
ed.
eve had a beautiful position. The Gal
| la cavalry was on our left. We were
posted along the ridge of a hill; on the
/ right was what we thought an empty
| ravine. Very, very soon we knew thd1
some bad thing had happened How
/ could that be? But we knew u. we sald
/ 70 aorb Ofhars Never mind. the tide
may turn again -
But by 10 a. m. he and 100 others were
down in the ravine. and lit was as full
| of Abyssinians as an anthill is of ants.
THE word came, Fix bayonets! Ana
we went to the charge We were sur
/ rounded. however Ny officer said;
There's nothing to be done. We're prs
| oners' And so we were-prisoners Tor
/ forty-one days. But some OF the com
| rades not far off, wounded and unWounu-
| ed. lay among the dead and dying, hrlns'
| firing firing till they could not hold a
! gun for fatigue Then they piled up the
| corpses Of our Observation-Disclosures bodles
! one over another-to make gun rest
! They took cartridges from the dead rounu
] about, and leaned against their dead
| gun rests, firing for twelve consecutive
! hours But we were marched off to Abys-
! sinian huts-dog kennels half under
| ground. three feet square of an entrance
! to Green through-ten prisoners together.
! Some of us we're chained close 10 the
ground by the wrist-chained to STAKE
in the floor. 1 was never chained that
way.
at was a in the afternoon, and we had
had no food for twenty-four hours.
| told our guards we must eat. Ihey
| brought us a double handful of undried
barley and raw lentils, and the same OF
| dried peas; and between every three OF
| us one little bowl OF water We ground
! = Gtn and made
6our into a paste with the water and ate
! II raw. Lentils and peas We put into our
| rockets. and munched at them now and
then as the hunger drove us Those were
the rations every day for forty-one days
1--WE were told that Ras Mangascia mad
sent word to Gen. Baldissera that as he
was burning Abyssinian huts at Adigrat
the Ras would burn us Italian prisoners
After we knew that we lived in dread
and some of us wept The enemy staked
the captain of my company. They nrst
| goueed out his eyes, and then they lit
az about Rim. and roasted him on his
stake. NV general, Birmonte, was killed
ar Abukarima, but he was shot in fair
fight 49,. go,
tilated the wounded"
"Ah true. indeed" said Giovanni, in
his even. hollow tones. They cut on
their heads and their feet and burned the
moor fellows afterward! And in one hos
! nital-a small hospital-there were 900
| without the left leg and the right arm.
After a battle the enemys cavalry would
gallon over the field and thrust again and
again at the helpless wounded.
! And he told these horrors without any
| chow of special emotion. What curdled
his blood and nearly stopped his speech
was. strange to say, 1.-The long teeth
! 1onp and white-of the Abyssinians.
/ They are as long as this, murmured
] YxrFn 4ofa Of h to
NV '@Whv did they not try to ransom your
I asked ,-
have taken 5000 lire per head for his
prisoners. But who could give that? Not
the government. And certainly not our
relations. At last we were exchanged for
! soldiers of the Ras that Baldissera had
made prisoners
| one of the misfortunes that befell young
Italian soldiers was to be struck with
| idiocy when they found themselves under
! fire Giovanni said lit happened to
manv." There was one of them here
few DAYS ago. He was being taken by
another soldier to famous place of pill
| erfrnage and he was utterly bereft of
sense-not mad, but a jabbering idiot.
| And another danger that they all ran was
| from the poisonous water.
| You must have prayed well in Africa
to have escaped sound in mind and body"
some one said. He answered with sim
ple conviction: "Ah no; it was my moth
| er praying in Italy that brought me home
! safe
know not II ever Giovanni had any
martial ardor. He has none whatever
now As he talked a charge of blasting
| powder exploded in a neighboring quarry,
| and his face fell. His eyes looked
/ shade more hollow-the sound awakened
African memories He said he was glad
he had done with soldering. Though he
| has wasted so as to look like an unde-
| veloped lad of nineteen, he must be q
| at least for he had served two years in
| the army before he embarked for Africa
| six months ago.
Next in horror after "the white, great,
| long. Abyssinian teeth" comes his remem-
| brance of the wild beasts. Going up the
| country" he said, "panthers, lions, leop-
! ards. some tigers land terrible creatures
with unknown 'patois' names) came close
! to us In the dark something would brush
/ by-but close, close by-a hyena, proba-
! bly,. I saw panther spring upon a COM
rade and take piece out of the side
| of his face. I saw another panther tear