The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1911-11-15
MEN, WOMEN And BOYS
SHOT DOWN BY THE ITALIAN
SOLDIERS AT TRIPOLI.

But the Army is Pressed by the Arabs
While Cholera is Raging Within Its
Ranks.
"Annanias in his palmiest days
never wrote half as many falsehoods
and Misrepresentation as have ap-
peared in the Italian press and in the
official statements issued by the Ital-
ian government" telegraphs the cor
respondent of Reuters Telegram Co.,
Ltd, at Tripoli, who arrived at Malta
on Monday.
He said the Italians hold, with
nearly twice as many men, half the
ground that they held three weeks
ago. They have lost in killed and
wounded, not counting the sick, well
over 1000 men.
Many Arabs have been killed and
vast numbers were shot in cold blood.
Now twenty-five thousand soldiers
find themselves with their backs to
the sea, cramped and confined, with
an active enemy within few yards
of them and with cholera raging, for
despite official efforts to conceal the
truth there have been many cases OF
cholera among the troops and the civ.
population is suffering so much that
whole streets in Tripoli have been
closed by armed sentries.
There has been no disgrace. On
the contrary the Italian troops have
fought with great bravery and theil
officers set a noble example. How.
ever the Arabs have advanced theil
artillery and are shelling the Italians
One shell dropped into General Can
eva's headquarters. The foreign mll.
itary attaches have been kept aboard
a boat and not permitted to land, the
explanation being given that it would
be too dangerous for them to go or
shore.
The Turks and Arabs, the CORE
spondent says, hold the oasis, /;
miles long and from two to five mile:
leep, where they can subsist on date:
and olives until April, meanwhile
aarassing the Italians by night.
raids. There are no signs of the Ital
ians preparing to advance. The cor
respondent describes the spirits Of tht
invading army as demorahzed. TIL,
men expected a short and sharp cam
paign. Instead they are lying in th'
! trenches with sand storms blowing
over or rains soaking them with con
tinual night alarms. They are dis
yusted with the war and hate tht
country. They long to return home.
For four days after the engage
ment of October %, the Italian sol
diers engaged in indiscriminat
slaughtering Of the Arab population
under General Caneva's sanction, wht
first issued a general order to shoe
all Arabs found with arms, but onl.
when caught by troops in charge o
officers. The troops complained tha
numbers Of Arabs had hidden thei
arms and resumed their work as hus
bandmen. Thereupon General Can
eva issued another order to shoot al
Arabs who could reasonably be sus
pectedyof having borne arms.
The blood OF the men was up nat
urally, as they had seen their com
| rades shot from behind and, it is re
ported, even mutilated, though o
this it is impossible to ascertain th1
truth. With their excitable tempera
ment and highly developed imagina
ton, the Italians suspected every liv
ing soul of guilt, and for four day
gangs of soldiers, often without off
GERS shot every one they encountered
Previous to October %, the italians
treated the Arabs with ctmost kind
ness and it is only fair to say tha
many Italian officers who looked a
the affair calmly afterwards, deploree
it.
The troops made a clean sweep o.
that portion of the oasis in which
they were fired upon from the rear
although there is no certain proc
that any Arab in the west end Of tha'
section took part in the rising ane
there were vast number of wemeI
and boys who were perfectly 1nno.
ent. Of these nearly all the men anc
even the boys above certain age
were shot, and it is undoubted but
that great many women perished.