The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-05-11
That 10 What Austria and Italy Have
Been Doing Through the
Years Of
Peace.
FORTIFY THE BORDER
Country Which Has Been q Delight to
Tourists, Likely to Become
. Region Of
Terror.

! That forbidding, dizzy. fort-strewr
way, which as the border line be
tween Austria and Italy. goes dane
ing over the peaks and passes OF the
, southern TyroIese Alps. is pictured
in its wonderful scenic splendors and
in its strategic exclusiveness by Flor
ence Craig Albrecht in a recent com
munication to the National Geo
graphic society. An ominous Interest
attaches to the writer's report ufon
two carefree summers spent In eX'
ploring this frontier country, as, In
the threatening relations now exist
ing between Vienna and Rome. its
delightful area may soon become
reign of terror. the theatre of the
most costly mountain fighting Of hts
tory, with each hill a mound Of de-
struction and each valley a death
trap.
For years, both Austria and Italy
have been keenly exerting themselves
to see which could fortify its side Of
the border best At great expense.
and as secretly as possible, this work
has been pushed along through the
years OF peace. until today either de-
fensive chain is a mighty one, strong
er than the Carpathian line, stronger
than the Argonne or the Vosges.
Speaking Of the strategic exclusive
ness OF this way. sown thickly with
forts, block-houses, batteries and gun
pits, and of her difficulties in securing
photographs during her two peaceful
summer excursions, Mrs. Afbrecht
says:
Then only the real meaning or
those grim fortif1catiosn which face
each other in long rows across Al
pine valleys came home to us; then
only we sensed the bitter reality Of
the soldiers calling-we, to whom
the horrors of war were happily all
unknown. Forts until then (the out.
break of Europe's war; had been u1s-
considered, save as they interfered
with picture making; the soldiers life
had appeared solely from its pic
turesQue side.
"One might think that the great
chain OF the Alps would thems elves
be sufficient fertilization, c natural
bulwark between north and south, be-
tween Saxon and Latin. But the pine
has ever yearned for the palm, and
the palm for the pine; invaders there
have been from either side; so today
a line Of forts run bristling over peaks
passes ana highways ike Cat-tedseTs
upon a stone wall.
Ports along the Swiss-ltalo frontier
are fnconspicuous. the writer con-
tinues, though it is possible that Italy
maintains as proportionately strong
defenses here as upon her Austrian
Or Franch frontiers. However, she
makes less fuss about her Swiss line
of defense. France, the writer says,
Is q little more modest: for she re-
quests tho kodaker not to trespass
upon certain territory nor photograph
in certain directions. But there Is
fa- more earnestness on the Austro-
Italian frontier.
TN Austria! Make no excuse, for
there is none! 'Verboten, expressed
worldly IN four languages, lines the
road for a mile on either side of for
uffcations or frontier. One may not
only not sketch or photograph in that
direction, but is forbidden to do so
in any other direction from that
vicinity.
Before two thoughts have been as
sembled a soldier appears out of no.
where, and q more or less grun voice
admonishes the lingerer TO move on.
Rigid as ana the orders In Austria