The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-05-09
italy NEUTRAL
TO REC0UP ARMY
Weakened Condition Pre-
vented Early Inter-
ventlon.
100000 UNDER ARMS
Many-sided Military Organization De-
signed to Garry on War in Every
Part of Varying Country.
nrial Gable TO The Washington Herald

Spcial Gable TO The Washington Herald.
Rome. May S.-One very good reason
why Italy has not earlier entered the
war is the state of unpreparedness of
her army last August.
The war with Turkey has caused
tremendous drains. The equipment
especially was bad. If Italy had de-
clared war nine months ago she would
have found herself worn to a FRAGILE
in short time.
For three-quarters of a year Italy
has devoted herself assiduously to the
work of preparation and the result is
wonderful The actual first line is a
million men strong. but as for war
purposes each regiment is doubled. the
effective strength of the first line has
now been brought up to about 2,000.-
900 men under 30 years of age. In
addition there are the territorial mill
tia and the reserves, which means q
third million.
Ready for Attack.
The most notable bodies are the IA
nous Legion of Cara bineers the
twelve regiments of Frontier Guards.
and the twelve regiments of Alpine
troops.
OF the infantry regiments the Ber-
sagliere. the Alpine regiments, the
Frontier Guards. and about a dozen of
the infantry regiments are especially
equipped and trained for the extremely
| arduouS warfare of the Alps. In par
ticular the Alpine regiments have for
some time past been at full strength.
fourteen classes averaging 10000 men
per class being at the present moment
with the colors scattered along the
frontier to prevent any sudden attack
! from the north.
The Italian cavalry is known
throughout the world as an extremely
c. nahle body of men. Under the COM
mand of Count of Turin. inspector
general of cavalry. il is certain to
give a good account of itself.
Perhaps the greatest difficulty with
which Italy has had to contend in pre-
pairing for the field has been in the
| matter of artillery. Long before the
/ European conflict broke out. the war
minister had ordered a large number
of batteries of the new Deporte. as
nm. field gun from France. On the
! outbreak of the war the French manu-
facturers found that they were una bic
| to supply the guns. as all their pro-
duce was required for the defense of
| France from the invader.
! Made Her Own Guns.
Italy was therefore in a hole Some
months after the war had been in
progress they were able to obtain
from the French general staff one bat
terry as a sample. This battery has
| been the model on which many bat
teries have been manufactured in
\ Italy.
| Throughout the winter the factories
| have been working night and day to
| fill the requirements of the army. and
even the state railway works have
been utilized for the manufacture OF
limbcrs and gun carriages. Besides the
! Deporte IS. the army is equipped with
the krupp IS.
AS a result of the experience gained
! in the present war the number of
! guns to a battery has been reduced
from six to four. The minister of war
in explaining the reason for this
change. stated that experience had
now shown that "A quick-firing battery
of four guns was superior to the old
arrangement of six guns. while from
| the mobile point of view it was dis
tinctly advisable to adopt the new ar
| ranEement.
Army Many sided.
The peculiar physical conditions OF
Italy make it necessary that the army
engineers corps shall be many-sided
Besides six regiments of sappers, il
contains one regiment of miners, three
regiments of bridgers, one regiment
of Lagunari. one regiment of aero
/ statists. fifteen battalions of aero
planes mot counting private owners
and airmen), and three regiments OF
, railway engineers.
The morale of the men is excellent
and though there may be many who
would have preferred that Italy re-
main outside the contest. when they
have once donned the ginbba they will
rejoice to be once again at the old foe
The army is young and energetic. II
represents the flower of the land II
is thirsting for revenge on Austria
One by one the classes have been re.
called and drilled. New officials have
been appointed. the nuclei of fresh
regiments formed. and generals have
been appointed.