The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1915-08-10
Reaches Udine and is Promptly Or.
dered to Return to Rome on
Pain Of Being Shot for
Refusal
ITALY KEEPS Lid
ON WAR DOIN'S
Correspondent Greeted by Soldier
on Arriva! and is Then Given
Police Reception; Plea
to Generals Vain
BY WILLIAM G. SHEPHERD.

u
Omitted Press Staff Correspondent
Udine. July 15.-tBy mail.-Udins
Is the Italian front. That is, 1t is as
near the Italian front as you can get.
And you're not supposed to be here.
You journey from Paris to Rome,
then from Rome to Venice and from
Venice to this little Italian town and,
when you get here you find you're not
welcomed
Other nations got excited when their
part of the great war started but Italy's
frenzy outdid them all. The censor
ship in Italy was the strictest; the tic
up of the railroads the completest: the
silence OF the telegraph and telephone
the deepest; the secrecy the greatest
and the adherence OF correspondents
the most thorough
It's for this latter reason that sol.
dier meets you at the train. In some
way he has heard that you were COM
ing. Little does it matter to him that
you have travelled thousands OF miles,
that you have spent hundreds of dol
lars and scores of hot. dusty hours to
get to this place. His duty is to take
You to certain hotel where ,inwal-
come persons can be visited by the mil
itary police and probed.
When you get to the hotel you take
the room the hotel man gives you. In
way. you're guest; In another way
you're a prisoner. Little difference
does 1t make that you're an Amer
ican and that the hotel mans brother
is barber in San Francisco and that
he's doing well there. The hotel man
is under military rule, too; he must
give you one of the rooms that have
been set off by the military authorities
for undesirables.
After you get your baggage into your
room you decide to go out and face
the music with the people; it's better
to go to them than to have them to
come to you. So. in rattly cab, you
start off to the police station. 1t is
Sunday evening. at seven; the streets
are filled with soldieTs-hundreds OF
thousands of them. They go about 10
groups: they laugh, but mostly. they
sing. You hear snatches from all the
operas.
Everybody sings tenor. there are
scores of Carusos about The soldiers
walk through the streets with their
arms about each other; Italian men
are great for arm holding and hug.
ging.
The soldiers are huge; 1t is picked
regiment; six footers are only aver
age OF all the gatherings have seen
on both sides in the great war this
gathering at Udine was made up of the
biggest men | have seen in one big
group. Amcng these Italian soldiers.
you are in a boydom. Your carriage.
going through a narorw street. passes
a moving picture theater which is just
emptying itself of soldiers; they're
shouting and laughing and gesticulat-
ing; you can see hundreds OF pairs OF
hands waving.
Your carriage comes to a halt; the
horse is pulling in vain; twenty SOL
diers have caught the sSokes OF the
hind wheels: the rear end of the cab
kicks up; the soldiers have lifted 1t
into the air.; the horse and the cab
and you suddenly shoot forward;
thirty giant Italian soldiers are push
ing the rig from behind like wheel
barrow. Then someone yells: "Oh.
you American."
"Americanl Americanl American"
runs through the crowd Then some
one yells, Long live the Americana"
In a moment everybody yells il Three
cheers for New York, F" yells another. in
good New York English "Lon.s live
New York" yells the army.
The rear wheels of your carriage
come down with thud As you drive
away you stand up and bow and every.