The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-08-27
STRUCK WHEN READY
Italy Spent Ten Months Prepar-
ing for War.
Perfect Military Machine Is Organized
With Remarkable Secrecy and
Speed-General cadorna an
Italian Joffre.

Rome.-It has generally been
thought that organization was not a
strong point with the Italians But
| today the Italian army shows how fine
work OF organization has been ac
complished. But the ten months
while Italy was neutral were employed
in organizing, with remarkable Sc.
crecy and speed. a perfect military
machine. 1t was known that Italy
was preparing, but how extensively
was a well.kept secret.
Today she has no lack of high ex
plosives' or of anything else tdowu
to masks against poisoned gas), which
close study OF the war in other parts
of Europe has shown TO be necessary
The credit is generally divided be
tween Premier Salandra. General Ca
dorna, the chief of staff. and Zupelli
the minister for war. These three
have shown themselves to be great
men in this work Of preparation and
foresight.
General Cadorna, by the way, is not
commander in chief, but chief Of staff
For the king is commander in chief
Victor Emmanuel III is daily winning
for himself the love of his soldiers
With ceaseless activity he rushes
from point to point ct the front, ap
pearing where ne is least expected, &c
share a hasty meal with the officers
and go round to say to the men a few
words Of sympathy and encourage.
ment, often under fire.
General Cadorna seems to be an
Italian Joffre. lie has not yet been
so fercely tested Like Joffre, Ca
dorna hates politics in war, talk, ex
citement and humbug of all sorts. Or
ganization and discipline are his in
struments, and he has given the coun.
try quiet confidence in slowly ma
turing results, which is just what ev
cry country must have in order to en-
dure this long and terrible war of ex.
haustion.
Not that Cadorna is slow to strike:
far otherwise. For one recalls the
rapid seizure of the innumerabe
passes of the Trentine and Carnic
Alps in the first days Of the war, be
fore the Austrians had got their men
up from Galicia. Besides those called
out by conscription, 100000 volunteers
enlisted before recruiting was stopped
by the authorities Italy has a great
% Apl sI, t~
fear for her race from the losses of
this war than any great nation except
Russia. For her birth rate is natural
and high Little children are not only
loved in Italy, but they are plentiful
There is a notable absence of tall
stories from the front in Italian talk
and in the Italian press. The stories
perfectly reasonable and unsensation
al, of course emphasize the courage
and endurance Of the troops about
which there is no shadow of doubt
and markedly so their humanity Sto.
ries of the kind treatment OF Austrian
prisoners and wounded are told ev.
erywhere All stories some told to
me by eye witnesses of high military
standing, emphasize the excellence OF
the Italian artillery and its superiority
to the Austrian. The natural and ar
tificial strength of the enemy's pre-.
pared positions on the Isonzo alone
renders progress slow.
There is great development of
trained nursing by Italian ladies This
began during the earthquakes of re.
cent years and the Tripoli war 1t
is now a great movement Of the day
and a valuable step forward in Italian
life where woman nurses have been
till recently notable by their absence.