Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1915-09-29
LIKE PICNIC PARTY
Italian Faces Death With a Smile
and a Joke.
Austrian Officers Astonished at the
Easy, Cheerful Ways of italian
Soldiers-Comrades Be-
tween Officers and Men.
BY CAMILLE cIANFARRA.


Udine, Italy.-A stay of a few days
at any of the sectors into which the
Italian front is divided will convince
the neutral observer of several
things. Two of these will suffice as
chiefly characteristic of the Italian
army, viz: The good humor of the
Italian troops even in the face of the
most desperate straits; and the ex-
ceIlent relations which exist at all
times between the officers and men.
Shrapnel shells may explode at reg
ular intervals in and around the
Italian trenches, the roar Of the guns
may be deafening and awe-inspiring,
the rain of bullets may raise clouds
of dust and send pebbles and chunks
of rocks hurting through the air
and yet the Italian soldier will al
ways be ready to get all the fun he
can out of the situation.
In fact the clammy hand of death
may be lurking in every corner and
yet his native smile will never desert
him, the unquenchable fire will never
leave his eyes, he will always be
ready for a joke at the expense of
the unsuspecting comrade standing,
rife in hand, at his side, alert at the
first signs of real danger
This good humor, the radiant smile
and the easy cheerful ways of the
Italian Tommy" even after the most
bloodcurdling operations, in which
he may have risked his life a dozen
times, excites the wonder of the Aus
trian officers.
One of the latter in letter to his
mother which was found on the bat
tIef1eld declared that he could not
make up his mind whether these
Italian soldiers were cynics or en-
thusiasts.
For a whole day" continued the
officer, who is a devout Catholic, Il
was prevented from training a gun
against a certain spot, because l saw
through my field glasses that an am
munition wagon was guarded by a
priest armed with long shining
cross"
When the Italians evacuated the
priest was nothing more nor less than
u black cassock and a widebrimmed
hat. supported on two wooden sticks
and the cross formed out of a num-
Der of tin meat cans.
Music and singing, however, form
the chief diversions of, the Italian
troops, whenever and wherever the
officers allow it, AS Colonel Dunn,
military attache at the American en-
bassy, remarked after a short visit
to the Italian front, These encamp-
ments behind the firing line are more
like a picnic party than soldiers on
a battle front"
Every contingent has its quota of
guitar, mouthorgan and mandolin
players, and night concerts follow
each other on every side until the
Last Post" is sounded and the regi-
ment retires under canvas. But even
then after the patrol has disappeared
toward the farthest end of the camp,
a tender and touching melody steals
through the air, lulIing the nearby
restless to sleep.
As to the relations existing between
the officers and the men in the ranks.
they form, in the opinion of Captain
Hayshi, member of the Japanese mil
itary mission, a striking feature of the
war. Italian military discipline is
strict, but not harsh. 1t is main
tanned by kindness and justice rather
than by fear.
First the officers invariably treat