The Topeka state journal., 1916-12-29
Twelve Months Have Witnessed
Three Great Campaigns.
q MILLION men TOOK PART
Fall of Gorilla Growing Vic
tory Over Austrians.
Living Cost Up go Per Cent,
Economic Problem KnOtty.
BY JOHN II. HEARLEY.

/ to enter the war, Italy has learned the
lesson of military. naval. political,
economic and social unity for success
! full prosecution of that war more
| quickly than her fellow nations in the
entente. The year 1916 was the year
| in which she showed how we'll she had
! learned her lessons.
Italy joined te allies in May, 1915.
/ Her army and navy had a theoretical
training for modern war But FOR
months after she threw her lot with
| the allies Italy had to suffer the hard
schooling of the present-day battle
! ground before she was actually pre-
pared.
Until January 1, 1916, we were like
| schoolboys, studying strange lessons
but learning them well,' was the way
a prominent general expressed it. But
we are fighting now, fighting like
| scientific demons and winning, slowly
| but surely.
Politically the italian government is
more firmly welded to the allied un-
! ion than ever before. Germany's pro-
| paganda, which continually seeks to
! sow differences among the allies, has
failed here.
Germany Tried to Win Italy.
! Alleged German agents. who try to
/ turn Italy against England particular
| ly, find no response. Apparently the
on Giolitti and his followers. The old
premier's return to power during the
war is improbable.
The Salandra ministry fell in early
spring In its stead arose the Bosselli
! cabinet, said to be more accepta bic to
France and England. The immediate
and most radical result of the change
was Italy's declaration of war against
| Germany. The despatch of Italian
troops to Saloniki and France as well
as more intimate ministerial contact
/ with the people followed.
In the last twelve months three
great movements stand out from
! Italys land fighting. They include her
| counter-offensive against the Aus
! trians in the Trentino, her Isonzo Of
/ fensive and her CarSO drive. Superior
! in men and cannon, the enemy unex-
pectedly poured thru the valleys of the
/ Adigo and Brenta last spring They
were stopped only within sight of his
toric Veneto and slowly pushed back
! along the road they came. They still
hold rocky square of 100 miles along
/ the Trentino border, their only foot
hold on Italian soil.
| Few Miles From Triest.
In midsummer the Italians concen-
trated their resources for an ISonzo
offensive. 1t eliminated in Gorilla 8
fall during the first days of August. In
late September preparations for a new
pleted. 1t began in early October and
has already brought the ierce-fighting
Italians within several miles of Triest.
Winter however, is apparently now
conspiring with the Austrians against
the immediate capture of the "unre-
deemed city"
Almost 100000 soldiers played ac-
tive parts in these three theaters of
war. The Austrians, it is estimated
lost almost a million in dead, wound
ed and prisoners. The Italian losses,
tho admittedly heavy are considera bly,
less. Moreover, Italy today holds
about $500 square miles of Austrian
territory, embracing prosperous towns
and fertile valleys.
Meanwhile, over the sky-scra ping
peaks of Carnia and of the DolomItes
the Italian arms were also slowly ad-
vancing- Strategic positions like the
mountainous Col di Lana and the Girls
tallo fell to King Victor's men. thru
| mining and other engineering opera
tions. In the processes of those cap
lures entire enemy regiments were
often jellied.
| Besides, Cadorna's troops have oc-
| cupied Argirocastro and Delinno il
| Epirus. Both are on the road tC
Janina, which is one of the principa
I towns in Albania. From Nallona they
| have advanced east to Koritza ant
| with the French took Monastir, Mace
donia's key.
| Has Austrian Fleet Bottled Up.
Cooperating with the army Italy.
| navy has bottled up the main Aus
| trian fleet at POla. Several times The
Italians have made daring excursion!
| against ParenZo. Durazzo, Porto Bus,
and Pola, bombarding military anC
/ naval works apparently with diSas
trous effects. They have captured o.
| sunk several enemy transports anC
> submarines. In addition, the battl,
: Nirih is he +,
have blown up in the harbor of Pola
following an Italian air raid.
Italy's losses at sea include th'
! Benedetto Brinand, the Leonardo d;
, Vinci, destroyed thru internal explo
sions and several transports and tor
, pedo boats, said to have been SUM
= by the enemy.
The Italian airmen have reinforce,
the land and sea fighting. They hav
been responsible for successful aeria
bomba rdments on Trieste, Pola, Cat
s taro, TomeZzo and Sobenico. On tn
Y other hand enemy aerOplanes ilav
# carried death and destruction to Vor
f ona, Padova, Gorizia, Spezia and Ven
It leo. They have been followed by Aus
trian submarines. which have bonn
d barded Avcona, Bari, Brindisi, Sa
n vonna and Napoleon's island of Elba
n Italy's financial and economic arm
Y against the enemy are now well or
e ganized.
1t is costing Italy more than $4,000,
n 600 a day to do her bit.
: Governmental DEGREES, closing tn
IT cafes and theaters at 1880 and stop
V ping the trolley cars at the sam
if hours, are apart of the economic pro
4 gram. The candle power of tile stree
Is lights. also has been halved and ex
o travagant expenditures for dress, lux
:. ury and pleasure frowned upon.
If Women Doing Mems Work
= Living was approximately 90 pc
cent higher last January 1 than