The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1916-11-09
About 100000 Will Aid Allied
Campaign Among the
VoSges Mountains.
PORTUGAL SENDS SOLDIERS
Transports 10000 Troops to Western
Battle Lines in Face Of Trouble at
Home-WiII Japanese Go
to Europe2

I1OOpo uSlllHS VIZ lIC I'll ~
Already two ~cOntingents comprising
$4,000 men each have arrived in France
and 500 are expected to take up their
positions in the Vosges. All of the
Italians will be sent to that region,
the mountainous country comprising
the extreme end of the fortified line in
Alsace.
The Italians will comprise regi-
ments Of the Alpini, the men recruited
from the mountainous sections of Italy,
skilled in mountain warfare, and Injured
to work in the rarified air of high alti-
tudes.
Soon to Be Sent to Front.
That the first c%ontingentS sOon will
French front is believed here, and it
Is further thought this fact had m
thing to do with Italy's declaration OF
war against Germany, as Italians will
be engaged in actual conflict with the
Germans.
Besides these troops Italy will fur
nish special mountain artillery for its
contingent, the guns being Ut the sams
caliber as the ligNt French-75 MILL
meters-but capable of higher angle
fire and mounted on different type
wheels and caissons, making them
more adaptable for hauling up grades.
| Some of these guns are mounted on
skids, so that they can be dragged up
steep mountain trails. Italian Red
Cross hospital units also will accom-
pany the Alpini.
Besides the Italians there will be
still another nationality represented in
the trenches on the western front.
Portugal is sending 10000 men to this
ready are landed in France. Just
what portion of the line these troops
will be sent to has not been divulged.
More troops may be forthcoming from
Portugal during the winter, although it
Is reported the internal condition Of
affairs in that country requires the
presence there of mary soldiers. The
recent strike outbreaks and other la
Dor and SOcialistic manifestations have
been such that troops are patrolling
ind guarding railway lines and bridges
throughout the country.
Lack Of Officers Hamperino.
Lack of trained and experienced Of
fcers is acting as a handicap to the
new British army in France, as neu-
trafs and enemies agree that the mil
lions poured in the field from England
are of the highest fighting material.
Yet their lack of expert leadership is
costing them enormous losses and for
a long time prevented Sir Douglas
Haig from keeping up with his French
allies in the Somme offensive.
France, next to Germany, is perhaps
better off for officers than any of the
countries at war, and it is because
the republic, like the fatherland, saves
It's commissioned men as far as pos
sible. 1t is well known that snipers on
either side pay little attention to Or
binary soldiers, being under orders to
pick off officers only. And therefore it
Is highly necessary that officers be
difficult to differentiate frs.n the men
in their trenches in order that enemy
snipers may not spot them too easily.
British Officers Easily Spotted.
The British officer wears a collar on
his tunic like the collar of the jacket
of any ordinary sack suit. He also
wears Il khaki collar and khaki tie.
The German shat shooters have not
been slow to find that out and the
British losses of officers show the price
that they still are paying for this glar-
Ing and distinguishing mark.
Every French officer from a SUBJ
lieutenant up carries, swung over mis-
shoulders, a. pair OF binoculars in Il
black leather case. The German
snipers know this perfectly we'll, so
that when they ensconce themselves in
q convenient shell hole, or other place
of vantage, they take no chances on
revealing their whereabouts for the
sake of Dagging an ordinary poiIu;
they wait until they can draw a bead
on The wearer Of Il pair of field glasses
and then try to pot him.
But what is sauce for the goose is
sauce for the gander, as all German
officers carry field glasses too, and the
French sharpshooters lie in wait for
them IN identically the same way.
French Method Of Charging.
When the French charge and the Of
ficers are forced TO take to the open
with their men, they are not permit
ted to carry their field glasses with
them.
The Germans in some cases have
adopted a ruse exactly opposite. In
sending out a "wave of assault" in
storming a position the German officers
carry their binoculars slung over their
; shoulders, and every private carries 8
dummy pair Of glass.'s. made Of
cardboard or papier mache to resem'
BILE the binoculars, so that the rea
officer is indistinguishable. The French
have captured a number Of Germans
% equipped with fake field glasssa'