Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-09-29

of the mountain becomes plain in the latter
part of the story Mr.. Corey gave his word to the
italian government that the stories would be pub
Iished the censor left them.
WITH THE ITALIAN ARMY IN THE TREN-
wv TINO-Many little gray figures ran up the hill
the glare of afternoon Shells broke
among The tapap of the miltrailleuse came to
The little gray~fgures hestated, then they
stopped Then they down hill again At the foot
of the steep slope thin black lines which the
! glasses showed to be trenches.
They taking shelter" said the officer with me,
with sigh of relief.
We were watching the attack Mount X. Four
times that day little gray figures toned up that
hill Three times they repulsed Each time they
found shelter trench little nearer the top than
the they had left The fourth time they struggled
the summit in disorderly crowd Here and there
groups of four five or perhaps dozen Again
might be running madly all alone toward
the crest Sometimes there the semblance of
line.
1t does sound exciting, does it? Yet taking
fortified position by the was one of
gallant feats the Italian army has accom-
plished in this mountain campaign From the summit
o X it possible shell one of the roads by
the Austrian army obtained food and munitions
That fact explains of the fight by both
defenders and the assailants The taking OF 1t was
one of the items that forced the Austrian retreat
Fresh from watching the trench warfare in France
felt peculiarly fortunate in viewing this charge
across the barren slopes. 1t is privilege that mas
correspondents in the west since
early movement settled into the monotonouS
one position. We riding all day on roads
with big guns with heavy lorries with pack
mules, with one-horse CARTS with the odds and ends
that follow army with supplies Sometimes we had
ridden for hours through long of Italian infantry
toiling through the dust. Now and then the
of a motor horn from the rear told of the
stormy approach of a general officer
1--WE getting near the 'front.' SAID my COM
panion.
We were meeting the a dolorous pilgrimage.
The slightly wounded were their to the dressing
stations hidden the wooded hollows of the hills.
One thought of them at first as very tired They
limped along, using their crutches, or some
times leaning heavily on a dry stick picked up by the
roadside. Black-red patches their clothing told
where the enemys bullet had registered Invariably
their uniforms foated in where they had torn
them to locate and dress the wound.
Then the somewhat more dangerously injured
men, Now and then little soldier would stagger
along under the weight of comrade he was carrying
pick-a-back of the fire. The brancardiers began
to appear three men sometimes FOUR to litter.
Not of the wounded grOaned, but many
CHASTITY pale. Here and there man in litter might
be pressing his hand against the wound to still
the pain The road filled with them. We came to
house, which had been torn by the shells Behind
the ragged remnants Of the walls group of soldiers
sat chatting. They seemed entirely unconcerned.
open hill nearby company of men slept in the
They had just been relieved from duty and they
were exhausted Later we walked among them, and
hardly stirred. Most had wrapped their
their heads protect their tired eyes from the
glare. The scorched
I'VE will go to observation station" said the
officer to
That observation was on the bare top a
hill shell holes pitted My glasses revealed on the
slopes by little tumbled heaps of clothing The
hobnails of a heavy boot sparkling in the sun--an
Austrian cap-a rihe-alone told that these little
tumbled heaps been Except for these
signs there nothing about them to suggest the
fact They neither CHASTITY nor pitiable One
glanced at them and looked away! They were COM
pletey negligible items of the landscape.
In the hollow below As1ago-held by the
Austrians taken by the Italians, retaken by
Austrians carried by again by the Italians 1t
vas So near we could see the holes torn in the white
h,,i1I nv tho Crool ouyhar
incendiary shells had exploded and where houses
Asiago the dressing stations nearest
the The Austrian shells fell in Asiago with
a monotonous regularity Big Shells evidently from
the mufied hump of the explosions. the
the valley was bare, brown Mount Rasta. To the
right were Mount Interpotto Mount Mosciag h
held by the Austrans. Their black woods spotted
with pufs white smoke where the Italian
falling.
the high Dolomite Alps The slopes where the of
the seven communities feed their cattle and sheep in
peace were rich in The hills are crowned by
precipous cliffs and dense forest Only Mount Rasta
was bare and brown. On its very top white building
shone in 1t might be the home of some we'll
to-do farmer-or perhaps the summer home of a rich
lowlander. well-to-do Venetians come to Asiago
in the summer the heat l swept the land
scape rather idly with my glasses One does not
EXPECT to see very much of modern battle
What is going there?' 1 asked "On Mount
Rasta?"
The moment before the slopes had been empty of
any living being As hill began to I'LL with
little fgures They spouted out of shell holes and
leaned from thin black lines that examination
nroved were trenches They began to go forward, up
the hill at lively dog trot. 1t was not charge IN
parade formation sees in pictures Each man.
or each group men, seemed to be acting separately
often there wide spaces where there no men,
Then a few would appear. Then one might see thick
c1up,p all running toward the summit From the dis
lance we could pounding of the mirailleuse
Other mitrailleuses joined the first They made an
irritatng carpenterke clamor.
Shells began to fal,among the little running men.
The Austrans this slope in perfect range
from Moscagh and Interpotto and half dozen other
hills whose names do not matter. big shell burst
in a group o perhaps fifty men. Every man went
down. Then most of them got up again and began
running a confused way, down the hill. Not many
had been killed. apparently. They had either been
thrown down by had fallen to escape
the shell fragments The number of shells increased.
The hillside became ndstinct places
where the earth filled the The irregular line
of running stopped. Then all turned and began
to run down hill again
Watch them" said my companion. "See what they