El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-06-28
HIGHEST BATTLE.
FIELD ON EARTH
Italians Drag Big Guns to
Top of High Mountain;
Fight in Eternal Shows.

Headquarters Of the Italian Army,
June 2S.-Adamello. which Virgil
crowned King of the Italian Alps. Is
the most elevated spot in the world
where war has ever been waged.
Through the courtesy OF the Italian
general staff. which is DESTROYS that
the world outside of Italy should know
the hardships Of this unprecedented
campaign, the correspondent Of The
Associated Press was the first civilian
allowed TO witness the fighting on this
colossal mountain. which is 1880 feet
high and covered with eternal SHOWS.
The correspondent saw the mountain
swarming with thousands of Whitehead
Alpine soldiers singing, alert. eager,
crossing glaciers, challenging avalanch-
es. charging the enemy with fixed bay
onets. all above the clouds
Big Canon on Mountain Top.
There the correspondent witnessed
the action Of heavy artillery, battery
OF which fired from the highest point
IN the world where artillery had ever
been fired It seemed almost a mira
Gle that such big guns could have been
transported in two months Of hard
labor from a distance OF fifteen miles
IN one of the valley below over two
hundred men had been required for the
dragging Of single one Of the pieces,
ana al one stage Of the work an ava
lanche had swQOped down from the
mountain sides and swallowed up the
cannon and devOured 80 OF the men
The professional mountain climber
never attempted to reach the top Of
Adamello, but in summer the view OF
the surrounding Alps with Mont Blanc
the Jung1rau- and Monte Rosa in the
distance IS considered the best in
Europe Winter and summer. the fight
ing there is under conditions that pre-
vail only in the Arctic regions. There
death grip. their deaths and their deeds l
all but unrecOrded save in dry army
annals given but a brief line in the
terse bulletins Of Gen. Cadorna-
Never Before Such Warfare.
While the Austrian and Italian can
non rumbled lazily. exchanging rude
courtesies, or seeking to dislodge ava
lanches 10 better destroy and hamper
the enemy, awakening ecohes that /
leaped from dozens Of miles up and /
down the abrupt peaks, the genial /
Italian colonel accompanying the cor
respondent remarked that in no other /
war had such fighting ever been. that /
neither the armies Of Hannibal nor 1
Caesar. nor Napoleon ever dared en-
gage in such work. that their armies
which did go over mountains not half i
the height. were hardly larger than a
regiment Of Alpine troops as today Or
gained that above all they did not
winter in the mountains nor deal with 4
Businesses pound by pound, plank by 1
plank, piece by piece. their food their
supplies, and the guns and ammunition.
Repeated Along 275 Mile Front.
These conditions are not limited to
the Adamello region. but repeat them
selves on two thirds OF the Italian 1
'front.' OF over a line OF 275 miles OF
mountain chains going from the Swiss
frontier down TO the banks Of the
IsonZo river from which can be seen I
the bitter blue Of the Adriatic, as the /
poet d'Anuunzio described it
Along this line titanic struggles take
place daily Of which the outside world /
never hears It took five days for the
correspondent to slowly climb the
A damellO crest and in this period the
ITALIANS succeeded in blowing off the
top Of another mountain called Cold
Lana which suddenly burst into the
air with its defenders who were on !
their side trying to explode a mine
which would blow to pieces the Italian
troops
One Of the curious facts connected
with this mountain front is that no.
where have the song birds deserted it
IF / were TO write home that every |
night 90 TO sleep listening to the
boom Of cannon I would be readily be-
ieved. but IT / added that often I lie
iwake for hours listening TO the liquid
.riu OF friendly nightingales in the
nearby woods, my statement would be
dr.ell AoE a SoiuttE 5 yarn Sal0 an
lrtillery officer late one night as he
md the correspondent stopped on their
way across wooded little valley to I
ister to a nightingale's song That
ong ls not an exception" he explained, |
7 have crossed this valley about this
inc Of night for weeks on my way to
ny quarters, and that bird is always |
inglng. no matter how violent the ar
illery noise"
In the upper mountain districts the |
correspondent noted that the skyIarlls !
ED to their usual haunts with the I
anne tenacity as the nightingales in the ]
Dwer country. flying high in the air 1
ntil they went out Of sight above the |
lowy peaks. apparently undisturbed !
Y the whizzing of the shells that went I
through the air hundreds Of feet above
he soldiers