Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-07-08
ENEMY TRENCHES
CLOSE TOGETHER
Place of ISOnZO Front Has Distinction
of Being Only Place Where Fight
ing Positions Join.

Headquarters of the Italian Army
Correspondence of The Associated
Press -ZagOra, which is a little
mountain hamlet that was buried in
oblivion before the war, is famous to-
day on the only point on the AustrO-
Italian front, and perhaps on any army
front, where enemy trench lines actu-
ally run into each other. For 400 miles
on this front the Austrian and Italian
trenches run parallel, being often as
close as 80 to so yards, but at Zagora
they slide into each other and then
slide away again, uphill and down dale,
following the general trend of the
Isonzo river which empties into the
Adriatic sea far above Venice.
The situation at Zagora illustrated
the difficult and curious character of
the warfare on this front, where there
are probably not anywhere opposing
lines of trenches crossing SO much as
a single acre of fiat land, for there is
no fiat land except on a rare mountain
top.
You must see Zagora, they're al
ways fighting there, playing little
tricks on each other said division
staff officer to a CORES pondent of The
Associated Press. He then took a pho
tographic map and showed two lines
of trenches running for miles along
the mountain sides. The upper is the
Austrians', and the lower is ours" he
explained Note that at Zagora the
two lines run together"
1t was decided that the best time to
see Zagora was in the early morning
when the actual firing was desultOry.
Many miles of walking before day
break over a pontOOn bridge spanning
the IsonzO river, and up a mountain
eli
tunnels. brought the party to the
headquarters of the officer in command
of the hill. The commander conducted
his visitor still further up the noun
tain towards Zagora, already visible as
a heap of ruins of what once had been
the peaceful homes of peasants. The
visitors went up at an angle of so de-
grees. in the shelter of old trenches
that once had been front trenches. At
every turn were visible little plots of
wooden crosses where Italian or Aus
trian soldiers had fallen during the
terrifice fighting carried on by the Ital-
ians to gain their way up the face of
the mountain.
1T has been like a sword duel be-
tween us all the time" said the com
mander. with little artillery fire be-
cause either side using guns would, in
view of the closeness of the opposing
trenches. kill both friends and enemy.
Its wonderful the way the soldiers
have kept up their spirits here" he
went on For a whole month last
fall, when the mountain was mass of
wet rock and mud, when it was posi-
BILE to get food up only by night, when
the men could not be relieved. when
to strike a light meant death from
Sniper when our trenches were but !
hastily constructed piles of stones left
by the Austians as we pushed them
foot by foot towards the mountain top, !
the men held on with amazing cheer
fitness Not even the wounded COM
planned The death struggle developed |
the best qualities of our men. Even |
the socialists among them, whose prin- |
ciples do not include fighting, became |
some of my best soldiers"
AS the visitors came full upon the !
shattered blackened stone walls of the /
hamlet of Zagora, the commander adj /
vised: "StoOp low. now. and run /
When you reach our front /
line, don't talk, don't even whisper. |
The Austrians will hear you and be- |
gin an attack, thinking we ourselves !
are about to start one"
The party halted near the walls Of |
what once had been a huge country |
kitchen. built under the lower side of /
A house. facing toward the mountain /
top. Within stood men against the /
wall with rifles in their hands peeping ,
out little apertures. On the other side |
q this wall, not two feet away, stood