Evening star., 1917-01-06
HOW ITALIANS BATTLE
HIGH UP IN THE ALPS
Will Irwin Thinks They Rank Next
to German and French
Soldiers.
25O, 600 From America in Ranks. He
Tells National Geographic So
ciety Members.


nvered lecture yesterday afternoon
and last night before the members of
the National Geographic Society, at the
New Masonic Temple. in which he de-
scribed some remarkable feats of the
italian army in the Alps
To know what Italy is fighting for
and to understand the Italian army's
class one needs only to look at
profile map" Mr.. Irwin said in the
peace OF 1866 Bismarck arbitrarily ad-
5usted the frontier so as to give the
Austrians all the important passes and
strategic positions on the italian side
OF the Alps This situation has always
been embarrassing for Italy, and more
than the rescue Of the Italian popula-
tion about the head of the Adriatic,
they desire the possession of the posi-
lions which secure their frontier Most
Of those positions they have already
taken. and they will be able in the
spring to turn their attention to the
invasion of what they call Italia irri-
denta, or unredeemed Italy. the region
about the head of the Adriatic The
Italians held a front almost as long as
that of the French, and one of incredi-
BILE difficulty.
%oO,UOO From America.
Few people know that the United
States has a greater part in the Italian
front than in any other We have more
American citizens in the British army
than in any other. and probably there
are very few American citizens among
the Italian troops, but there are $50, 900
men of the new army who have worked
In America I never found place on
the Italian front so remote but that l
could speak English with the men
every company would have from two
TO nifty eager to hear the latest from
New York. San Francisco, Cleveland or
syracuse. These men have worked on
our irrigation and reclamation prof.
ects. on the Croton dam and on our
great transcontinental railroads. They
are. In short. expert diggers.
The Italians, with their characteris-
nc and practical intelligence. have put
these men to the job of roadbuildins,
IN the Alps, and nothing in the whole
history of military engineering COM
pares to what they have done under
the direction of expert north Italian
civii and mechanical engineers. In
deed, some of the direction has been
American. The man who blew off the
top of the Col Di Lana and who ran
the famous gallery which enabled the
Italians to take Gorilla is a graduate
Of Cornell University and has an ofIice
N san Francisco. i found in one of
tne highest Alpine bases a young tele-
phone operator who was homesick for
Chicago and asked me. when | wanted
10 know what / could do for him, TO
send him the Chicago Tribune That
very day an Austrian deserter was
Drought in to be interrogated. He was
homesick for Pittsburgh and had de-
serted. really. so as to get back to
America.
Cannot Use Aeroplanes.
The altitude is too great for the use
OF aeroplanes. This is the only part of
the front where there has been no war
In the air. The scouting work is gen
orally done by bodies of men on skis.
VINO represent cavalry. Some of the
most DARING feats of the war have been
performed by these ski men. In srIft
dashes against needles Of the moun.