The Oklahoma City times. [volume] (Oklahoma City, Okla.) 1908-1984, 1917-11-09
Udine, Little Known Before
1917, Was Once Smashed BY
AttiIIa, the Hun, Years Ago


| hill rising in the midst Of the city to
view the burning Of Aquileia A.
II Is true that Napoleon N3A In
l'dinc and that in a palace ~ that
town Napoleon broke the plate, ac-
cording 10 Abbott, TO show the Aus
trian minister how Austria should be
broken # It resisted Napoleon. But
alas for udine, Napoleon didn't care
tor its name, and gave the treaty the
name 0f a little village with the war
like name OF Campo Marco, nearby.
So with Attila and Napoleon in the
town ON errands OF conquest, II is
rather fitting that the kaiser also
should come 10 Udinc
Population $4,000
For though u m only sllksDinning
and cotton weaving town OF 10000, 1t
is no mean city For some curious
reason It IS referred to by travellers
as second though il is TWEEN
| ty-fiye miles from the sea and has but
one sad lilile canal about four feet
deep running through it which is lit
tered with broken pots and pans and
is miserable ditch at high water and
a public dump at low water But
Udinc takes iron Venice fine old
city hall built after the style OF the
Dogc's palace with a statue OF Ajax
before it and one OF the equestrian
statues of Victor Emanuel near Ajax
--onc OF the myriads OF such foolish
statues OF Emanuel that makes Italy
look like barnyard But even
| Emanuel cannot take away the quiet
dignity OF the portions that adoTn the
ancient city Many OF the stores and
shops are under arcadcs And the
whole effect OF the place is unreal; II
seems to be paper Wache city, made
for a moving picture background. Yet
il is an old. old city. Piny tells OF
it, and its cobhlcd streets have ratified
to the clash Of arms and the tread OF
warlike men for three thousand years.
Base in 1914.
In 1914 It was made the base OF the
Italian army and when war on Austria
was declared Udine became the Italian
military headquarters. The king
moved out to a little villa in the woods
near Udine and has been there with
his troops since his war began For
two years the town has been a great
gay camp For the commando SUI
premo was quartered in a hall near the
old wall OF the city. One drowSy ait
ernoon only month before the Ger
mans came into Udnc ! spent ten
lonely years in the old town waiting
for spmc friends to return from days
excursion into the ulian Alps. The
graz old town was abIa2c with color.
Tor soldiers were everywhere, IN the
, cafes under the dnsky pprtlcos and ar
cades, Crowding in the shops, crossing
| the broad squares, Scurrying about IN
grsy motor cars OF the army loailng
in the little gardens which one
olimpsed through quickly shutting
doors that opened out into courtyards.
a The shops flashed with gaudy post
cards and British and French artillery
men with red braid on their somber
uniforms swanked about the place
0roud OF their prowess But alas, there
were too few of them.
What Might Have Been.
| ii England and France had needed
'taly'S call before the fail OF Udine as
'ley responded VIXEN il was too late,
the German invasion would have been
checked They know it now. The other
lllcs are doing thtia best at tremen-
dous cost to make amends And
doubtless they will hlunder through (,
but the bundcr was unNecesSary.
| For the Italians knew that they
needed guns; they told us in Septem-
her what they had told the allies Off
clally IN July and August frankly that
The situation IN the mountains toward
Austria was serious They were hold
ing the mountains against the Austri-
ans, they said but when the Germans
came with their big guns, the Italians
had to get out II was question Of
artillery The English had sent some
big guns, and the French had sent
what they could but not many--Com-
pared with the need. And Italy had
aid officially to the allies that while
Italy could whip Austria, Italy would
have to run from the big German guns,
In the high Alps the Italians, have
made 500 miles oi Gibraltar, which are
reached from the plains from 5000 10
10000 icet below, by 1900 miles Of
beautiful hard-Suriaccd double track
automobile roads-all built since the
war In the Gibraltar OF the high
Alps are hundreds OF gun impIaccmcnts
far,pu Austria with np guns in them
scores and scores OF tunnels are hol'
lowed ont ot these mountain tops with.
out ammunition in them Italy has
the men; but she has little coal and
no iron TO speak Of and at war she
must always borrow her real efficiency.
what Allies Will Do.
OF course the answer 20 the desperate
situation IS that trcunauy has her
troubles Il she keeps her guns in
Italy this winter the aVleS will find
the place from which the guns came,
and break through GcrmanyS line
there II she takes her guns away.
Italy can and will whip the AuStrran>
lett on guard and they will soon
hr chased back 10 laharh, from whence
the, came Near ldnc are scores oi
LITTLE Austrian graveyard, made last
prug IN the h,g Austrian retreat
For the names on the headhoard, are
not leul1nlr They are Hungarian,
Magyar. Czech and Slavic race, =pco.
pie lighting under the dual monarchy
nptwlth u lhc, will uN stand against
| q nation fighting for n, home So.