Iditarod pioneer., 1917-02-10
THE HOLY CITY IN WAR TIME AS VIEWED BY YOUNG LADY
 OF KEEN OBSERVATION

through from any of the European capitals which has not been written with the knowl- edge that it must pass the gauntlet of the arbitrary censor The following letter, how ever written by young American lady in Rome under date of November 1916, and received in recent mail, evidently was not subjected to censorship, and 1t presents an interesting picture of the Italian capital in war time For obvious reasons names are suppressed:
 "We reached Italy the end of July, after a most interesting week in Paris. Such changed, grim place it is now. l won't at empt to describe it. Mir. p went to the front (not to the Verdun front and lad most interesting time. He met Gen. Gourant, who commanded the French at Gallipoli, and the famous General de Castel- nan We'll we got here in the blazing heat and went to Fiuggi for 8 month. It is cure about two hours by motor from Rome on the way to Naples. It wasn't wildly interesting, but restful, and l en- oyed the motor rides we had every day.
 hen we took a motor car to Lake Como, ia Orvieto, Florence, Bologna and Milan Mrs. p and l settled down at Cerubbio 1 was wild to go to Venice, and 50 was Mrs. p, but Mir p wouldn't ,et us. They had an aeroplane raid while 1e was there, and it was thrilling. It takes aeroplanes about forty minutes to reach Venice from Trieste, but the Italians have ,n instrument which registers their ap- proach long before they reach Venice. So hey blow a siren to rouse the inhabitants nd the anti-air craft guns begin firing and oedlam ensues They had been having raids n the full moon of each month up to 'eptember, but we haven't heard of them ately They have been talking of raids
 gre, and everything Is kept pitch dark
 me say, however, that the emperor of Austria has promised the pope that Rome
 Ill not be raided.
 City in Darkness
 "One really seems very far away from he war here Of course the city IS de
 old of tourists, and there are few motors n the srreets and not many people in mourning Paris is heartrending, with its ndless women in crepe veils Of course conomy IS being urged on all sides. Elec- tricity is being saved in the streets, which re pitch black; the shops close carly. As r food, of course we eat only brown bread Tvgs are so scarce that there are times when not an egg can be found in Rome. The ick can get them on presentation of a doctors certificate at certain places only. Sugar is becoming very scarce; they have had sugar riots here and there, and you can only get minimum amount at tune. But these are only triics, and one doesn't mind them really.
 Work for the Hospitals
 [" My days tear by. Every morn in from 10 to | we work hard for the soldiers. The wife of the American am bassador has opened an 'ouvrlor,' where ladies of the American colony come end work. We give out work to be made up by poor women wives of the soliiers, or rather 'richiamati' Literally, the called outD who come here once a week and fetch It and bring it back the next week. In this way pajamas, surgical shirts, chest protectors, dressing gowns etc, are made and sent to hospitals at the front. Last Thursday ell articles were collected, the work of the week. In fourteen months of work more han 9lOO0 articles have been distributed by our ouvroir Of course we slso get boxes sent out to us by the American Red Gross. The need of warm things Is simply narrowing The Italian fighting IS all in the mountains, and the cold Is almost be yond endurance in some places They write such grateful, touching letters of acknowl- edgment.
 Cheerfuness of Maimed Soldiers
 After this war Europe will be full of maimed humanity. The blinded by battle are too heartrending in France. visited one place Miss Holt's institution), and 1t was no uncommon sight to see bind man who had lost an arm as well. They ire uuently lose both arms as well as thelr sight. One young officer who was blind had lost an arm, but he rides in the Bols every day, and when l saw him he was learning to weave with his one good hand and an artificial hand; also learning English through talking to his instructor, an Amerl- can woman. I have visited hospitals in Paris and here, and, like everyone else, l am amazed beyond all words at the ln- variable cheerfulness and spirit of all these mangled, maimed things. The other day l went to an enormous military hospital here of 'mutilati' Every man had lost an arm or leg-mere contadin boys. Every one smiled and was glad to talk to me as distributed cigarettes. l went with the Contessa Cadorna, the wife of the com mander in chief One man from Tunls, they said, was trying to teach himself English to pass the time, and he produced a tattered English grammar proudly >nly book-from under his pillow. They aid he lay there day after day turning over the leaves He beamed as if had promised him 8 gold mine when l said l would get him dictionary. l have sent lim some books with footnotes in Italian.
 we often see interesting people here Americans with missions. One man came from the American Relief for Belgium con- mittee in London to ask the pope to ar range for the Catholic children in the United States to give toward the starving }elgian children. The suffering in Belgium ,nong the children is so great that many normal ones are becoming mentally def cient through lack of proper food
 Thrilling Scenes at Concert
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