El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-11-16
ITALIANS WOULD
GERMANS
Open Flood Gates of Piave
and Sile Rivers to Flood
the LoWlands.
tContinued FROM Page -

Cen Bellows German troops. was just
across the river from the DOiu- Of
observation and q big German sau-
sage balloon was insuleutly hanging
over the town, observing Italian bait
lerleS- The CdmpauIe Of Nid0r was
distinctly visible and with field
glasses several men could be seen
moving about the outskirts of the
Gown How this could be with such
smelling gong on was difficult TO un-
derstand. The advantage the Ger
mans mad at this point was evident.
as the hills rose back OF the town.
F giving them screen for their batter
les These played down on the tai
ianS in the plain on the eastern side
Of the river.
Roads Full OF Refugees.
again the route turned southwark
along the river At one point tbs
party passed one Of those heroic reg
lmenls OF cavalry which acted as
rear guard while the main Italy army
re'lTed 10 the western bank OF the
Plave- The cavalry horses had been
lclnered in vineyard. All the vine
yards, haystOcks and gathered crops
are beng sacrificed lu the present
emergency Nearing the river che
roads Were fun OF frightened people
AurrElns away with their pitiful fam
lies on the top or household goods
carried on carts and wagons.
The actual river bank was NOW
near and the escort gave special
warning OF rifle and machine sun
fire. i'm addition TO Slrauuel from the
batteries. The town OF Nerves.. on
the rivers edge, was deserted COM
p4ete-E as tine party passed down 20
the wharyes, and the silent town had
sepulchral aspect The roar Of ar
tiliery was now supplemented by the
battle Of coffee mills" as the sol
dierS call the machine guns, and the
crack OF rifle fire
River Is VERY Narrow.
Officers led the way. creeping IN
single file into an old warehouse
standing on the edge Of the Pave
river IL had already been q target
and the side toward the river was
sieved with machine gun fire There
were two huge she'll holes The great
wine watts of the warehouse. still
fun. had been abandoned in the
hasty flight Of the civilians. The
river al the point is extremely mar
VOW, with shOll through the mid
die, offering the enemy handy means
Of getting half way over The es-
COruuE officer said both channels
measured total OF 500 meters or
about half a mile. but the little
stream lying at the feet of the OBJ 4
servers. did look half as wide as the I
Delaware river. II seemed narrower l
than the Chicago canal as il passed 4
through the city IL appeared trifline I
as military barrier, even with the I
best Italian support Its uarrOwuez8 3
is evident from the fact that those /
in the party were compelled TO speak ]
in whispers for fear OF being heard ]
by the enemy on the other side Of :
the stream
Trenches Along River Bank.
From the upper window Of the
warehouse a long view up and down
the river could be had The italian
front line ran just u5-Ow the window
HHna could raHH .Hr
back of the defences with the rifles
ready for the enemy just across this
narrow belt Of water. The wrecked
FrIOla bridge lay Off 70 the right
running east and west across Neuetia
and was a stately structure of ma
sOury and concrete The spans on
both river banks are still good. but
the two middle arches are heaps Of
ruins which showed above the level
Of the river Directly In front was
The castle OF count Callini, an Ausu-
-rian nobleman living in italy who
now unexpectedly finds himself
imouS his COuntrymen-
Hard Fight ut ZenSon.
Further down the river huge ,
loud OF smoke drifted over Zensou, =
where the enemy had succeeded i'm
making his first crossing and was
low pressed back against the river
lank- The fighting at this point had
leen desperate all through the Ga
The enemy az first occupied the viii
age with a large number OF machine
guns There the Italians attacked !
hem with artillery fire. backed up by I
Infantry rushes. The fighting be- !
anne desperate. with hand 20 hand 4
trugEles. even with knives. The @
nemy had the advantage of position q
IS the river makes a sharp bend so !
hat his positions formed an arc on =
ach side Of the bend. But with j
u their disadvantages the Italians q
ad steadily forced them back so that q
hey now occupied less than three
uarters Of an acre and were hemmed 2
n on all sides. The artillery was 7.
on this enemy party &
nd IL was believed Il would be forced p
acS across the river or thrown into 7.
he water.
Scene OF War Council Meeting. ,
On the way back the correspondent U
assed through the deserted city Of 3
revise, where Gems. Foch, Wilson j
nd Cadorna held the first of the con- e
erences at which plans for French II
nd British cooperation with tbs
Italians were made.
Venice Almost Evacuated. IN
Venice. Italy. Nov l5.-Venice is Il
ow almost empty. the population n
aving been reduced from the usual rs
10000 TO 10000. Despite the prox- "
nifty OF the enemy lines at the mouth p
I the Piave river and the uusUccess- 4 81
ll efforts the Austro- Germans have S