Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-11-08
ITALY'S PERILS
FROM THE HUN
Strategy and Terrain Of New
Teuton Drive Described
by Will Irwin

THE expected has happened, and the Hun
4 has struck at Italy. Mackensen leads
his forces at the brave troops who have
fought so bravely, in the face Of such OBJ
stacles for the sake of Italia Irredenta
The initial contacts of the new drive have
favored the German. Is the fate meted out
to Serbia and to Rumana to be repeated,
with Italy as the suffering nation7 The
general who defeated those countries leads
the new drive. Even the tactics that re-
suited so successfully in the earlier cases
seem to be being repeated now.
| The Isonzo front is the scene OF the new
drive. Italy had won this ground early in
the war at tremendous treasure of men.
| The operations conducted by the Italians in
this connection have their need. Of atten-
| tion in Will Irwins new book, THE Latin
at War" which takes on special interest
and significance in the light of recent events
Read Mr.. Irwins general description of
the Isonzo front:
THE Italians had crossed the Isonzo
against the best resistance Austria could
offer. had pushed on through the ruined
town where first we saw the shells burst,
through the goblin wood, through the cha
teau; and foot by foot, impossible position
by impossible position. they had wrested
two miles of this rocky desert from the
enemy The advanced trenches to which
we were going made a fortress OF earth and
rock on the very crest of the hill"
The Italian Trenches
And as for the trenches, what are they
like in this country? Again Mr. Irwin gives
the answer:
1T resembled only dstantly the trenches
OF the more westerly front It was not
a ditch, but rather passage between
walls, made here and there of rough field |
stones, fitted with the skill of New Eng
land fencemaker, and here and there hewn |
rocks. 1t was topped by rows Of sand |
bags. i
"shall I call them sleeping serpents or
just dtches? Merely two lines of rock and !
sand bags, very near with a blasted ter |
rain between. From far, from near, was |
to see line after line cf trenches in the |
next twenty-four hours and the thought |
was always the same: So quiet, so harm |
less in appearance. those brown stripes |
across the landscape y: 80 deadly in
effect"
One part of the territory that has been
so bitterly contested is the Carso. Here
is the description of It:
1T is a kind of desert patch, dropped by |
some freak of nature into the midst of
a country which drps fertility. II is all
iron red rock busted with iron red soil
in which little grows. 1t rises in a range
of low hills with abrupt drops here and
there. All we saw was rocks, a forest
thinning out to solitary trees as It reached
the barren, red soil, and grotesque military
works"
This was the terrain the Italians ad-
vlnced over in the earlier stages Of the war
Here the gallant soldiers thronged along
HNr Nfrrr fFN
their country the land that once was hers
and that should be theirs again.
Doing the Impossible"
One bit Of the description of this almost
campaign stands out in "The
Latin at War"
TT had been heroic episode in the
Italian war. once a great foreign officer
stood not far from our position and
watched through his glasses the lines
breaking out Of their trenches, wavering,
reforming, stopping the new lines coming
on. the final rush which took Austrian po-
sitons."
"'They are doing the impossible he
said"
They were doing the impossible, and
they have continued to do the impossible.
Gorilla was taken, with all its strategic
importance, after some months Of war
fare. OF 1t Mr.. Irwin says:
IT'S n hard problem sighed the lieu
tenant, for it's full of our own people
oppressed Italians Three months later,
by one Of the most brilliant strokes in this
war, Cadorna solved the problem"
And in little more than a week after the
Germans began their counter-offensive,
Gorizia has fallen under their blows
AS Mr.. Irwin points out to us, when the
time came, after the close of the Austro-
German war OF the nineteenth centurys
latter half, to make peace, Bismarck gave
his ally. Italy, the plains and valleys of
this territory. To Austria he gave the
heights and the mountain peaks--he made
her the guardian of the boundary Italy
he made a dependant vassll; Austria a
powerful ally
So. when the time has come that Italy,
justly resenting her treatment at the hands
OF her supposed friend, goes against her to
win the land that rightfully is Italian,
Germany is in a position such that 1t is
easy for her to defend AND win back when
necessary what her spoils were.
The Brave Latin Spirit
The picturesque Italians-carabinieri
bersaglieri, alpnists-have fought a brave
fight against terrible odds. For time they
have been successful Now the Hun has
turned in an effort to do to them what
he tried to do TO France at Verdun. II |
ltaly's allies aid her in her need, II there
Is enough cooperation among the Allied |
forces to bring strong pressure to bear upon
Germany in other quarters and make her |
withdraw her troops to other fronts there
is hope that Italys splendid work will not
have been in vain. That question the Allies
themselves can answer, and their answer
will doubtless be in action.
But, in the face of everything, we must
recall the facts of Europe as they are
Serbia is crushed but not beaten Rumania
Is defeated but her spirit still fights for
the cause she knows is right Russia is an
inert, apparently helpless mass, but there
4 hRra anpa h fVaer NIaf |
the war. Come what may, the spirit that
has made Italy win her tremendous VIC
tories will live on to fight for her righteous
cause in Italia Irredenta"