Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1918-06-26
AUSTRIAN LOSSES HEAVY.
Italians Pursuing Retleating Foes.
Many Prisoners Taken.

Montello and the right bank OF the
Piave river by the Austrian troops.
The Austrian Disaster.
New York, June 24.--Italy's VIC
tory over the Austrians OIL the ,Piave
front appears likely to assume the
for the Italians, and disaster Of
great magnitude for the defeated
enemy.
Already, it is announced In official
dispatches from Rome, the Austrians
have lost $4,000 men in prisoners,
and great quantities of material,
while the extent of their other casu-
alties may be indicated by the thou
| sands Of bodies floating in the wa
ters Of the swollen river.
Invaders Left Many Cannon.
Unable to force his way further
than the immediate vicinity of the
west bank Of the river, and with
bridges thrown across the stream
| swept away by the swirling waters
| Of the flood pouring down from the
mountains, the enemy began q pre-
! cipitate retreat Saturday night.
So hasty was his withdrawal that
he left great many cannon on the
west bank Of the Piave, while his
retreating infantry columns, accord.
Ing to news dispatches, are already,
being pressed by italian detachments
| thrown over to the easterly side Of
the stream.
From the Montello plateau south
| ward to the Adriatfc comes the same
story of the Austrian retreat. The
Piave river formerly emptied into
the sea quite near Venice, but in re-
| cent years its course was changed to
Its present location. In the first
| rush of the Austrian offensive the
enemy succeeded in crossing the old
river bed, which Is now canal.
From their positions there the foe
| has been driven and the Italians are
relentlessly pressing pursuit. The
latest news from the Piave river
front, sent out on Sunday, tells Of
Italian bombing units being thrown
across the main stream of the Piave,
which seems to indicate the Austrian
retreat was not stayed at the eastern
bank Of the river.
Forlorn Hope for Austria.
There is every indication that the
Austrian hunger offensive has
been forlorn hope for several days
The effect Of the defeat on the inter-
nal conditions OF Austria Hungary,
when once the news is made public,
can only be conjectured, but It may.
| be Chdt Ihc lIdlldHS nave QeaII lDO
enemy harder blow than that
merely involved in the military feat
OF pushing him back across the
| Piave.
There have been no further re-
! ports foreshadowing a new attack in
the mountain sectors Of the Italian
front. Thrilled by their signal VIC
tory in the lower reaches Of their
battle front, however, the Italians
and the allied troops fighting in that
theater of the war may be expected
to meet any new move with the stub
born resistance which so far has null
lifted the efforts of the Austrian EN-
peror to carry the war into the plains
Of Italy and quiet the murmurs Of
his soldiers with the loot from cap
tured cities.
Coincident with the Italian victory
on the Piave comes the news of the
Italian units on the Marne-Rheims
sector repulsing q second heavy
German attack on the heights of
Bligny, just to the west OF the city
of Rheims. The German failure was
complete, as was the original blow
on Saturday night.
! A German attack on the French at
Antheul, west Of the Disc, was beaten
off on Sunday night.
British troops have taken prison
ers and inflicted casualties in local
operations along their sectors Of the
front in France.
Austrian Retreat at Night.
Italian Army Headquarters, June
23.-The great retreat along the
Piave front began under cover of
darkness on Saturday night. The
retreating troops left their cannon
behind them.
Italian detachments are pursuing
the enemy east of the Piave.
Austrian troops left to cover the
set up barrage fire.
| When it was observed that the
Austrians had begun retrograde
movement the Italians began to at
tack virtually all along the Piave
line from Montello on the north, we'll
toward the mouth of the river. The
attack was quickly pressed and be-
came more insistent, accompanied by
ltviolent artillery fire.
The number of guns left behind
by the Austrians as they retreated
has not been computed, but Is said to
be very great.
The work of the American avia-
tors who appeared on the front last
week for the first time contributed
notably to the disorganization OF the
Austrian forces which had crossed
the Piave, according to Raffaele Ga
rinci, correspondent of the Milan
Ecolo.
| Attack All Along lime.
The Italian attack began at dawn
Sunday. With the Montello on the
left flank the attack was carried out
all along the line through Candelu
to SandOna di PiaYa