The Mena weekly star., 1918-07-04
BLOODY SCENES IN
 AUSTRIAN ROUT
Witnesses Tell Graphically of Flight of vaders-Thousands Leap Into Stream and Are Drowned
 --Dead and Dying Along River.

Italian Headquarters, June z6.- Under the fire Of Italian Machine guns and artillery. which were brought up rapidly. the Austrian withdrawal across the Piave soon became dis orderly rout It is estimated the Austrian losses total mere than 200.- coo.
 It was a terrible sight as the mad dened Austrians fled under the deluge of Italian bullets and shells. They leaped into the river and grabbed pieces of wood or anything that would aid then: they tied themselves to mules and hers@s but their efforts were in vain for as the enemy troops reached the oposite bank they were again caught by the fire of the Italian guns which had been trained accur- ately on the eastern bank. for some days.
 Appalling Slaughter.
 On the MonteIIo the slaughter was terrific. Bodies of Austrian troops were moved down almost in their en- tfrety. On the crossing at Nervesa both banks of the river were strewn with dead and dying while hundreds of bodies were carried down in the current to the sea.
 At one place the correspondent counted 900 bodies while walking a distance of half mile. One regiment of covering troops which originally was of 5000 men had left Monday but eighty men to the company. and these were prisoners.
 How the Rout Began
 On the lower Piave the Austrians found themselves, if possible, in q worse position and sustained heavier losses. 4 single episode shows how and why the riout started. On Friday and Saturday the Austrian command sent the 91st Schutzen Brigade com- posed of regiments numbers 3t and g., with orders to widen the Austrian breach at Lempol and to do this at all hazards The brigade attempted to carry out this order and fought like wild men, but the Italian pressure was SO terrific that they were unable to accomplish their object which was to succor the Austrian divisions already surrounded in this section.
 Apalling Losses,
 After several attacks which con- tinned Saturday night and Sunday morning, there remained only 90 men of this brigade. The others were esth- CT prisoners, wounded or dead. The commanding officer then committed suicide and the 90 surrendered.
 Yesterday was the anniversary of the battle of Solferino, in which the French and Italian armies defeated tka Austrians 59 years ago. The vic tory was proudly emulated by the Italian army in the present fighting. in fleeing the Austrians left behind them much war material. The enemy troops even threw away their rifles and deserted hundreds of machine guns, which were to have been used to protect the retirement.
 Austrian Euorts futlie.s
 It is estimated that the number of Austrians on the western bank of the Piave when the retreat began was over i0O,0 ,000. This great number of men, however, could do nothing against the Italian counter attacks.
 The Italian official statement in the past week has frequently emphasized the cruel losses inflicted upon the Austrians. Among sixteen prisoners taken at one time on Montello for in- stance, it was observed that they be- ionged to no less than seven different regiments. Prisoners report that seri- ous losses were caused by the Ital- ians artillery trench bombs and machine guns The thirteenth Schut- zen division is reported to have lost fifty men from each company on the average.