Evening star., 1918-02-03
Travel by Tramway.

Soon after leaving the pretty VII
lage of Schio. just south of the foot
hills that lead up to imposing Mouht
Pasubia. the broad. stone -bedded roau
begins to rise perilously. curving each
thirty or forty feet with Sickenins
"hairpin'' curves. Soon the cars of the
correspondents refused to travel upward
further over the icy roads. and We're
abandoned when they showed an in
clination to slide backward over the
precipice.
II was then that the "teleferico' was
resorted to. just as II has on countless
occasions been used to bring wounded
men down QUICKLY When delay and la
borious mule eback transportation would
cost them their lives.
Far out over the valley to the right OF
the steep road seemingly beginning
nowhere and ending nowhere. and sup
ported at long intervals by massive
steel uprights resembling the towers
that carry high-power electric wires.
were four strands Of cable. and. as the
correspondents contemplated their use
less automobiles. tiny carriage or car
loaded with sacks of potatoes came
swinging dizzify. along two of the
strands mysteriously working its way
, upward until IL vanished out of sight
behind shoulder of the mountain.
"In a few moments we'll be comfort
ably ensconced in one of those and
wont need the automobiles" said the
dashing young Italian officer heading
the party.
short walk up the road led to a low
wooden shed-the starting point of one
Of the teleferico lines trat encircie
Mount Pasubia from its base to its
crest And into the cars the party crept.
two to a car and in reclining posi-
tion-then to he swung off into space
on the first stage Of the journey to
the top.
Traveller Left Suspended.
There are several stages to the jour
,trtv ho,, hall hNyr
and each becoming increasingly nerve
racking. since the cars. which start
of at a rather smart pace. slow down
In the middle of the stretch. come al
most to stop, and leave the amateur
traveller suspended dizzily anywhere
from one to five thousand feet above
the nearest jagged rock. Generally also
on the higher lines. the pause comes
during a snowstorm at this season.
However. the danger. according to
the odd timers" who travel daily, is
small The teleferfco will carry a max
imum weight Of over GOO pounds to
each little car-and but two human be-
ings are permitted to ride. except in
the case of urgent wounded. who are
slowed away three to a car. The great
est danger of accident lies in rocking
the boat" as it were. agitating the
car that it might tip or rock side
ways and spill one out.
Many of the lines-those that run up
ward at the dizziest angles and that
by passengers, but carry only ammuni-
tion and supplies. At certain times OF
the year the lines highest up cannot be
operated by day because thev are in
view of the Austrians and make excel
lent targets, but at this season ii is
possible to run them constantly be-
cause of the snow and fog.
The last of the lines runs almost to
the front trenches. which are hewn out
of rock, but which in winter are gen
eraly showed in so that the troops
imbed themselves in snow trenches and
live somewhat the life of the Eski-
mos. At points the first positions run
within thirty yards of those Of the
Austrians. and the warfare that is car
ried on is largely that Of sniping and
machine gun interchange. 1t is quieter
than at any other part of the present
italian front.
Used in Commerce.
The teleferico system does not date
from the war. but was in part installed
beforehand. and was used for purely
commercial purposes-to haul up sup
plies and food to the settlements ir
the mountains But with the beginning
Of the war the tremendous advantage:
Of the aerial transportation lines were
instantly recognized and the existing
lines were increased in number as fas
as possible in the Mount Pasubis
sector. at Mount Grappa. and elsewhere
Important as it is. however. it is bu
one factor in the tremendous defensive
system that has held the Austrians il
check for more than thirty months
The roads-those which already existed
and those that have been built out o.
the rocky sides of the mountains-ar,
another very important feature. espe
cially when one considers that on thei
dizzy curves the high-powered. special
ly constructed Italian camions can hau
huge loads to an altitude of more thar
5000 feet.
Mules by the thousand have been i'm
ported from North and South America
Spain 4nd elsewhere, and ahe especiall,
valu1ble because. unlike the horses
theySseem to suffer little, II at all. from
the bitter weather. eat little and cal
60; ;for long periods without the waite
that is SO precious at great heights.