The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1918-10-16
BASKET ON A STRING.
One of Italy's War Appliances That Does
Fine Work.


Jolly good work 1 call that for a
basket ION a string" was the way a
visiting British officer characterized an
exploit. of the Italians in the course of
Wilhelm lieu of any other way of do
inc it-they had shot the end of cable
from a gun across a flooded-swollen river
and thus made it possible to rig up a
| teleferica for rushing over some badly
needed reinforcements.
! The Italians conduct of their Alpine
campaign must remain classic of noun
tain Notwithstanding which has never
been approached in the past and may
never be equaIed in the future.
Perhaps the most spectacular exploit
ever carried out from q teleferica was
that by which a troublesome nest of
Austrian machine gunners were cleared
off one of the pinnacles of the great NJ.
massif in the fall of 1916. The situa-
ton was irritating enough for the
Italians even when the activities of the
enemy were confined only to observa-
ton, but when he took to bringing up a
machine gun and peppering- almost
from its rear-the headquarters of an
Alpini battalion which held an important
pass 5000 feet below, it became we'll
nigh intolerable. What happened was
related to me some months later when
| asked the major Of this battalion how
it CHANGED that the roof of the officers
mess in which we were dining was
armored with sheets Of steeL
Against machine gun bullets" was
the reply; there was a time-of ac-
cursed memory-in which ne used tc
bring gun out on little splinter OF
; rock. not 800 meters from here in al
air line, and spray the whole of oul
little terrace with 'dum-dums.'
I'VE were working day and night,
I he continued, ito excavate a gun cavern
the fire from which would make that
2 troublesome position untenabe for thu
$ Austrians I'm the meantime we had t.
e stick it out as best we could. At thi
e junction Captain \ came in.
What is to prevent my rigging N
+ machine gun in teeferica basket.
r he said, covering with myself ant
. A man to help-under piece of canva
Q as if it was AN ordinary load of gear
4 letting it be run down until | am wei
. in the rear of the Austrians, and turning
= loose?"
:, IF | hadn't been seeing more or les
: red myself and if our position had no
become really serious. / would probahl
{, never have listened to the mad Pre-
: posal As it was | entered into
heart and soul. we reokoned the slop
: Of the cable, and hung the platform G
y the machine gun at an angle whic
: would make il easy to elevate and rang
e. on the Austrian position above. Then
as happy after; bought We bent
sheet of bulletproof steel for a shiel
on the exposed side erected a low plat
form .on which the gun would rest :,
y curely and the first and last armore
teleferica was complete.
, I'VE had to DO a bit Of trimming I
= put her on an even keel. after which 81
I, rode smoothly and evenly. With \ an
- his assistant croucEed low on either sic
= Of the gun. and black tarpaulin throw
= loosely over the whole, she looked iii
=, an ordinary load OF Junk going down Il
repairs, When y Wnmasked and open,
tup We could even follow the line of brow
dust spurts on the face of the cliff as T.
bullets ranged upward toward their mar
And that was about all there was to
of The fire Of the two Austrian machil
guns ceased instantly. and never r
pd sumed. Probably the gunners We're kill
IN before they had chance even to tu
+ round their guns and reply to the suddt
~, attack from the air'-Iewis r. Freem;
m in Popular Mechanics Magazine.
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