The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1918-01-18
II
LACOONS IN VENICE
HAVENS OF SAFETY
City Is Now Almost Emptied
OF the People
DOORS OF SHOPS SHUT
Artillery Defense Line; British
Monitors; Ride Through
Canals

With The French Army In Italy,
December 15.-ECorrespondence of
The Associated Press. Before the
menace OF the modern Hun, Venice
whose lagoonS centuries ago fur
nished an asylum Of safety for refu-
gees fleeing form Attila, is today
almost emptied. OF the 10000 per-
sons who ordinarily inhabit the city,
only about 1000 remain. But this is
not because Venice fears for her own
protection. Across the battlefield of
the reeds it is believed that no in
vader will penetrate to the islands of
the Venetian lagoon. The city puts
her trust in. the lagoons IS confident
ly as she trusted to the sea in olden
times. To the visitor in Venice in these
days when the invading army lies
only short march distant, one OF the
odd memories of the war will be that
of music Of the great guns bombing
from the Lidi and the nests of ready
islets in the northern lagoon. That
music accompanies you all day in
Venice.
Has Face to The Foe.
lit QuSSll VI titE AttIldIlC lidS uti
face to the Zoe. Sc has Shut her
shops and, sent her merchandise
away. The army or the navy have
taken her young men. Those that
remain have bricked up or sand
bagged her churches and monuments
and now await the issue in entire
calm, confident that although the en-
envy is no more than a long gun shot
away, it is not at her. own gates that
Venice is nenaced. ~
From Burano, a motor-boat takes
you through a maze of channels into
the canal Silones where you thread
your way between reed covered
banks toward the mainland You
can see nothing but the channel and
the reeds,l There is not a roof nor
spire in sight. We are getting up
to what may be called the artillery
defense line Of Venice. On the way
we passed British monitor with her
big guns pointed inland. The coast
batteries and big gun monitors con-
stitute another defense line. Here
in the salt. channel between the is
lands we come suddenly upon a float
ing battery or tSontoon, as the Ital-
ians call theme 1t is a big steel
barge mounting gun which has
been steadily pounding the Austrians
on the Piave Veechia all night. She
is manned by sailors for the artillery
defense of Venice IS entirely in the
hands of the navy.
The MUDDY Water.
From Porte Granhi, as far as the
eye can sec the land is covered with
waste of muddy water, rows of
half submerged willows marking out
the fields which it covers and here
and there an isolated clump of farm
buildings emerging from the floods.
We are here on the edge of the
Piave foundations and in another
naval artillery defense belt. High
banked roads, bikes and farm houses
are all that remain above water.
Some of these farm house islands
are held by Austrians and some by
Italians and it is the aim of both
sides to destroy the farms held by
the enemy. A few nights ago some
Italian sailors undertook cutting
out expedition against one of the
Austrian islands, captured and burn
ed the buildings and came back with
Austrian prisoners.
Nothing moro dismal can be i'm
agined than this battlefield among
the reeds except the awful desola-
ton of the Flanders front Unend-
ing water, half drowned willows and
farm houses under bitter winter sky
compose about as melancholy a pic
ture as even war presents. On many
of the islands formed by the release
of the foods to protect Venice are
brave families clinging to their
homes in the hope that 1918 will see
the invader thrown back.
Superiority of Artillery.
On this sector the Italians have
superiority of artillery. 1t is at night
that the italian guns do their hard
est work. At night the Austrians
always attempt to construct field
works or to lay bridges of boats
across the Piave Veechia to the ca
mails. They take number of boats,
tie them together and swing them
out from one bank trusting to the
current to float them into place on
the other side 1t is the business of
the Italian floating batteries to drive
away these bridge builders and to
destroy the fruits of their labors and
this they do with surprising success.
In Venice, herself, I have seen no