The weekly Alaska citizen., 1918-07-01
ITALIANS ARE
 HEARTENED BY THE AMERICANS

and particularly in this section neal the fighting front. the work of Ameri can relief accomplished by American Red Cross workers has served as a medium for stirring the spirit of re sistance among the people and sol diers. It has contributed toward keeping them heartened for the trials of the war and letting know that America was united with them in it
 It is a work going on all over Italy, but here near the front il deals with actual fighting conditions in belt of country lying just back of the fighting line, with masses of troops billetted in town, villages and country districts, and vast wave of refugees, swept south and west from the invaded regions, settling down with all their misery like a swarm of locusts on the local com. munities.
 In such a section the work is some. thing more than one of relief, for while $2OO.0OO has been distributed in this one section yet the main purpose has been to stimulate, and hearten the spirit of the peasantry, to arouse their arder and support for the men on the fighting line, and to let them know that America and all her resources are with them to the end.
 These provinces of Trevise, Vene- tia and Padua lie just back of the Piave and mountain fighting fronts. Trevise province is on the border line, with half it's cOmmunes occu- pied by the enemy and half by the Italians, and the Piave running be. tween the two severed parts of the province. Every one of the 3S Trevi. so communes remaining under Italian control have been visited by the American Red Cross workers; the 103 communes of Padua province have been similarly visited and some 75 communes in Venetia prov. ince.
 Stirring scenes have been wit. messed in these country districts as the American workers have carried on their work, under the general direction of Captain Thwaits, in charge of civilian relief in the wal zone. At Este, for example, pub lie holiday was decreed. the town was placarded with posters announc. ing that "the Americans are com. ing" school children and the mayor gave dinner with speeches. The same wave of appreciation and en- thusiasm has spread everywhere, un- til the whole region rings with what the Americans are doing.
 The tour today lay due north due to the very margin of the fighting country, and one could see side by side the stir of intense military preparation, the spring awakening of a great agricultural region, and the sQualid misery of the unfortunate mass swept out of the invaded re- zion and settled down here unable to get any further. On the right was the Piave river with the de- lenses on the heights of Asole and the Montello region, and ahead was the snow-covered peaks of Mount Grappa and it's line of mountain de- lenses stretching west to the Brenta river.
 The signs of military preparation and defense were on every hand, even at this distance ten or fifteen miles back of the actual fighting line, for everything is prepared ahead for the possible eventuality of the con. flict surging down into this peace full plain. Squads of army engin. eers were at all the bridges, digging deep pits for mines to blow up these structures and block the advance of the enemy.
 Sentinels were on guard every hundred feet along the Brenta canal guarding this precious artery of communication. Across the fields new trenches were being dug up, so that the farm country was gradually taking on the aspect of an armed camp. Barbed wire entanglements criss.crossed the fields. Some of the emplacements for batteries and ma. chine.guns looked very solid and might well serve as permanent fertilization. Soldiers marched along the roads in endless lines, with great parks of horses, mules, ammunition and supplies and all the village streets were thick with soldiers and the mixture of ragged and impover. ished refugees. At all the places visited there was the same proceed. ure; the important officials and citi- zens of the town were gathered for conference on the community's needs--the mayor, assessor, head school teacher, and the parish priest They furnished the exact statistics of Families in need, conducting the party to the chief centers of dis Ls~