The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-03-09
SAvANT SAYS BLOCKADE
 IS TO WIN WAR

Rome, March 9-"The Allies can win this war only by holding on, by the exertion of economic pressure on the Central Empires and by rigid economy at home" in the opinion of Dr. Massimo Pantaleoni of the Italian army, who has just been exchanged after twenty months as a prisoner in Austria and Hungary. Dr. 'Pantaleoni although Italian by birth has many relatives in the United States.
 '@The secret of winning the war" said Dr. Pantaleoni, remains in the blockade and in the allies at home ex- ercising the greatest economy but so organizing that economy in the way of limitation of consumption of foods and fuels and clothes that people will not be compelled to lose several hours of their time each day searching for coal, or bread, or such articles.
 'It is like passing from darkness into daylight on leaving Austria, where the stores are empty of all useful ar ticles, cloth sells at about then equiv aIent of $26 a yard, where leather shoe sell for 120 kromen the pair, where there is no sugar at all for sale, where the bread ration for the civil | population is two and a half ounces for each person per day, where the | fat ration is one-quarter of an ounce and where potatoes sell for twenty cents a pound instead of two cents a i pound before the war.
 "In Austria mortality has increased very much since a year ago because 1 of poor or no nourishment leading to rheumatism and dysentary, and when people die there are no coff1ns in which to bury them. Instead, their shrouds and good clothes are replaced by rags and in these they are buried. Living conditions have not been 1 improved by the taking of Rumania.
 While in Hungary attending Ital- ian prisoners, who had been sent as far away as possible from the Isonzo i front so that they could not escape and go home, Rumanians told me civ il conditions had been such il Ru- mania that the fields had not been worked and therefore the crops had been poor.
 "As regards the entrance Of the Uni ted States into the war. both Germans and Austrians said the effective re- suit would be more in money and ma l terials furnished than in fighting units
 due to difficulties of troops transpor- tation. They say that it is hardly worth while attempting to capture or destroy enemy artillery because new
 cannon will be forthcoming from the 1 United States
 ''The Austrian people have been in- different about the war for a long | time. They want peace, any kind of a peace, and the longer the war lasts the less they have to keep the wal going. The Germans are still possess ed of the monomania of domination
 Of wishing to grab all they see, to take take, take; but time is sure to bring them to their knees, to cut down their fighting materials, while that or the
 Allies keeps on growing, and this is why I maintain that the Allies must
 win of they resist, if they exert eco-
 homie pressure on themselves, and re-
 fuse to patch up a peace.
 "The Germans TOW are seriously
 afraid of the English and French, be-
 cause they realize their superiority in
 lighting materials.
 "All that has been said about the
 ill-treatment of the prisoners is ,rue
 They are so poorly fed tnal = they
 fall i'll they are sure to die, as thei1
 bodies have no resisting power. Most
 oz their illnesses are in the intesttnes
 or of a bronchial nature leading tc
 tuberculosis Their food consists, ir
 the camps of soup> made of beets 1T the proportion of one-half pound 2 : day for each man. with sometimes 3
 potato and two ounces or meat once week. In the hospital of sigmunds- Eerberg where I served, hospital ar
 ranged for 5000 men, the death roI has risen from one man very two days 10 three and four day.
 Prisoners put on government worl last about two months The phrase
 prisoners step has passed into th'
 language. so feebly do the gangs shuf