The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1919-01-08

of the British. Soon the whole line
from Mount Grappa to the sea.was a
roaring flame. Tenaciously the Aus
trians held their front trenches. Dead
and wounded were brought back. 1t
was Austria's last stand. Not for
long could she withstand the tremen-
dous onslaught. Everywhere her lines
broke and soon streams OF prisoners
came pouring back. After the first
break it was a rout.
Later our men followed, and two
days after were in the front chasing
the enemy. Occasionally he would
make stand behind prepared trench
es, or across q stream or river, only
to be driven out by furious charges, or
captured AS rule, sthose who were
left to hold such positions surrender
ed without fighting.
Seek to Surrender
The day after the Americans got in
to the fight, or to put it more correct
ly, the day after they joined the chase,
we knew Austrian officers were across
the line with flag of truce. One of
our Y men who had inadvertently be-
come detached and was with the Brit
ish, and who later joined us, saw four
Austrian officers in an automobile
passing through the line with the
white flag. But the boys went on, car
rying everything before them. Our
heaviest casualties occurred when our
boys were crossing the Tagliamento
river. just west of Codriopo. 1t was
Austria's last shot on that part of the
line, for no sooner had our men reach
ed the opposite side of the river when
orders came to cease firing, that the
enemy had surrendered. A great VIC
tory was won, an empire had fallen.
One tragedy followed another so
closely during those three days and
nights preceding the cessation Of hos
tilities that one seemed unable to
fix or hold any one thing definitely in
the mind. The waves of allied troops
surging forward, often had to deploy,
around other waves of prisoners COM
ing back. The roads were full of Aus
trian trucks and wagons overturned
and broken. Everywhere big enemy
guns stuck in the mud. Roads and
fields were covered with the litter of
war. There were thousands of ma
chine guns and other thousands of am
munition belts, filled with clips which
the fleeing foe had discarded. There
were dead men and horses every.
where. Once we halted in the dark
Of the night and went forward to ex-
anime the crossing over stream. l
flashed a pocket lamp over the bank
and it's rays revealed what darkness
had mercifully shrouded. The eyes
of dead man were staring into the
darkness Of the night. At another
point we found an Austrian whose
right leg had. been shot away trying to
stab himseK to death with a bayOnet.
Such is war, and verify. war is hell.
Following the Armistice.
The days that followed the armis-
tice have been filed with sights and
scenes pathetic beyond description.
Italian prisoners by the roadsful are
walking home. One could hardly be-
lieve that so many human beings
could be reduced to such pitiable
physical and mental condition and still
live. They are barefoot-most of
them-rather they are without shoes,
with their feet tied in rags. Strips of
rags hang on their bodies. They are
emaciated, hungry, diseased. The sol
diers are sharing their scant rations
with them. There seems to be tens
of thousands Of them. Thousands of
men, women and children from the
south are returning to their stricken
homes. I saw mother and her five
children standing beside pile of
brick and mortar that had once been
their home talked with her through
an interpreter. Her husband was kill
ed in the war. When the Austrians
came she fed south across the Piave.
They were without money or food or
where to lay their heads. i gave her
the last can of corned beef | had. 1t
was useless to give her money, for
there was nothing she could buy.
The great danger now is that the
same reign of anarchy will break
loose in Austria Hungary that pre-
walls in Russia. 1t is probable that
the allied armies must occupy the
country to prevent such a disaster.