The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-03-10

I lean n0n ~ IN ~ 4 - q y ~ al
! sAose 0Ant2ona rAach14 - ~
over once week. their widss1sSG4 "a
fiusnced can hc imagined.
A. an example OF what the ltAlian1
felt about these rest houses, ~. thu,
were called. Major Lowell quotes ii
account OF q newspaper In Milan:
THE heat Is mercilous. ,,On thd
| roadside, under the shade Of cius.
ter of trees. stands o hut with an
italian nag and one showing q neld ofl
blue with stars, and red and white
stripes Tho soldiers crowd the place
This is rest house of the American
Red Cross. You can And many OIL
these close to the lines, at points OIL
heavy traffic and where II II most dif-
hcnN to obtain cool drinks. or to f.nd
something to eat. Here our great
American ally brings lot of rood
things Here they place a table, Az
nm awning. spread the Stars and StrinN
and tbea1taHan haSy ard st,v<, th-r-,fl
hefses, s1ifoSsr@ sn&v-6, 'Rnx kti-vrs1 anal
with their round cans, Offering every,
good thing In Gods grace to tho
bread. chocolate--as we once knew n.
and crackers--we no longer are ac-
customed to. A real providence, ana
the Offering Is made with such rood
and such cordial Seraternity.
The soldiers have already baptised
!
a jocular way. American bars ana
when from afar they see on the road
the tri-colonr and the Stars and Stripes
they cV. Let us 60 to visit America"
! An interesting account of the situa-
ton In Italy at this time In given bysl
Major Lowell. when last June the
Italians were successful In repelliny
the attack made against them by the
Aus'rians on the Piave front, thew
realized at once they could attack the
Auatrians with success. To this end
they made preparations hoping to be-
| gin the offensive early In October. But
heavy rains come up. causing an un-
usual rise In all Of the rivers. and
the attack was put off. At our head.
quarters In Nicen%a we gauged our
part In the activities by the rise Of
the river. which is a river like the
I Piave. AS soon rs IL began to go
down, we knew at once how things
were going there. We found that our
Judgment was correct, for no sooneA
, ceived reports that the attack was
about to begin. Immediately we began
preparing our rolling canteens and our
can,ions and sending them out.
They moved forward with the army
right In the wake of the Arditi When
the army was attacking, our canteens
would back up right behind IT, and
he on the erot when needed"
Red Cross First There.
The American Red Cross can also
boast the first allied entrance iutoI
! Trieste. overland. Major Lowell teiisl
about this: Tho Italian forces havs1
gone into Trieste by sea. but on the
9th of November. crossing by motor
f.iertenants Friedman. Rogers ana Nc
connell took their positions on a pier
IN Trieste and fed the thousands Cd
italian soldiers Just freed from Ausl
trian prisons there. It was their hrstI
decent meal I'm many months. TheT
we're certainly pitiful to look upon
with their haggard faces and tafteref2
clothes, Besides giving them food, wej
gave them warm sweaters and capsl
and In many instances. socks and nm \
aerwear which we're supplied In a hurry
by the admirably organized transpor Y
tation service OF the American Rcd
Cross. On November Q. in Trieste, wey
served ~ ooo italian prisoners Wild
were huddied together in wire en- \
closure They had not even had 4
intecs OF bread for twenty-four boursI
The italian military governor Of TriestsI
headquarters and designated our word
came 10 the American Red crosd
as an act Of providence
The great bravery and fortitude c1
some Of our American men who work
with the American Red Cross In ItasH
hitter fiehting In the mountains whicfj
were the northern barrier 10 the piasns'
The road In the Grappa section ard
among the most dangerous In IN !
world. as one hairpin turn follow !
another. And although the roads ar.
constant Smelling heiped a. times ID
make them almost impossible. 0n{
of the canteens near the Swiss horderI
In charge of Lieutenants Rogers and
Friedman. was located In an old hote
at an altitude of 1890 meters. n
served Alpine troops on the heights Il
the vicinity. Nearly every day thea<
young men went in their teiefericc{
with supplies for the troops who wer{
suffering great hardships In the coN
and ice at an altitude of $500 meters1
II was the highest point OF the entirsl
allied battle front Some idea OF wha
this work was may be gained by read
ing the following excerpt from Lieu
, tenant Friedmans report:
To-day l went up to a mountain pos
with some officials while Rogers wena
to another mountain post. We boti1
took a few packases OF stun along, All
both places they Immediately askes
that we establish = post there. Thia
was at the very highest point Of tha
: mountain was carried the last f,9ns]
m eters on a teleferica which was Il
trihe hafr raising for an amateur.
The Posto al Ristoro r. about com
pieted and is the incest looking pos
that II has been my pleasure to seel
The officials here have given me ever.l
assistance. and the officials From tn
: colonel down. s.cm delighted with II
appearance ana with the work We hAy}
done the last few evenings. The new
colonel brings all visttors to the room
and explains to them personally III
working and the various items we hav
. IN stock"
we contribute also to troops whic
are passing or canning close by. Al
the colonefs solicitation we have sen}
a few articles to several front I'M
companies on the mountains. We Nm
II will be possible to visit each noun
D tain post personally. every six 70 eiEh
/, days The writer appreciates the fad
y that II Ia \ great deal better TO Givl
!. these articles ourselves to the soy
: dicrs than to send them BY Officials"