The Elk Mountain pilot., 1919-03-27

Flume as well as other sections OF the Dnlina-
tan coast. that rocky stretch of country that Is To-
Gated on the Adriatic shore opposite Italy.
DR.. Antonio Grossich acting president OF the
Fume international council, a political group
elected by the citizens Of Italian descent in the
town. directly accused the French Of backing the
JugoSavs while Vice Admiral CagnI OF the
italian navy. commanding the port Of Pola. a few
miles up the coast from Fiume, repeated the accu-
satfon and strengthened It. .-
Tho Jugo-Siavs" Admiral Casni said. "are peo-
pies that formed 4 large portion OF the old Aus
trian army. They remained faithful to Austria
until the finai defeat. They fought Italy to tho
last ditch Now these same troops are being
armed by the French. against Italy We under
stand the move perfectly"
Other italian ofhcials Of lesser rank repeated
the assertion in one form another
This. in brief. the kernel Of the problem
not only of Fiume. but OF most Of the lands along
the Balksn side OF the Adriatic No one except the
most linpressioaabe. pretended to believe the stu-
alton would develop into real war. The solution
to be some kind OF = compromise to be made
ut the peace conference.
Thomas Nelson Page American ambass at
Rome. was of the opinion that a satisfactory COM
promise solution could be arrived at. But he
serted that. In his belief. the Italian people would
fight for what they considered their rights Ii case
the Italian claims to the eastern Adriatic shore
were Ignored.
The ambassador did not mean that the peace
conference would award Italy every inch OF lands
who were familiar with the problem expressed vir-
tually the same belief-that Italy Is entitled to
very fair consideration Of her Istrian and Dalma-
tian claims, but that these claims will probably
not be fully awarded.
There some talk in semiofioial quarters of
an internationalixed Fiume-a kind Of free port
serving Hungary. the Balkans and the Jstran pen.
insula is the trsassiipnent OF overseas freight.
Prize Worth Seeking.
Fiume Is prize worth striving for. Whatever
flag finally flies from its government Offices Will
wave over town famous for the beauty OF its
ties.
garians built magnificent stone wharves along
ocean going ships can tie up and unload. The
docks face the principal business street Of the
city On the hand you have a forest of masts
and 800 feet away. paved street, is vista
of stone business houses and hotels.
In the city there $4,000 people. hundreds of
whom speak seven languages MS a matter Of every
day routine. Italian. French, German. Hungarian
and English the principal tongues. The other
languages are the more common tongues Of the
Balkan states, including the CrOatian.
The Italian tongue however. il admittedly the
common language Of Fiume. for the reason that
ma jority of the citizens claim italian ancestry.
-THe mayor OF the town claims that 1000 of the
$4,000 inhabitants are Italian. and pointed the
fact that the schools Of the city italian. as
well rs the Inscriptions on 90 per cent of the
lyravestones All OF which he considered fair
pronf Of the Italian character of the place, which
had been preserved through centuries Of Austriaa
rule.