The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1919-04-04

lnese groups and serious trouble was threatened.
- was only the thought that back in Paris
uousnt1ul statesmen were assembling fully de-
ttrniHeu 10 settle once for all the possibility Of
war lhat enabled one to go through Fiume with
oue making the prediction that the war was in its
INFANCY rather than at its end
for some unknown reason Fume was not In
cluded in the list of towns allotted Italy in that
now famous pact Of London, which was signed
by the allies just before Italy entered the
fola and IriSte, ports on the Adriatic, and stu
ated on the Istran peninsula, were given to- Italy
ltai1an possession of the last-named cities was
more or less .unquestioned. But Fiume liter
ally No Mans Land when the peace conference
started, although neither Italy nor the Jugo Slavs
would admit as much. t.. '"
Americans as Mediators.
America had really prominent part in the af-
fair, a noncommital part, because we were not
one of the nations signing the pact of London
In every respect we were neutral But we fad
one warship and four destroyers in the harbor
and battalion of soldiers ashore and our colors
were cheered with enthusiasm by both elements
contesting for possession of the city.
Americas popularity may in a measure be
judged, by the fact that one of the local hotels
had just been rechristened Hotel Wilson, and
there were numerous American flags in evidence
also pictures of President WILSON,
While small in number-the American soldiery
numbered only a.battalon-our troops had pres
ttge that was, wholly out of proportion TO their
numerical strength. The responsibility of patrollne
the streets and maintaining quiet was divided
among the four allied nations. In this job Amer
lean troops had one quarter of the work to ner
form since each street patrol was composed of
four soldiers-a Frenchman Italian, British
Tommy and an American. They walked in fours
abreast. and You could several such grorns in
even a brief survey of the city from one of the
principar business corners. - 49,,
Somehow other the patrols managed to con-
verse with each other The Americans and Eng
liSh could understand one another, of course and
the Italian and French could talk. Then in each
patrol there We're usually or two men that
knew a few words of either Latin or English so
the men had little or no trouble in transmitting
given idea about: '' va .'..-'T.
Most of the American hoys were natives Of
Ohio although Lieut. Col. William Everson, their
commander, hailed from Indiana. Among the un-
der officers were 'strapping young fellows mainly
from the middle West One of these explained to
me some Of the Importance that had been thrust
the American contingent through the develop
ment Of the political situation, . . nf.,.
,''We are mediators here" the officer said "and
rather popular all around. In a way our out
fit is sitting the lid. When we get off trouble
is going to break out right away. The Jugo-Slavs
are mobilizing an army back in the country Sey-
eral Slavs we know natives of this community,
received their orders to go to camp Should we
leave it's moral certainty the Jugo-Slavs and
Italian troops will clash before long"
.'. i4 q y d. French Are Accused l.
The actual contention, however was not between
the Jugo-Slavs, as such, and the Italians but be-
tween the Italians and the French. The highest
Italian officials in this Istrian territory believed
the French backing the JugO-Slavs arrning
then, and encouraging them in their demands for