The Elk Mountain pilot., 1919-03-27

senior British port officer.
In the harbor an American. Admiral banato'
at the head of the American nnvn' ans.a
aboard the cruiser Birmingham The Amer
lean force nfoat consisted Of the four de
stroyery Stribling. Gregory. Luce and Caesaf
We heard that the Olympia, AdmHei Oe"es
naRxhip at the battle of Manila Day anu
lately from the ice-bound Russian port OF ArcH
angel was due to arrive in u few days with an
outfit of marines. t.
feed Prices Tumble.
As to the people Of Fiume. they were comme"s
ipv to enjoy the fruits Of peace even tnouen t"es
town possessed q warltke aspect; the food osocA
ade had been broken and high prices had tum-
hlea with the arrival Of the first allied fOodships
the terrible war prices common In Fiune, ~ We"
as in other portions of Austria. became = memory.
The food contro, policy of the Austrians. a. well
as the Germans had been fundamentally wrong.
All through the war the rich could buy fooastu"*
and could hoard while the poor had to gee aionS
the best way possible. Prices consequently ~
tained an unheard Of level p
Rice of which large quantities are consumed
even in peace times. cost $40 pound, ana soon
after the armistice was asned dropped to % cents
a pound which was high enough. everyone grante0.
During the war days wheat hour cost from -
q, "a . Mound: beet sugar retailed at s. pound :;
corn -four cost - pound Further north In Aus
triR prices were even higher.
On account of the shortage In the supply Of
linen and cotton goods the cost OF these mater1ais
.I.o SCARED Thread, during the war, cost FL .
.,x,o, in Fiu,ne One linen sheet cost $40; suit
of clothing made by tailor cost $500. and an or
a,r.ry cotton shirt cost 500 Shoes made OF leath-
~ and leather substitutes brought $2:5. Tea and
coffee especially the latter. which Is largely useo
in the Balkans, cost $35 a pound
The death rate among the very young and the
very old was horrible during the war days Not
nn,y was the younger generation. born just prio,
~, tho war a great sulEsrer from the food short
,e but the babies born this year are physically
and mentally unfit. This is true not only in Fiume
and the Istrian peninsula. but throughout Hungary
nrd Austria men who had Investigated the situa'
.to, told me American food experts verified the
statements.
In the minds eye of Italian officials, Fiume Is
not a war-ravaged city. but the beginning OF a
nrosperous metropolis peOpled by Italians largely
md omen to the peoples of the world.
rtaly sacrificed 100000 men killed in action. and
nearly a million wounded. in order to overcome
German domination through central Europe. and
also to restore to Italy some of those lands that
are adjacent to the motherlnnd.
The Italians are advancing strictly military
argument for possession of Fiume and part Of
the Dalmatian coast at least. Not only are these
lands largely peopled with Italians who speak the
Language, but the lands themselves possess ad.
into consideration IL she is to develop into first
class nation.
From Trieste. down the coast Of the Adriatic to
vaona the coastline is rugged and contains scores
of harbors and inlets which afford excellent shelter
to enemy warcraft. The italian coast from Venice
to Brndlsi on the other side Of the sea- Is only FIVE
hours steamlng distance away for fast warshlps.
and the coast itself Is nat and rnarshy and dacult
to defeaA.