The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1923-03-23
PRINCE CAETAMI, ITALIAN
AMBASSADOR TO UNITED
STATES, WORKED lRg BUTTE

5 yeying through loopholes was diff
ficult job. Fortunately, I had with
/ me the Brunton compass which had
followed me in my wanderings from
: the Taku inlet in Alaska to the des-
: erts of Arizona. | owe a great debt
: of gratitude to our former president,
ID. w. Brunton. | don't know how
l would have done my work without
his little instrument.
Tunneled Toward Center
1--WE started tunneling toward the
center of the peak for about $50 feet,
and we thereby got very deep UNDER
ground because the surface above
rose rapidly.
From the end of the tunnel we
drove a 42-degree raise with the in
tention of getting close to the sur
face right under the enemy's first
line trench / wanted to get in con-
tact again with the outside world
and be sure of our depth below the
surface. | wanted to check the Brun-
! ton compass.
Upon the suggestion of two Of
our miners we had an 18-foot long
sectional wood auger forged. The
rock was soft and decomposed. From
the roof of the raise we drilled al
most vertically until we broke out
to the surface. My fear was that the
auger bit might drill some Austrian
sentry. Our calculations were right:
at IS feet we struck ice
"By that time the Austrian SEN
tries were feeling our blasts under
their feet. They notified headquar-
tiers that we were mining the Aus
trian position. Headquarters answer
ed not to get uselessly excited, that
the Italians were probably only min
ing for shelter.
'They lost three days phoning up
and down, and we owed our success
to this delay.
Toward the middle of March the
enemy started counter-mining. We
had started again drifting horizon
tally, and were gaining depth. On
the seventh of April the enemy blast
ed its first counter mine, but the
shot had been placed too high and
was somewhat off the line. The
shock, however, was very heavy and
part of the ceiling of our tunnel
caved, burying Bonfioli and four sol
diers. We got them out alive and
started again. Not one of the miners
shirked before danger.
Enemy Fails to Locate Them
1.-THE enemy then sank three shafts
trying to locate us, but we had gain
ed further depth and passed under
their drifts at not more than three
feet distance. We could hear them
walking and dragging the sand bags
full of earth. The prisoners told us
afterward that they heard us talk
ing, but don't believe it, because
we did not talk very loud, / can
assure you'll
1.-THE 18th of April we loaded five
tons of 95 per cent gelatine in two
chambers about 80 feet apart and
tamped the galleries.
cat 10 p. M. of April II / went
up for the last time in the raise and
connected the electric wires. / was
alone and in the silence of the un-
world could hear some one
picking hard and hastily above my
head. That same night a prisoner
told me that they would have fired
their counter mine three days later.
eat IL p. M. all our garrison was
withdrawn into the several galleries.
The last sentries were retired shortly
for a moment completely deserted in
the ice-cold night. The air was calm
and from the clear sky the full moon
Illuminated the whitecapped peak
with its cold blush light.
"Bonfioli, Grimaldi and / and an
other officer were seated at the en-
trance of gallery 800 feet from the
center of the mine. At 1895 we re-
ceived orders and pulled the strings
of the detonators.
"There was a dull noise, a slight
tremor thought the mine had fail
ed. I crawled out of the half-ob-
entrance. The snow cap of
Col di Lana had become black. The
whole topography had changed.
Everything was silent, deserted, dead.
Captured at Last
cat that moment all our guns on
the surrounding mountains opened
a recklessly quick fire upon the Aus
TRAN rearway. The mountains we're
sparkling with flashes and after a
few seconds the storm of shells and
shrapnel arrived, bowling over our
heads, and the sky became illumin-
ated by the flashes of the bursting
shells.
Our soldiers crawled out of the
galleries, walked quietly up to the
peak and occupied the huge crater.
Col di Lana was ours at lastl
1.-THE next day the Austrians found
tut what had happened and concen-
rated the fire of all their guns on
he crater of the mine. He'll never
anne nearer heaven than that day on
he summit of Col df Lana, and true
lell it was.
LET US drink to the prosperity of
'ur profession that FORCES hardy men.
Let US drink to the health of our abb
ent friends and to the ever-growing
of our two countries
tally and the United States"
Prince Caetani enjoys a wide ac-
luaintance among the mining men
# the west and holds the friendship
4 many mine kings" not to men
ion the numerous underground toll
rs with whom he labored side by :
ide for years.
He comes of one of the oldest Ro-