Evening star., 1935-09-29


sheep. doe skins. cowhides, scent.
camels, cheap European hardware and
glassware. And here had been beg
gars. priests, lepers, pariah dogs. q
patent-leather shod, long coated Hin
du merchant, q man with legs like
an elephants, an old peasant carry
ing a sheep around his neck like q
fur piece, two wild shepherds from
the hills dressed in skins.
The picture no longer exists. Now
the square Is fenced on and piled
high with war supplies, road building
materials, trucks, tanks, barbed wire
and every conceivable kind of box.
crate and bale Soldiers are on guard
at intervals, and Italian laborers are
dumping more supplies into the con-
fusion.
Overhead there is looming of war
planes in formation. No one even
looks up. A steady stream of over
loaded trucks and marching soldiers
is pushing out OF Asmara toward the
AbySsinian frontier. Dotting this
front at intervals are the Italian en-
campments. In them are many thou
sands of Italian soldiers, and more
are continually arriving. One thou
sand airplanes are being assembled.
A year ago Eritrea had $50 trucks
in circulation. Now there are more
than 1000, most Of which are of
American manufacture-the Fiat
plants in Italy are now devoted al
most entirely to the manufacture Of
guns and ammunition, and Italy must
buy elsewhere. Italian buyers have
cleaned out all available stocks in
Egypt, Sudan and other nearby coun-
tries.
U. S. Truck Sales Rise.
In previous years the sales of
American automotive products to
Eritrea totaled perhaps s5O,00O an
nually; in the last eight months at
least 100000 worth of American
made trucks, bodies, tires and re-
placement parts have found their way
to this colony. Likewise, smaller
amounts have gone to Italian Somali-
land.
Give the Italians IL months to
prepare for this war and they can
win. Otherwise they will be driven
into the sea-" That was the consensus
three months ago of those foreigners
who know the situation on this East
African war front. Those who do
not know of the extremes of heat and
cold, Of mountain fastnesses, of can
yonS cut through the tortuous val
leys. Of mud which reaches up to the
knees of pack animals during the
rainy season, OF the narrow mountain
trails where camelS and mules must
single tile-any one without knowl-
edge Of these difficulties cannot i'm
agine what the Italians are confront
ing. These are natures Notifications,
and for many centuries they have pro-
tected this savage, inhospitable land
OF the Ethiopians, surrounded on all
sides by territory that now belongs
10 England, France apd Italy.
More than $50 1000 900 has already
been spent on this East African ad-
venture, and Mussolini apparently Is
going to push his plans through He
has declared that it is the duty of
Italy to civilize Abyssinia. to organize
its transportation and to subdue its
raiding tribesmen.
Start Due October Is.
On October rs. it is reported, Italy
will begin its push into Abyssinia. BY
then the rainy season will be over and
the ground hard enough for advancing
troops. BY then certain hard surfaced
roads, such as the one leading from
Assab, will have been pushed through
the territory of the savage Danakils
toward Abyssinian territory. AS the
armies advance the labor battalions
will follow on their heels. building
roads and spanning the rivers and
sullies with bridges. Only when the
Italians have conquered AbysSinia can
the shame Of Adowa. which has hung
like black cloud over Italian military
glory for 80 years, be wiped out.
To understand this attitude one
must know something of the begin
nings of Eritrea. In the late nine
teenth century some Genoese mer-
chants bought Assab. an arid strip of
sand on the Straits of AL Mandeb. to
use as coaling station. From their
pin-point base of ASSab the Italians
steadily encroached upon Abyssinia' s
plateau country. Crispi. the Italian
Bismarck. in the heyday of his ex-
pansion program recognized Eritrea
as an Italian colony in 1896. Menelik,
the hardy and canny Emperor of
Ethiopia. protested. and when at last
the Italians proclaimed to the world
at large that all Abyssinia's dealings
with Europe must be transacted
through her only. Menelik prepared to
fight.
Treachery Aided Defeat.
Crispi and his imperialists pushed
the italian government into war with
the words, "A few modern guns will
wipe out these savages" Italy was
beaten by greater numbers. by treach-
cry, by bad leadership. by the climate
and by her belief that she had only an
army of savages. armed with spears,
knives and blunderbusses, to deal with.
She was fooled. in the end, partly by
the Vaccinations Of a clever, intrig-
uing Armenian of Adds Ababa.
This man. after revealing his plan
to Menelik, was furnished with money
and sent out of the country. He
bought 10000 rifles from Holland and
q cargo Of teak wood from Java. The
rifles were shipped to Java and there
secreted in the hollowed-out teak logs.
Eventually they arrived at Obok, q
small open port of French Somaliland.
Through an inside job the customs
ofiicials at Obok were drugged, then
during the night q caravan of camels
appeared and carried the rifles of
across the Abyssinian border. Stimuli
taneously, accomplices set fire to the
teak cargo to cover all traces of the
ruse.
Came the Battle of Adowa in 1896,
when 10000 Italian soldiers and 10000
natives met 100000 of Menelik's war
riors, whose fighting methods were to
close with the enemy in hand-to-hand
combats with sword, shield and jave-
lin. The Italian defeat was decisive: