Evening star., 1935-09-29
Behind Front in Africa
Continued From Third Page.)

native labor, but this the Dutch re-
fused.
Those Italians living in Egypt who
left to work in labor battalions in
Italian East Africa have found to
their chagrin that after 60 days resi-
dence in an Italian colony they can
be drafted for the army. And this Is
being done.
Travellers Not Wanted.
Travellers are not wanted in this
war zone; 1t is almost impossible to
get visa. Newspaper people especially
are anathema. One English corre-
spondent arrived with a letter from
Mussolini. He was allowed to enter,
but he Is watched necessarily and his
outgoing letters and cables are gone
through with a fine-tooth comb. All
outgoing and incoming cables pass
through the censors Office and all
those in code are decoded. There are
no non Italian newspapers in Eritrea
or Italian Somaliland. All news must
sift through the screen OF censorship
Ever since the Ualual incident last
December Italian troop ships have
been steaming Africaward. To move
these troops with as little publicity as
possible the Italian government Is
said to have asked the Suez Canal
Co. to withhold publication of the
numbers Of men or the amount OF
war supplies using the canal. But
everv day many ships are passing
through, loaded with men, beasts and
war supplies Sometimes several troop
ships pass in a day, the men singing.
shouting, laughing. But none is al
lowed to debark during the time that
their transports stop to take on water.
But let us continue our journey up
to Asmara. Eritrea's capital, which Is
about four hours from Massawa by
train or by automobile. We 60 by
road and become part OF that throo-
bing military artery of groaning
trucks. speeding cars, camel and dom
key caravans, marching men.
First Lap Through Desert.
The FIRST lap of the journey IS
through the semi-desert country OF
the Somali coast tribes. Black VOL
canic rock and red sand. Thorny
mimosa trees dot the sides OF the dry
river beds. Occasionally there ap-
pears a cluster of round stone houses
with thatched roofs, where hall
naked inhabitants live of the milk
of their Scrawny goats. The ROAD
is now winding up into the hill coun-
try; scrub trees and bushes cover the
rocky hills and the heat diminishes
somewhat. Gray apes peep over the
natural ramparts and gibber at the
noisy traffic. Occasionally shepherd
tending his goats or sheep is seen on
q dusty hillside.
Repairing the tortuouS road are
crews of Italian workmen. They
straighten and give the Fascist salute
as car of Italian officers speeds past
The sides OF the road are marked by
discarded gasoline tins. broken down
Iorries. Trucks last only four months
on the average because Of the bad
roads and overlooking. For the thou
sand trucks numbering over these
roads and up to the war front there
is scarcity of spare parts. The result
is that an unbelievable number OF
them are disabled.
Our road crosses the railroad and
then parallels it. A military train
chugs by, every window full Of Italian
soldiers. Squatting by the roadside is
group of coffee -colored Eritrean
women in long dirty white chammas.
their hair a labyrinth Of small black
hoy
sibilities of trade and have opened up
a native lunch counter. From huge
black pots they ladle out a hodge,
podge of meat and red pepper sauce
into cones of native pancakes. From
esrthen jars of tel, a wine brewed
from wild honey, they dip dripping
oxhorn beakers. For dessert there are
lengths of sugar cane.
Jester Performs Antics.
A Jester, wearing lions name
headdress, hops up and down nearby
and clacks song. A wizened old ma
tive woman and some boys offer for
sale an ostrich egg, . mongoose, q
tame cheetah.
What little wild game there is left
In this country has been frightened
away from this much-traveled high
way. But once flock of guinea hens
scatters into the underbrush and two
startled antelopes disappear into the
distance.
It has taken five hours of crawling
behind trucks, dodging official cars
and careening around hairpin turns
L. fr hA YDlo ao
on which Asmara stands. Some wom-
on are blowing fields of stunted corn
with wooden plows. Others are water
ing patches Of melons from goat skins
on their backs. Small shelters have
been set up on stakes in the fields
and from these the peasants watch
and guard their pitiful crops from
marauding monkeys and passersby.
Asmara. What q hive OF activity
this once sleepy, the-beaten-track
colonial capital has become. More
trucks, cars, caravans, marching
troops. The Fascist salute. Even the
Eritreans have adopted it. Every
able bodied native is in uniform,
equipped not with the spears and an
tiquated rifles of a few years ago. but
with shiny new Italian firearms.
Asmara is a military camp.
Club House for Officers.
We drive past the opera house and
the club house-the show places OF
the city. The latter is an ofacers' club
now, and Mussolini smart black
shirted officers are relaxing over anti
pastos and a mixture of vermouth and
soda water. called Americanos.
Nearby the ornate white stone ca
thedral thrusts its spires into the sky
Down this street. bordered by attrac-
tive bungalows, one feels transported
back to Italy. Most Of the Italian
civilians have returned home; not
woman or child is left behind. Their
homes have been taken over by the
government to use as offices and ON
GERS quarters.
Each house stands in its own gar