The Washington times., 1936-03-21
NOTED WRITER
SEES ITALIANS
MISSCHANCE

In this concluding i,tst1llnent
of O. letter to his home office, H.
r. KnicEerbocker, famous Inter.
national NetDS tOGr correspondent,
tells hoU the Italians could haze
ended the Ethiopian tDGr during
the bombing of DeSSye.
was never happier than to
get on that train leaving Adds.
It was an intensely interesting
experience but all the fun went
out Of it when the office began
to wire that public attention was
tagging, then disappearing, then
gone. After that 1t was like
watching a corpse. Nothing is
so disheartening as covering a
dead story. If interest abroad
had continued at anything like
the fever heat Of the first two
months I should have been de.
lighted to stay on and go with
the Emperor to the front, and
endure any kind Of hardship, but
once those hold-down orders
came it made us all feel like a
flock Of deflated toy balloons.
Constantly Ill
The physical relief Of getting
out of that altitude was greater
even than the mental satisfaction
Of leaving a dead story All the
time I was in Ethiopia, because
Dessye is Just as high as Adds,
and Adds is around two miles
high, had mountain sickness,
vertigo, was dizzy, unable to get
my breath, with a palpitating
heart and an all-gone feeling. I
didn't dwell on this in any pre-
viouS letters because there was no
use bellyaching. But most of the
fellows had the same trouble, and
when I finally got down to sea
level, even in filthy Djibutti, the
feel OF actually having air in my
lungs once more was the finest
feeling I had in four months. I
felt normal for the first time since
arriving in Adds. But then, when
I got to Cairo, the reaction, I sup
pose, plus the cold and the ire
mendous difference of climate, and
especially the suddenness of the
change, put me straight to bed
with the flu. I am very grateful
to you, Mr.. Faris, and Mr.. Con-
molly for allowing me to stay
there until I recovered and I took
the liberty of going up to Luxor
for two days. where the climate is
much milder and got me speedily
back on my feet.
Dead" Story Alive
In Egypt I found the dead"
story quite alive again from a diff.
ferent angle, but 1 suppose that
angle, too, had been played to
death. The four and a half
months in Ethiopian isolation,
completely cut off from the out
side world. and especially in DeS-
Sye, where we heard the most i'm
portant news weeks later, had
thrown my picture Of world poll
tics out of perspective. I did not
realize how serious the British had
| UCCu WIUi4 O1IC1I AACoboOA
and was astonished when British
officers in Egypt told me they had
expected an Italian attack on
Egypt and that in october they
would not have been able to resist
it. Now they say they can. They
refuse figures, but it is estimated
they have around $4,000 or 10000
troops in Egypt now, and have
fortified the entire Libyan from
tier with barbed wire, machine
guns and artillery until it looks
like q sector of the west front in
the Great War. OF course, Alex
andria harbor is simply jammed
with British naval vessels, and, in
deed, that is cause for anxiety
because they say if the Italians
started bombing them it would
take half a day to get the fleet
out of the harbor, where they
make perfect target.
Italian Thought
I purposely took an italian boat
to Naples to see what the Italians
were thinking. found on the boat,
in Naples and in Rome the most
staggering confidence. The Ital.
ians are keenly aware that Musso-
lini had given the British lion the
worst slap on the snoot since 1776
and that he has gotten away with
it. So effective has been the Italian
propaganda about their air fleet
that the average Italian believes
they can sink the entire British
navy, and whip Britain. The in
telligent italian does not go so far,
but even the best informed and
soberest of them declare that, al
though Britain with her superior
resources might win in the long
run Italy could inflict irreparabie
damage. And all Italians, now
united as never before behind II
Duce, declare with an astonishing
sincerely, Better death than dis
honor"
See British Checked
An italian admiral told friend
of mine: 1--WE would lose every
boat in our navy. We would not
rescue so much as funnel. But
we would deliver such blow to
the British navy it would never
recover. from IL in our time"