Imperial Valley press., 1943-09-15


heavy boots ,knapSack and some
food, I left ChiaSso at 3 a. m
Tuesday with a guide who knows
every inch of the frontier passes.
He should: for generations his an
cestors have been smugglers.
LOST CLIMBER
If I got caught, I planned to play
the role of lost mountain climber.
In a heavy rain we trudged
through the woods and bushes,
reaching Vacallo in 25 minutes and
Sagno an hour later. After a short
rest we pushed on for two hours
until we reached the slopes of the
Bisbino mountains
Ten minutes later we arrived at
three-yard high wire fence
dividing Switzerland and Italy The
guide calmly cut three strands,
poked a wooden pole through
forced up the other wires and told
me TO crawl through. Small bells
atop the fence jingled as I
scrambled onto Italian soil.
The guide crawled under the
wire, and the bells tinkled again.
asked if the frontier guards might
not hear them. He chuckled.
mo chance of an italian sentry
in this weather"
We went down the mountainside
toward the hamlet of Piazzola, a
cluster of seven houses. The rain
stopped. The guide took me to the
| nf f..tn nrl,n
bread, and red wine. l gave my
host a chocolate bar, which pleased
him tremendously.
Proudly he showed an old hunt
ing gun, and said he had been ap-
pointed a member of the civilian
armed bands formed in the Milan
Como-Varese district. He had 25
cartridges, he added.
REFUSES MONEY
I offered him some money, but he
refused firmly when he learned !
was an American.
We went down the mountain and
across barren fields and in half an
hour were at Piazza. We saw not
a single italian soldier, and no
sign whatever of the Germans.
The guide certainly knew his
business He took me to a friend
a fruit vendor, who after a few
minutes negotiations agreed to
drive Us to Como. He wheeled out
an ancient Ford which ran on
charcoal and off We went. But the
| tn
he didn't know whether the Ger
mans were there.
So we paid him off in front of
the palatial Villa Dina and went
on afoot. We passed a barracks,
but no soldiers until we reached
the central Piazzo Cavour where a
few cavalrymen in full war kit were
basking in the sun. They took no
notice of us.
The first thing I noticed was that
the Piazza Cavour gardens had no
flowers. Peas, beans and potatoes
had been planted in the gardens.
The guide had what he called
some personal business" so we
parted, agreeing to meet at the
flaZZa at noon.
| About 10 a. m. I Strode through
Como undisturbed 1t seemed as
calm as when I last saw it in the
summer of 1885. The people went
about their daily tasks. Some men
loitered about the streets. Later l
learned that their idleness was
caused by the closing down of silk
factories = which made parachutes
because of a strike.
SHOPS OPEN
| The shops were open, and the
| housewives circulated through the
markets where the principal wares
were vegetables. There were lines
before the few butcher shops that
were open but fish seemed plenti-
full.
I paused before a movie house
showing a Laurel and Hardy film.
Children crowded open mouted
around the display posters.
A policeman eyed me suspicious
ly. I must have looked extremely
dirty, even for an Italian noun
tain climber. With a show of con-
fidence I did not feel, I went
on by.
The 11th century cathedral and
the street scenes seemed un-
changed. A few shabby cabs were
stationed in the shadow of the
cathedral. Youngsters played in
the square, shouting the pictures
que Como dialect. No great num-
bers of soldiers were visible, and no
Germans at all.
AS was about to wander toward
the "Prefettura" I saw two Cara