Salt Lake Tribune | 1916-05-19 | Page 1 | Roman Legions in Terrific Battles

RH LEGIDNS IN TERRIFIC BAHLES Austrians Mowed Down With Machine Guns at Monfalcone. (Special Cable by Arrangement with London Dtllj Telegraph and loipnuitfonil Nfl"s Service.) MILAN, May 18. The Italian army is resisting successfully the Austrian offensive on the lower Isonzo. A correspondent of the Corriere della Sera at Monfalcone writes: "The first attack on the Carso plateau pla-teau was preceded by a tremendous cannonade can-nonade that lasted two days and two nights. "Monfalcone has been battered by the Austrian artillery ever since the beginning of the war, aud it is a. question ques-tion if a single house remains intact. The Austrians, having given up hope of recapturing it, are resolved to destroy rt. "Around the suburb of Rocea the battle bat-tle rages with uninterrupted violence. "Last Monday just before dawn the terrific, bombardment was resumed, and the Austrians attempted to rush from their trenches. The Italians allowed them to advance, and then suddenly drew a circle around them and mowed them down with machine gnus. "The Italians took 134 prisoners. The Austrians left several hundred dead in their trenches and another 'hundred dead lined the road by which they had, come." (By a strange coincidence the following follow-ing is received from Milan regarding an Austrian attack on Monfalcone, from which place the special correspondent of the Corriere della Sera had just sent a dispatch relating to the Austrian Aus-trian offensive on another part of tho front. The following also is printed by the Corriere della Sera. News Editor Edi-tor International News Service.) The Austrians spent the night of Sunday Sun-day in reconnoitering, endeavoring to i ascertain the strength of the Italian j forces in that section. The Italians ! received orders not to reply to the Aus-. Aus-. trian fire, but to remain silent in their trenches. At 3 o'clock in the morning hundreds ! of nuns of every caliber began hurling j shells on every trench ami every road leading to the city. The bombardment apparently was designed to prevent reserves re-serves from being brought up. The fire was especially intense around 1 the ruins of the-electric power house. Kvery advanced sentry was called , back and the troops remained safely hidden. At 4:30 o'clock the Austrians began to advance in dense masses under the fire of the Italian artillery. As the distance between the trenches was bare-lv bare-lv loo vards and the Austrians advanced ad-vanced from three sides, they succeeded in occupying the first line trenches. Simultaneously the Austrians attempted to surround several small Italian contingents. con-tingents. The order for a counter-attack was immediately given. By t o 'clock the An si rians were repulsed behind their first line and 100 Italian prisoners were retaken, while 200 Austrians were captured. cap-tured. In the afternoon, after an intense artillerv fire, the Austrians attacked hill No. 91 aljo vp Monfalcone, which they succeeded for a time in occupying. They later were driven back.