Show (P November ll9 The 1917m Herald-Republican9S- Lake City Utah alt Sunday ' Morning ft Most Thrillingly Picturesque Battles of the War as They Are Fought Amid the Icy Alpine Peaks By CLIVE MARSHALL AVANTI SAVOIAJ Battling above the clouds on the lofty frozen mountain peaks that stretch along the 500 miles of the Austrian frontier Italy is successfully waging a war that is not only thrilling but Is decidedly picturesque War in the Alps however loses none of its grim horror but adds to the usual hardships the perils and intense sufferings that are undergone by the most daring mountain climbers Only recently has the outside world begun to appreciate the magnitude of the part that Italy Is taking In the war and to form some conception of the greatness of the daring military achievements that are daily being performed by Italian soldiers in their unique methods of conducting S mountain warfare In which they are effectively shooting over peaks of the height of a mile and more But at last the other nations are beginning to learn that the armies of Italy have been and are carry ing on a wonderful war against the Austrians under circumstances that military experts characterize as being marked by hardships and difficulties far greater than those encountered on any other front by reason of the mountainous nature of the country and are steadily overcoming all obstacles and continuously advancing According to Capt Ettore Bravetta who is one of the best known Italian military writers the Italian armies may now be considered as being almost wholly made up of mountain troops Cuns in enormous numbers’ says Capt Bravettta “are lining the highest mountain summits dominating and covering the mountain passes Not only the mountain artillery but also field artillery and Italian Sentries on Guard in the Carnic Alps even great siege guns hold their sway over the Alps very “Italy’s hardy troops are wintering In the 6600 of elevations highest regions of the Alps at to nearly 10000 feet They are under cover everywhere being sheltered from the cold and the heavy snows in quarters hewn ont of solid rock or in wooden barracks They constantly have to use stores wear fur coats heavy woollen garments heavy footgear hand and foot warmers and eat specially selected food to withstand the rigors of campaigning in the Alps" : X r- More Hand to Hand Fighting - The Aerial Trolley Used to Transport Men and Munitions from Peak to Peak One characteristic of the desperate encounters Austrian frontier is that d fighting is much more common than on the level territory of the other battle fronts d Carnic Alps is the Especially in the warfare between the Italians and the Austrians more individually fought There the reconof the outposts and sentries the noitring patrols at any time of the day or night encounter the d duels enemy and the most desperate result In order to escape detection as much as possible the Italian soldiers campaigning in the Alps are uniformed in white to harmonize with the background of snow Fighting in tho Alpine land of perpetual snows takes on a roost picturesque effect as may be judged by the Illustrations on this page One photograph taken on the tableland of Asiago toward Trieste shows a mountain patrol starting on a dangerous reconnoitring expedition through the d deep and treacherous snows This immense area presents many wonderfully beautiful sights especially when being traversed by a body of Italian skiing troops setting out to give battle to the enemy entrenched higher up in the mounalong the rock-ribbe- d hand-to-han- snow-covere- hand-to-han- snow-covere- tains Along the front in the Trentlno one rises rapidly from the heat of the valleys to the biting cold of the Alpine heights While that part of the army operating in the lower sections has been digging itself In the troops holding the mountain positions literally have been blasting themselves in For in the heights the living quarters of the soldiers more often than otherwise are cut out of solid rock In many instances these cares are lined with lumber and in all have been carved enormous fireplaces At Eleven Thousand Feet In the Cadore north of Cortina and near the Marmol&ta mountain which is almost 11000 feet town consisting entirely high there is a good-size- d of entrenchments dugouts and caves All of the caves are furnished with rough furniture made on the spot In the officers quarters are beds of moss and the walls are covered with military cloaks and festooned with ivy and fir cones Near by is a chapel which was cut in one side of an enormous spire of rock where it is sheltered from Austrian shells A portable altar has been erected and the soldiers have lined the walls of the chapel with pieces of bright quartz scraps of colored cloth and the silver and gold paper from cigar and cigarette packages Another section of this camp is reserved as Y A Battalion of Italian Troops on Skiis on Their Way to a Vantage Point bn the Fighting Front an open space in which amusements are given such as plays with officers and men mingling in the audiences Games are also played except during times of heavy fighting Remarkable tp relate among the soldiers of the Italian armies on whose shoulders is falling the burden of the mountain fighting are thous sands of those rugged who built the railroads and dug the subways in American cities And the experience they gained in this work of grading excavating tunnelling and handling explosives for blasting purposes is proving of tremendous advantage to them in waging war on the Alpine heights against the Austrians peasant-laborer- American Experience Helps ' s' r Military observers who have seen the work of Italian soldiers once employed in digging-th-e subNew of declare York city that these men ways are better fitted than any other soldiers to combat the guerilla methods used by the Austrians who conceal themselves in forests behind crags and in mountain fastnesses to greet their adversaries with a storm of steel and lead or hurl down upon them huge boulders as the Italians charge up the precipitous and rocky slopes to the attack Shortly after entering the war Italy called her reserves to the colors From the United States 'there hastened home thousands of men who had emigrated to seek work and opportunity in exchange for their robust services which did not seem to be available in their own land Italy’s military authorities were quick to realize the great value of these men who from their American experiences had learned e the uses of dynamite and and other explo-eive- s the handling of Accordingly the former builders of Ameris can railroads and excavators of New York’s are today on the jab blasting the Austrians 5 w T A nitro-glycerin- V X i vV '’ ' tfc - v v vc Of a sub-way- ! pf the Al?2- - X 1 s v Lirr Krt— 1 M7 |