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Show ITALIANS STEAL PLANE AND FLEE Irredentists Face Many Perils in Remarkabie Escape From Austria. KNEW NOTHING OF AVIATION Go About Plans So Coolly That Officers Believe They Are Going on Mission Mis-sion Under Orders From Some One Higher Up. By UGO MAROCCO-BONGHI. (Special Correspondence ot Ihe Italian-American Italian-American Nws Bureau. Chicago.) Rome. One bright morning of the summer just ending an enemy hydroplane hydro-plane bearing the black cross of Austria Aus-tria appeared in the heavens over The anti-aircraft batteries prepared to shoot The seaplane alighted on the shore at . Soon after it was known tbat the pilot and his companion com-panion were both Irredentists who had fled from Austria. The two had come from the island of Lussin, at the. entrance of the Gulf of Quarauero. opposite the shores of and of . The pilot I cannot give his name told me about their escape. "From the outbreak of the war." he said, "my companion and I had been joined with others from Irredenta Irreden-ta at the aviation station of Lussin island is-land as motormen. The life had become be-come insupportable. Seeing that every means of flight would be impossible impos-sible we decided, since neither of lis was skilled in aviation, to risk lligbt in .1 hydroplane. "There was nothing to do but to get ready and trust to God. The night of July 1 we -went to bed with all our clothes bn at midnight, without attracting, at-tracting, notice. At five in the morning morn-ing we ran under the shadows of the wall from our ' quarters toward the hangar, where the sentinel paced, bis beat. Prepare for Flight. "Entering the hangar coolly, as if we were going to carry out orders, we dismant!"d the planes attached to the station of their guns and placed tli era in the apparatus destined for escape. es-cape. "After locking the telephone operator opera-tor in his cabin, we .opened the heavy doors of the hangar. We got ready for Immediate flight and tested the cylinders. cylin-ders. 1 "When all was ready we whispered that there was nothing left but to take the risk. "My comrade looked about. Nobody was near. He cut the telephone wires while I, with a strong push against the levers, slid the apparatus out on the sea. We mounted the plane, which was soon blown by a gust of wind In front of the Austrian barracks, the i bow pointed toward the shore. It took us an anxious hour to .turn it toward the open sea. Finally we started the motors, but with an explosion and a rumble that would awaken even the dead. "The officers, the commandant and the soldiers of the station appeared at the windows of the barracks' and watched us with surprise, but without with-out suspicion, us we took our mysterious mysteri-ous leave, no doubt thinking we had secret orders from some one higher up. "For several yards the hydroplane glided along the surface of "the water, wa-ter, unwilling to rise a second time, apparently, before the wind which blew from behind, and possibly on account ac-count of the new pilot, who was as inexperienced in-experienced as he was audacious. At last, however, we succeeded In rising from the sea. Face Many Perils. "While we were intent on our maneuvers man-euvers we found ourselves suddenly opposite Mount Veli-Strasa, where the Austrians have anti-aircraft batteries. We made a terrific effort, with the bow pointed upward and our souls commended to God. "We crossed the ridge of the mountain moun-tain not ten yards above the batteries I on its summit. ' "After half an hour of flight, rising to 1,000 meters, we ran into a thick cloud bank which shut off all view of the Austrian and Italian coasts and of file sea. We could not find our way. Moreover, the pilot was without helmet hel-met or glasses and could not steer because be-cause his eyes filled with tears. We suffered an attack of nerves. All the while the apparatus was following the Italian coast and, discovering this,, we recovered our calm In an instant. "My comrade, who was acting as lookout, tied a white cloth to a gun barrel and tried to 'signal the shore our surrender. We soon alighted and entered the port of , amid the cheers of the people, who were jubilant when they found that we were friends, instead of prisoners of war." |