| Show Uncle Ted s bed I 1 t t I 1 time stories I 1 i till fill lK aking inG POET OP OF ITALY it vas mas late saturday afternoon and uncle ted had been home lor for some i tf lievore jack and ruth were v arc sen en oming up the street toward the house they had been to the ill and were mere talking away forgetting ever thing around them when their uncle appeared at the front door and called here they come two little kiddies returning from the wild ild and wooly IY movies I 1 dont suppose you want to hear a now fairy story now do you 1 I do answered ruth as she ran up the steps you know im always asking you to tell us stories uncle ted was w as jacks answer all right then ill have to tell you one before dinner tonight get your wraps oft off and we will go into the front room where ive started a nice fire in the fireplace when they were all settled uncle ted in ili a big arm chair ruth on one arm of the chair and jack on the floor uncle ted began once upon a time not so BO very long ago there was a poet in tar far ott off italy he sat in hla his window looking out over the blue waters 0 ot f the adriatic sea and dreamed dreams and borte very beautiful poetry pietr Y then the great war came and his country joined with Bell gium glum england and france to fight germany just as our country did later on he dream so much then tor for he joined the italian army and helped his country and the allies beat germany after the war was nas over men from all the fighting countries met in paris pans to make the peace treaty it was then that president wilson started trying to decide matters for or every country in tile the world instead of making peace with germany lor for the tha united states and then coming 1100 0 to attend to the important work here he said that every little country should have the right of self determination mi nation which meant that many little countries which have been included e in other big counties should be allowed to start star t a country of their own this meant trouble f for or a all I 1 1 A people called lithuanians Lithuania ns started fighting russia pol poland and sta started arted her ow own 11 country another country called czecho slovakia was vas started and still another by people called jugo davs these tug ing slavs ae made up of serbians Serb ians is aud and at sune ne people from austria hungary and other mixed races from that part or of the world where was tile the poet all ill this is time asked acied ruth impatiently 11 im m coming coining ark to tile the bui in a little bit now when the peace conference got to the claims of italy tile the italians said they must have a city called flume which had len been l en captured from them by aus austria tria years ago they said the people in this ills city were italians and that it should belong to them but Pr Pres esdon dont wilson and some others mould nt let them hem liae have it and when hen the treaty was signed flume fifine was given to slavia this made some of 0 tile the italians very angry but most of them got over it but tile the poet get over it ile he said flume fiume is italian and italy must have it so lie he called cal led tor for volunteers and almost over night nigh I 1 lie had bad an ail army an and d navy of italians with him with the poet in the I 1 lead ead they went right over to flume fiume captured it and stayed there the I 1 poet t whose name is gabriel dannunzio was so successful that other leaders have started from italy to take possession of 0 other places near flume on what Is called the dalmatian coast this whole kho le business may because italy will mean a bad war not only have tile the jugo slay troops against her but the allies in addition because she has broken the peace treaty Is the united states going goin 9 to get into it asked jack the united states stales has already got gotten tell mixed up in it answered uncle ted and some of 0 the big senators in washington are angry ab about out it and demand an explanation we got mixed up in it this way when it was learned that the italian forces were going past plume fiume and trying to below rear admiral take other towns andrews w who bo Is commanding the american naval forces in the adriatic received orders from great britain to land U S marines on this called to assist coast at a place the jugo slavs in driving out the italians the navy department in washington gives all orders to the navy but they knew nothing about it the situation Is more serious now because italy la is back of tho the poet and any action against h him alln will be action against italy and might mean war why england or franco france land troops instead ot of ordering ours liked asked jack england at least N ft ant to get into trouble in with ith italy I 1 and it looks like site she thought I 1 it t would be easier to order americans than to go herself this sort of thing justi just shows what would be happening all the time it if tile the world club w were ere going and we belonged to it england has acted just as though it were going because othera otherwise ise she would have no right at all to give orders to our navy the poet lias said that he will fire on oil any ally ships that try to interfere with what lie he la is doing and I 1 dont blame blam 0 him it is the business of italy and jugo slavia and we have no business mixing up in it at all unless we get out we may find ourselves at war with italy are the senators going to do anything about it asked ruth they dread to think how close our marines and navy men came to bringing war on the united state when they were landed landed to us use e force in driving the italians from they will start an investigation ot of the matter just as soon a as 9 they can 1 I think england and all of 0 them had bette learn that we dont belong to any world club and never will said jack 1 I hope you are right jack said bald his uncle or we will bo getting into trouble li like this all the time |
