Second Edition. Italy

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVII, Issue 36, 12 June 1915, Page 6

Second Edition. Italy

ITALIANS STEADILY ADVANCE.

Dnitid Pbeib Association

Rome, June 11. The Italians are within seventeen miles of Trieste, ,

The Vossivche Zeitnng announces tlpt a wirelesstelegraph report says anti-aircraft guns have been placed on the Cathedral of Xulau and St. Mark’s, Venice. This is to justify aerial attacks. The Italian authorities say'the statement is false, and it is evident the object is to prepare public opinion for outrages similar to llheims and Louvain.

Details of, the capture of Preikofel l>ss show the Austrians made a desperate resistance for three days, and repeatedly rafllied and Hung themselves on the small Italian force holding the pass. Artillery were unable to intervene, and left the struggle to men with bayonets and rifles, the fighting being shut in by towering "rocks. At a critical moment three fresh. Austrian regiments were throjvn iii, and sadly decimated the Italian •front. The officers .ordered the Alpini to die rather than yield an inch. The charge drove the# Alpifn down the pass, hut, reforming,'they brought the, Austrian rush to a standstill, and by steadily feeding the line and entrenching, the Italians made their position secure until the Austrians refused again to face steel. Then the ■Alpini assumed the offensive, and converted a repulse into a rout.

Italy has signed a convention with Germany to respect private property, despite the fact that Germany’s property in Italy is estimated at some millions of francs, while Italian, interests in Germany are small*. Italians traversing the Ansa Talley towards Roverto disclosed that the Austrians had wrecked and abandoned the Pozzacchio fort, a great stronghold on which four years labor had been bestowed. Heavy guns conveyed from Galicia were captured. Monfalcone drives si wedge into the Austrian centre just below Canale, threatening a complete envelopment. The invaders / reached Monfalcone through Hooded marshes. Ihe Archduke Eugene’s headquarters are at Laibanes. Official: The enemy left two hundred dead and four hundred wounded at Preikofel, and 220 prisoners were taken. The enemy’s counter-attacks were repulsed with heavy losses, y The authorities at Medua detained vessels with cargoes of iood destined for Montenegro and Malessori, and looted the vessels; Italian destroyers thereupon shelled the town, and disembarked a landing party, who hold tbe : ‘iefrrf(?i‘k as hostages until the foodstuff is despatched. >