ITALIANS EXPECT THREE YEARS’ WARFARE.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 8, Issue 5, 7 January 1916, Page 8

ITALIANS EXPECT THREE YEARS’ WARFARE.

SAN FRANCISCO, Doe. S

Metamorphorically, Lieut. Giovanni Secagno, of the Royal Italian Artll-

j lory, on a war-munitions mission to (America, has knocked the wind out of the sails of the Ford <f peace” ship, 1 which designs to carry the millionaire j automobile manufacturer and his hun- \ drc-d peace delegates to Europe and secure peace before the end of the

present year. Lieut. Secagno, in an interview at San Francisco, declared t-he Italians were preparing for another two or three years’ warfare. The gallant Italian officer discussed the difficulties of the Italian advance in the Trcntino Alps. He has been lighting with his regiment in the Austrian Alps, and has come to America to buy shrapnel material —pig iron--for the Italian heavy artillery.

“When we resume our heavy fighting in the Alps next spring we shall require an abundance of shrapnel,” the lieutenant explained. “And we find that England cannot supply us, for they want everything for their own armies. So I have come to America. “What is the reason of our slow advance in the Alps? Why, we are fighting on the roof of the world! And the fortifications of the Austrians are immense! Before we can advance one or two yards we bring up our heaviest mountain batteries, our 300-millimetre guns. These wo hoist to the summit of mountains the ordinary tourist either does not climb at all, or, if he is a sportsman, he sets out with guides, ropes, provisions, and what not! It often took us ,30 or 40 days to bring one of our 300millimetres into position, under a galling fire of the Austrians. We hauled the guns up the mountain sides with wire ropes, through three metres of snow, across glaciers, and alongside precipices. And then the real fighting started. ’’ “You expect an early peace?*'

“By no means. We in Italy are getting ready for another two or three years’ warfare, the same as Franco and England. Some of the contracts I am negotiating for shrapnel materials are for delivery within one or two years. Germany and Italy are not yet at war —the fight is still between Italy and Austria. Many of our banks, steamship line's, and other large concerns are controlled by German capital, and this is why neither lias as yet declared war. Germany is doing her utmost to persuade Italy not to declare war. But the sinking of the Ancona is a serious matter for Germany, as we know that Anst>' has no submarines with a wide range of navigation. It is therefore supposed that the Ancona was sunk by a German submarine flying an Austrian flag, and a declaration of war on German v will be a very likely result.