ITALY.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 November 1915, Page 5

ITALY.

ON THE TYROL SLOPES. A GIGANTIC BATTLE. .STORY FROM NEW YORK. Received Nov. 21, 4.35 p.m. London, Nov. 20. Karl Wiogand, cabling to the New York World on November 4, says:—"A great buttle is raging at Gorizia and on the Uobcrdo I'lateau. It began two days ago. The weather is probably unexampled on any other front, it has rained in torrents for two weeks, and the low-lying places along the Isonza are a sea of mud, hips deep. Trenches blasted through the rock were converted into mountain torrents, and into this mess the Italian batteries pour a hail of shell and shrapnel day and night. "HELL/'

•'The concentrated Kalian artillery is splendidly served, and surpasses anything 1 had seen when (lie Hermans smashed '(heir way through I lie Russian lines. Those who participated on the Russian front declare that it was child's play compared to this on Dol)erdo Plateau and on a portion of Monte Pogdor, which is called 'liell,' a name fully justified. ''General Cadorna concentrated fifteen hundred guns and the full weight of his army against the Plateau of Gorizia, on a front not exceeding twelve miles. Their bravery is unbelievable, while the endurance of the Austrians, under indescribable conditions, is beyond imagination and revives the widespread idea (hut the Austrians will not light well unless under German officers. AN IMPORTANT SITUATION. "The Italian conflict appears to he greatly under-estimated, especially as regards it bearing on the general situation of the Central Powers if General Cadorna takes Gorizia and Trieste. On the Isonzo the Austrians have held their lines for six months against three to one odds, and have gained a firm footing. On the edge of (lie plateau they have advanced somewhat at terrible cost, but have not progressed elsewhere appreciably.

.MOUNTAIN OF CORPSES. "There is desperate fighting on the slopes of San Miehele, at Pogdora, and San Sabotina, which, if taken, means the\ loss of Ooriziu. San Micticle is known as the Mountain of Corpses, from lienps of Italian dead In front of the Austrian trenches, or long dead, in all directions. The picture is beyond imagination in ghas'tliness and stench. AUSTRIAN GENERAL'S VIEWS. "Archduke Joseph estimates that over ten thousand unburied lie in front of his lines. He states that the Italians are fighting with increasing improvement and charge with great elan. The shock is greater than that of Russian charges, but if the charges are withstood the Italians quickly retire, while the Russians move on until they are shot down. "The Italians on some days lire seventy thousand shells and shrapnel, until the rocky surfaces look as if they had been shaved by a gigantic razor. Sapping and mining 111 the rocky ground is praotica 11impossible, and the effect of shell fire i» more terrible, hurling down showers of rock which crush the men."

AT GORIZiA. HEAVY AUSTRIAN LOSSKS. i* Received Nov. 21, 11 p.m. Zurich, Nov. 21. The Austrian losses in the vicinity of Gorizia on Friday were estimated at eight thousand. CITY OF VERONA, The ancient city of Verona, where Austrian airmen have succeeded in killing several people, including a number of women, by dropping bombs on the fruit and vegetable market, has many historical associations. Tt is a fortress of the first class, and lias always been conidcred a place of strength *iinv it was surrounded with walls bv the limperor Oallienus in 205 A.D. After passing into the hands of the Austrian* in 18)5, they made Verona one of their strongholds in Italy, for it was one of the famous quadrilateral, Pcschiera, Mantua, and Legnago 'being the others, on which their rule depended for support between 1707 and ISGIi. Naturally the Austrian airmen would take a special interest in attacking this former possession. The old walls are now obsolete, the strength of the city depending upon a circle of forts. The Piaz/a idelle Erbe, where the bombs fell aipong the crowd, is the fruit and vegetable market, picturesquely set in the midst of beautiful and stately building:. Verona is full of beauty and interesting features. Clin relies, balls, and palaces, dating from the eleventh century onwards, oll'er conspicuous marks to the enemy aviators. The chief glory of Verona, however, in the eyes of visitors, is the famous amphitheatre, built, in the reign of Diocletian. It is similar to the Coliseum at Rome, but it is in a much better condition. It is, of course, considerably smaller, yet it is estimated that 20,(100 spectators could \iew the sports in the arena from its tiers of ■seat3. This is situated on the other side of the river, within a quarter of an hour's wall; from the Piazza delle Erbe. Verona, of course, is one of the [daces that has been immortalised by Shakespeare, and in this connection an attempt is often made to delude credulous visitors by showing them the socalled "touch of Juliet" us well as the identical house in which Juliet's parents are said to have lived. Both these places are stated to be myths, although it is asserted that ''Romeo and Juliet" was founded on events that actually occurred at Verona.