ITALY'S PART.

Taranaki Daily News, 9 November 1916, Page 5

ITALY'S PART.

INVASION OF POLA HARBOR. A REMARKABLE EXPLOIT. PLUCKY ITALIAN FLOTILLA. •Received Nov. 8. 5.5 p.m. Rome, Nov. 7. A naval communique states: —There was mutual sinking of an Italian torpedoer and an Austrian submarine. -Many of the crew of the torpedooi were saved. Italian torpedoors entered Pola, and attempted to torpedo a large Austrian warship. They sank a big Austrian steamer at Uurazzu. An Italian armored train badly damaged in Austrian tovpedoer which, was bombarding San Telpidio. ■Received Nov. S, 10.40 p.m Rome. ,Nov. ?. The invasion of Pola Harbour, whore the main forces of the Austro-Huu-garian navy are barraged, was a remarkable exploit. A plucky little torpedo flotilla on the Ist November penetrated six miles down the Fasana Chan(nel, and formed a string with the [Srioni Islands. There are land batteries jwiroughoiit the channels, and a big fort 'ot Fasana. Each island is well provided with hidden batteries, yet the Italians forced their way through the mine-fields and reached the southern extremity, where the channel narrows to two miles.

ROBBED OF REWARD, TORPEDOES STRIKE ST*" 5 * Received Nov. 9, 12.5 n m. Home, Ndv. 8. The flotilla was wifc'un a few hundred yards of six Austin warships, when they discharged their torpedoes. Unfortunately they exploded against the torpedo 'netting. The Italians eseaped, despite the searchlights nii-.l the batteries ashore. Though the flotilla was not fully rewarded, it obtained satisfaction three days later by sinking an Austrian transport at Durazzo.

AUBTRIANS HIDING THEIR LOSSES. 25,000 MEN LOSI IN LAST BRUSH. Received Nov. 8, 8 p.m. Rdnie, Nov. 8. An Italian semi-official statement says that, with the object of concealing their losses, the Austrians are offering money for corpses. It is estimated the latest offensive cost the enemy 25,000 men. ENEMY ATTACKS REPULSED • Received Nov. 8, 5.5 p.m. London, Nov. 7. An Italian official communique states: —We repulsed attack; in the SanoAdige Valley and on the slopes of Cimabouche, Tiamguslo Valley. We dispersed columns on thi Julian front. The Carso Plateau is limestone country, ar.d there is a process of eroism, partly chemical and parr.h Meiiiiir.ieal, by which innumerable caves and funuel.shaped depressions are formed. Subterranean watercourses are frequent, and many rivers disappear into the ground. The valleys present a peculiar appearance", many having neither boginning nor end, but forming circular or longitudinal grooves between the mountains, . i.

Trieste—towards which the Italians are gradually drawing nearer —has a population of nearly 200,000, and the majority of the population are Italians. The Germans number only about 10,000. The city has been in Austrian possession since 1382. Trieste is beautifully situated, at the head of the Adriatic Sea, and extends in the form of an amphitheatre, rising tier upon tier, along the coastline. It consists of the old town, with quaint and pretty houses, in tortuous, steep streets, and the new quarter, or Theresienstadt, with broad streets and handsome buildings, on the plain skirting the sea. One of its finest streets, is the Passeggio di Sant' Andrea, an avenue commanding lovely views, and extending along the shores on the south for a distance of three miles. The city is famed for its statuary, its cathedral, the ruins of a Roman ti.cntrc, and an aqueduct, the Ferdinand Maximillian Museum, in the building of the Nautical Academy, which contains a remarkable collection of the fauna of the Adriatic Sea, the Public Gardens, and the Imperial Academy. The harbour was greatly enlarged between ISB7 and 1870, and other improvement s ! were competed in l') 12. The Canal Grande, about a quarter oi n mile long, penetrates into the new town. Before the war more than 10,000 vessels entered the hidl-onr every year. The naval structures i'i the harbour include the extensive wharves of the Austrian-IJoyd Company and the Habilimento Teenico Triestino .mi the arsenal of the Lloyd.