iviuusi inm
HEADQUARTERS ITALIAN
ARMY, May 25.—Attention is now be
ing centered on the mountain front,
for all the indications are that this is
to be the main scene of coming opera
tions instead of the flat river country
to the east. With these operations
perhaps not far otT, it is well to take
a survey of this mountain section for
its main points are likely to be heard
of very often in the coming months,
Already along these mountain roads
there is the stir of great forces ot
men, guns and horses moving intc
position, and one almost feels that a
great battle is already on.
The Tridentine Alps which stretch
across northern Italy form a natural
fortification between the two opposing
lines, and it is in the lower section oi
these ranges that the military opera
tions are now unfoldThg. While it is
a front of several hundred miles from
the Adriatic up to the Swiss frontier
yet apart of this stretch is impenetra
ble mountain peaks covered with eter
nal snow, and there are practically
only’ five lines of approach where
breaks in the mountain heights permit
military operations to be carried on.
These five lines of approach or com
munication through the Tridentine
Alps are the valley regions known as
the Valtellinu, meaning see-saw fron
its winding character, which leads
down to Lake Como and toward Milan
second, the Yal Camonica, leading
southward toward Brescia; third, the
Yal Giuelicaria, which comes down jus1
east of the Adame!lo region with it.
lines of peaks and skirts along the
west shore of Lake Garda; fourth, Va
Lagarina, which follows the course ol
the Adige liver on the east of Lake
Garda, and comes down from Trenl
( toward Verona; and fifth, the Pal Su
gana which follows the course of the
Brenta river and winds around the
Asiago region down past Bassano.
These five main highways • through
the mountains become more important
from a military standpoint, as they
come eastward toward the Asiago and
Brenta region. All the chie*’ pressure
has been in the easterly’ region in the
past, and the indications at present
are that it will be in this region.
i jivr gicaL ^luuim,
would be along the two valleys on the
east, Val Lagarina and Val Sugana
and chief attention should be centerer
oil them and their neighboring height?
of Asiago, the Grappa and Mounl
Tomba. Both of them come dowr
from Trent, the Austrian storm centei
which sends forward troops and sup
plies through both these valleys to the
mountain fronts beyond. From Trent
the enemy has railroads down both
these valleys.
The Largarina valley comes
straight south to Verona and the oper
plain. It was down here that the en
emy made his first rush two years
ago, pushing from Reverto west to
ward Mount Pasubio. He was drnver
back then, and all the indications are
that he will be held again if he come
that way.
The most important approach is bj
way of the Val Saguana, or Brents
river. From its headwaters near Treni
the Brenta makes a wide circuit be
fore it comes down to the open plair
at Bassano, and it is within this cir
cuit that the Asiago plateau and the
hardest fighting ground lies. The Aus
trian railway from Trent, comes dowr
the valley to Primolano, about twen
ty miles above Bassano, thus keeping
up a steady flow of men and supplies
That is why the Italian airplanes have
centered attention on Primolano, whicl
is often mentioned in the com
muniques as having its railway sta
tions bombed.
The bomb-swept and deserted towr
of Asiago is the center of this battle
region enclosed by the Val Sugam
and the Brenta river. The enemy lines
ran just below the town. Near by are
Mount Val Bella, Sasso Rosso and Me
lago, all the scene of desperate fight
ing when the enemy tried to come
down the west bank of the Brenta. The
nver itself comes through a rocky de
reach down to the river valley.
This Asiago region is cut by two
other local valleys, which are a most
important part of the mountain opera
tions though they are not main high
ways through the Alps. These are the
Valarsa and the Astico valleys, which
wind irreguarly down toward Vicenza.
Much is likely to be heard of this' sec
tion in the coming operations.
East of the Brenta river is another
part of this same Val Sugana which
is also desperate lighting round. Here
| the enemy has made his main push to
I get down to the open plain, and here
i he advanced furtherest, toward Bas
| sano, yet the splendid bravery of the
l Italians held him in the mountains
through the winter. He is still there,
I around Mount Pertieo, Mount Asolone,
| Col Caprille and Col della Berretta.
; This is bloody lighting ground and it
will doubtless be heard from very
often as the operations develop.
Still further east comes the domin
ating massive of Mount Grappa, mid
way between the Brenta and Piave
rivers. It is strongly held by the Ital
ians and is one of the great citadels of
Italy’s natural mountain defense.
Near it, rising from the Piave river,
conies Mount Tomba, where the
French troops made such a brilliant
! drive last December. The enemy has
| been comparatively quiet in this re
■ gion, all the indications being that he
is centering attention further west in
the Asiago region and down the
Brenta valley.
This summarizes the mountain
lighting ground on the Italian front,
: where there is gathering activity and
where it is believed, the big fighting
is going to occur.
SKIPPING BOARD
OFFICIAL LEAVES
Among the outgoing passengers on
the steamer Alameda was Attorney
Examiner Otis P>. Kent, official repre
sentative of the United States ship
ping board which held a meeting in
, Anchorage yesterday morning at the
Empress theatre and listened to sub
; mitted data relative to the prevailing
freight rates between Seattle and An
chorage.
Examiner Otis will go direct to
Seattle and thence to Washington
where he will report his findings to
the shipping board.
The following steamship officials
who left Seattle with Examiner Kent
returned last night on the Alameda:
R. W. Baxter, vice-president and John
H. Bunch, general freight and passen
ger agent for the Alaska Steamship
company; Judge B. S. Grosseup, gen
eral counsel, and C. Pi. FI ye, general
I freight agent of the Pacific Steamship
company; Mr. Luccok, of counsel of
the Alaska Steamship company; W. L.
Clark, secretary for the Associated
Pacific Fisheries; J. F\ Davidson, gen
eral traveling freight and passenger
agent for the Alaska Steamship com
pany and Robert Brott, official re
porter.
During their brief stay in Anchor
age the members of the party were
taken over a part of the main line of
the government rairload in the private
car of William Gerig, engineer in
charge of the Anchorage division of
; the railroad. The party was deeply
impressed with the conditions gener
- ally and expressed their surprise at
the progress which has been made by
the Alaskan Engineering commission.
NOME PAPERS GO
ON A WAR BASIS
j NOME, May 27.—The Nome Daily
1 Nugget, evening republican and Nome
: Daily Industrial Worker, morning
:! labor, have agreed to print tri-week
l | ly on alternate days in view of war
! conditions affecting labor, supplies,
etc. The new publication arrangement
was put in effect May 1.
i The latest returns from the sec
■ ond division give Maloney 341, Sulzer
. 253.
ONE ADVANTAGE. '
“There’s one thing about summer
furs.”
“What is it?”
“You don’t have to put them in cold
storage to keep through the winter.”
niiiLiEiunu uuluiueu uyusv euul
NEW YORK, May 25.—In an address in lionor of Italy
day in New York last night, Secretary of War Baker announc
ed that American infantry, machine gun units and artillery
will soon be fighting shoulder to shoulder with the Italian
troops on their fronts. This is the first intimation that Amer
ican troops had been sent to Italy and the announcement was
received with enthusiastic applause.
GERMAN SUB ENTERS SPANISH PORT.
MADRID, May 25.—The German submarine number 5(
entered the port of Santander, on the Spanish coast, at (
o’clock this morning. The submarine is slightly damaged anc
put in for repairs.
NICARAGUA ENTERS WAR.
SAN JUAN DEL SUR, Nicaragua, May 25.—The Nicarag
uan government today issued a declaration of war aaginst tlu
central powers.
GERMAN ARTILLERY FIRE INCREASES.
LONDON, May 25.—German artillery fire is increasing!}
active.on the Flanders front today. Last night, the enemy bom
barded tiie district east of Bethune. British raiders eapturec
two machine guns and a number of prisoners.
RICKENBACHER DOWNS ANOTHER FLYER.
WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY IN FRANCE, May 25
—Lieut. Edward Rickenbacher, the noted auto racer, now witl
the American aviation corps, downed another German flyei
hi the neighborhood of Thiueourt May 22. This makes lib
second victim since lie entered the service a short time ago.
ENEMY CONCENTRATING TROOPS.
WASHINGTON, 1). (A, May 25.—It is reported that Ger
many is gathering troops in every possible way for service or
the west front, to participate in the coming major attack or
the allied lines. Convict, battalions have been formed, prison
ers being released for this purpose; women are taking th<
places of men in munition factories, and troops on the Dutcl
and Rumanian frontiers are being sent to the west front.
HOSTILE ARTILLERY IS ACTIVE.
LONDON, May 25.—Official: Hostile artillery is active ii
tin' Yillers-Brettoneaux sector. Otherwise, there is nothin,!
j of interest to report.
AUSTRIANS CLAIM ITALIAN REPULSE.
VIENNA, May 25.—Official: The Italians were repulsei
after seven* lighting in attempts to storm the Austrian position:
at Znganatoro. Tin* Italians were also repulsed in severa
attacks upon Monte Asolone.
NICHOLAS GRANTED SAFE PASSAGE.
LONDON, .May 25.—A dispatch from Moscow says tin
Germans have accorded former Czar Nicholas and family fa
cilities to leave Russia, by way of Germany. They will tak<
up a residence in Switzerland. The dowager empress will g<
to Copenhagen, Denmark, while Grand Duke Nicholas will g<
to Montenegro.
BRITISH FLYERS BOMB LIEGE.
LONDON, May 24.—British aviators yesterday bom bee
tlie railway stations of the German-Lorraine railway nea
Liege, Belgium, and a ebloride factory at Mannheim, Germany
on the river Rhine. A large conflagration was started at Liege
as a result of the bombing, and three separate fires sprang uj
at Mannheim.
SEES FAILURE OF GERMAN SUBMARINES.
LONDON, May 24.—Archibald Hurd, a naval expert, sav:
in the London Daily Telegraph that the enemy is destroying
British, allied and neutral tonnage at the rate of three million
live hundred thousand tons yearly, while Great Britain am
her allies will soon be producing four million tons of shipping
yearly. Thence forward, says Hurd, an upward curve in favoi
of the allies should proceed in a manner to convince the Ger
mans of the failure of their submarines, so far as starvim
Great Britain is concerned.
SEVENTEEN HUNDRED FINNS EXECUTED.
LONDON, May 24.—Under the white guard and Germai
regime in Finland, 1,750 persons have been executed, up t(
May 1. according to the statement of a Finnish socialist, win
escaped into Sweden.
THREE AMERICAN FLYERS DOWNED.
BFRLIN, May 24.—Official: Three American aeroplane:
were downed by our flyers on the Lys battlefield yesterday
Frequent allied attacks on our positions on the western ban!
of the Avre river were repulsed by our forces.
* NATIONAL RED CROSS CAMPAIGN HAS H
* REACHED OVER ONE HUNDRED MILLION H
* _ ^
* WASHINGTON, May 25.—The national Red Cross H
* campaign has passed the hundred million dollar mark, H
* the minimum amount sought to be raised, according to H
* a statement made today by high officers of the organi- H
* zation. Telegrams announcing subscriptions continue
* to flow into the national headquarters, which leads to H
* the hope that the minimum amount fixed will be doubled H
+ before the drive for funds is over. All subscriptions for H
* this worthy cause will be gladly accepted and people are H
* urged not to cease their efforts just because the mini- H
* mum amount asked for has been subscribed. H
* + **-K******** + *** + **-*-fc**H
LOSE PRESTIGE
SEATTLE, May 25. — Ketchikan
will soon lose her prestige as the first
port of call in Alaska. The govern
ment is to establish a custom house,
school house and post office at Nakat,
a place five miles north of the Canad
ian boundary. This is done to accom
modate the fishing industry which cen
ters around Nakat.
OFBATTLESHIP
A GREAT FEAT
ITALIAN NAVAL HEADQUAR
TERS, Italy, May 25.—The Italian
exploit at Pola, an Austrian naval
base, is considered one of the most
audacious feats of the war, and ranks
with the British raid on the German
naval base at Zebrugge and the sink
ing of the cruiser Merrimac, at San
tiago, during the Spanish-American
Commander Pellegrini and his com
. panions, in small boats, and under
cover of darkness, passed the Aus
• trian warships on patrol at the en
; trance of the harbor, avoided the
steel nets and mines, and blew up the
great Austrian dreadnaught. The
I Italian officer then destroyed his own
j boats, the occupants swimming
i ashore. The brave raiding party ful
i ly expected, when they undertook the
raid, that they would either meet
' death or be captured by the enemy.
; They were captured soon after reach
ing shore.
KITCHENER IN PRISON
SAYS COrSIN CRYWLEY
“Lord Kitchener, British war secre
tary, is no more dead lhan 1 tm,” de
clared Miss Constance Crawley of the
| : Orpheum circuit to a Portland Tele
; gram reporter recently.
| Miss Crawley is a second cousin of
Lord Kitchener. She is first cousin
of the Bishop of Litchfield, and a di
rect descendant of Sir Walter Ral
. eigh.
“We have had any number of di
> rect indications that the great Brit
> ish commander is lying now in somr
> German military prison. He will re
turn. You remember Lord Kitchene*
disappeared once before for two years
when he disguised himself as a;
] Egyptian peasant merely to find out
> what were the needs of Egypt.
< ; “The lower classes of British peo
ple mourn Lord Kitchener as lost,
, but there is an undeniable current of
belief in official circles that he was
—
TO ROUND UP
SINN FE1NERS
[
WASHINGTON, D. C., May 25.—
Arrests will soon be made in the
United States in connection with the
uprising in Ireland. The evidence
shows that Irishmen in America were
connected very closely with the Sinn
Fein-Germany plot to create a revolu
tion in Ireland.
: SENATE FAVORS
ARMY INCREASE
5 WASHINGTON, D. C., May 25.—
. By a unanimous vote, the senate com
; mittee on militai-y affairs favored
the expansion of the United States
army, and ordered a favorable report
on the resolution declaring for an im
mediate increase to three million
men.
[ FORM INDIAN SOCIETY.
c NEW YORK, May 27.—A German
! Indian society has been organized in
E Berlin, according to the Cologne Ga
E zette. A dispatch says that Germa
E ny’s relations with the near and far
E east after the war will be greatly o»
E panded for political as well as com
E mercial reasons. One purpose of the
E society is anno.n.eerl to be the culti
E vation of “our cultural relations with
E India.’'
UILLIUI1 UULLmi
SUIT AGIST
RAILWAY CO
i
SAN FRANCISCO, Cal., May 25.—
The action of the government to re
cover 162,000 acres of rich southern
California mineral lands from the
Southern Pacific company, and others,
was called the “billion dolar case” by
the government officials who conduct
ed the case. The lands lie along the
railroad’s right of way in Fresno and
Kern counties for a distance of one
hundred miles, and are 162,000 acres
in extent. There wei'e 234 defendants
in the action.
The action was a combination of
six separate suits, and was an echo of
the reconstruction days following the
civil war. Proprietorship of the lands
was given the railroad as the result of
a series of land grant acts passed by
congress to encourage railroads to aid
in the opening up of new country.
These acts specified that any portion
of the land containing oil and other
minerals should remain in the public
domain.
The main suit was started by Attor
ney General Wickersham in 1910,
when he sought to prevent the com
pany from developing the rich oil de
posits. The company, according to Mr.
Wickersham, obtained the lands on the
pretense that they were non-mineral
and were to be used for agricultural
purposes only. According to the com
plaint the company made effort to de
termine if there were mineral depos
its, but retained John F. Burch, a
prominent land rates expert, to repoit
to the government that the holdings
| were purely agricultural.
Subsequent actions were directed
against owners or lessors who had se
cured portions of the property from
the company and were developing its
mineral content. The actions were all
joined and put in the hands of E. J.
Justice, a special attorney for the de
partment of justice for prosecution.
In order to gain first hand informa
tion it was necessary for Juijge Ben
jamin F. Bledsoe, of the United States
district court in Los Angeles, who
heard the suit, to travel to all parts
of the country, and to devote his en
tire time to the .suit for a number of
years.
While the action was under way,
Mr. Justice died and was succeeded by
Judge J. C. Biggs, of Raleigh, N. C.,
a retired state jurist. With Judge
Biggs were associated Albert Schoon
over, former United States district at
torney for Los Angeles and other
prominent counsel.
The Southern Pacific was represent
ed by Judge F. W. Henshaw, former
associate justice of the California su
1 preme court, Charles R. Lewers of
this city and other counsel. Judge
Biggs and other counsel estimated
that the expenditures of both parties
in fhn suit crcrvpcrntpt] $nOO 000
The company denied all imputations
of fraud and deception by the govern
ment, and contended that the lands
were secured in strict accord with the
wording and spirit of the land grant
laws. At the time the land was pa
tented no expert methods were known
whereby the mineral deposit could be
determined, and the company more
than fulfilled its duty in retaining
Burch to make an exham ^ve and
faithful report of the holdings, the
company held.
A portion of the land, particularly
the oil bearing sections, are in the
naval reserve created by the Taft
withdrawal of 1909. This order af
fected the action, tending to strength
en the government’s claim that the
lands properly should be in public
ownership, government counsel said.
CANNOT BUY SECOND
HAND FOOTWEAR
AMSTERDAM, May 25.—A work
man who was arrested in Berlin a
few days ago for violating the regu
lations regarding the purchase of
second-hand shoes, pleaded in de
fense that “as there are now 395
separate regulations governing boots
and shoes, a citizen may be excused
for violating one of them unawares.”