Mar. 8.
Engrossing as are the operations on the Western Front and in the Near East, the important part that Italy is playing on land! and see in the present war must! not be overlooked. At sea the! work of the Italian Navy, in the! Adriatic and elsewhere, shrouded in the same secrecy that envelops the fleets of her Allies, but of her land campaign, although little has been heard of late, we know that, in spite of the! winter snows and terrific winds of the Austrian Alps, the Italian' army is successfully prosecuting definite plan, the details of which are being gradually unfolded. Only. two days ago a telegram from Rome reminded the outside world that ''despite bad weather and snow the Ttalians are displaying great activity in harassing the enemy with artillery and infantry at-The importance of such service is very obvious, in view of the plight of Turkey, the Duke of Mecklenburg's appeal for reinforcements to be sent to Con-' stantinople, the presence of Rus-' sian forces before Czernowitz and the massing of Allied troops in Greek Macedonia. It is quite impossible for the Austro-Hungarian army to weaken its strength on the Italian Front for!
moment because in spite of most! strenuous efforts last month they had to admit defeat: an action began on February 9 in the mountainous Colla zone, in the Sugana district, and after severe fighting for two weeks the Italians captured the zone and then extended their occupation in the direction of Monte Cola saddle. But, if Italy, even in the winter, is not content to! maintain the defensive, with the! advent of better weather we may! confidently expect her to press the operations in the Trentino, Tyrol and Cadore. and from the! Present line in the northwest—Pontebbs, Plezzo,—Tolmino, Gorizia and the Carse to Monfaloone.
A glance' at the map will show how great have been the difficulties of the Italian offensive against Austria. The frontier extends for 800 kilometres, the theatre of operations is of precipitous and alpine character, snd we must bear in mind that Austria was engaged in making
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.