been accustomed to the cold. They had
been drawn from among dwellers in a semitropical climate, and one gets
an idea of the immense accomplishments of this army which struggled in
the skies.

The average American knows the Italian as immensely industrious, but
perhaps is disinclined to credit him with great constructive ability or
engineering genius. He would change his estimate of him if he could see
him fight and study his battlefield. The Italian warfare of the mountain
peak and gorges has been a warfare of construction, even more than it
has been a warfare of destruction, and has been rendered possible only
by the exercise of engineering genius comparable with that which sent
our world-beating American railways through the famous Rocky Mountain
passes!

HALTED BY INTIMIDATION.

The fact that Italy's warfare has been invariably against positions
stronger than her own is the result of the fact that while, since 1866,
Austria continually strengthened her frontier with fortifications, most
of them of ferro-concrete, the Italians were not able to fortify at all.
Every step in that direction brought forth threats of war. These began
at a time when Italy was in no condition to fight, before, as a unified
nation, she became a world-power.

Being weak, she was prevented from making any preparations for defense
against a foe which continually was obviously getting ready for attack
upon her. The mere commencement of preparations might have precipitated
war. But Austria continually prepared. Besides, the Italians ever have
been a peace-loving nation.

As a natural and inevitable consequence of all these conditions all the
dominating positions along the Austro-Italian frontier were strongly
fortified by the Austrians. They have long occupied the crest of every
mountain in such a way that their guns could rake any Italian approach
from below, along a front of 450 miles--about the distance from New York
to Buffalo, and almost the same as that of the whole French-British-Belgian
eastern front in this war.

During the winter of 1916, one of the most exceptionally hard winters
known in the annals of the Italian Weather Service, the Italians not
only have been fighting for their sunny homeland, but have been fighting
in a region of eternal snow.

This snow was an obstacle extremely hard to overcome. It may be said
never to have been less than six yards deep on the Isonzo front, so the
task of the consolidation of positions,