WAR- CHRONICLE

How our Troops received the News of the Italian Declaration
of War.
One of our correspondents at present on service in France,
sends us the following account of how our latest enemy was
received in the trenches:
In a field trench near St., 26th May 1915.
It was towards 8 o'clock in the evening of Whitsunday, the
sun was setting on the cloudless horizon illuminating the battlefield
once more with his golden rays. Suddenly screaming and excitement
is heard in the enemy entrenchment. What can that mean, we asked
one another. It grew louder and louder beyond in the French trenches.
It was like a German fair and one could almost think that a batch
of drunken fellows were on their way home from the tavern. In
between we could hear the rattle of musketry from the enemy camp
and some grenades howled and whizzed through the evening air.
As soon as the fire abated somewhat, trumpet signals and the
rolling of drums could be heard, while the shouting and screaming
continued to increase. On our side all was quiet with the exception
of some stray rifle shots. Suddenly from among the general confusion
of the French trenches, some single cries were heard of :
"Vive l'Italie!" "Allemagne kaputt!" "Grand Malheur!" etc.
"Aha," said one of the comrades, the one who always reads the
paper and knows exactly what is going on in the world, "Italy is
sure to have declared war on us. " But nobody wants to believe it,
nobody can imagine such treachery. Curses against all those who
wanted the war in Italy, grew loud, and on all countenances the
determined will could be seen to show that gang beyond in the
French trenches, who think we Germans are conquered, while we
are strongly fortified, keeping them in check in their own country,
how we can deal with them.
A young volunteer next me, a quiet and thoughtful fellow,
pointing to the group that had formed in the trench, said: "Is that
not the surest sign of the decay of a nation, which, while the
enemy is unvanquished in their country, howl and shout welcome
to another country's help, which treacherous and deceptive as it is
will soon experience itself how sharp the German sword is." You,
however, and the fieldgrey comrades in the trenches are of the
same opinion, and his hand clutches his rifle all the more firmly
to show by a well-aimed shot that here German men are holding
watch.
Suddenly an Ordonnance appears in the entrenchment, who
communicates a message from the commanding General: Italy has
declared war on Austria-Hungary. At 11-30 to-night all the men
in the entrenchments in the army are to stand to and give three
cheers for our Allies.—So it is true then: in the entrenchments
groups are formed, who chat over this treachery and nobody thinks
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