GOLD TO MELT.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 288, 5 December 1935, Page 7

GOLD TO MELT.

ITALY'S PATRIOTISM.

King and Queen Send Their Most Cherished Possessions.

NOBEL MEDAL OFFERED. United Press Association.—Copyright. (Received 10.30 a.m.) ROME, December 4. The campaign in Italy for the collection of gold, silver and scrap metal to aid the Italian Government in fighting sanctions continues in a spectacular fashion. Tlie Queen of Italy lias sent a letter to Signor Mussolini offering the King's and her own wedding rings for "the glory of our beloved country. My ring is my dearest possession because it recalls the day I had the great fortune to become an Italian," wrote the Queen, who was a Princess of Montenegro.

It is expected Their Majesties' and thousands of other rings will be placed in a symbolical pile at the foot of the tomb of the Unknown Soldier before they are melted. •

The noted dramatist Signor Pirandello has sent ■ to Signor Mussolini a gold medal he received with the Nobel prize for literature in 1934.

"Wedding Ring Day" is announced for December 18. One bride in Trevisco decided not to wait until then and presented her ring, before the ceremony, to the local Fascist headquarters. She received in exchange a metal ring which was duly blessed and placed on her finger.

The monks of the St. Bernard Hospice, wishing to contribute, sent several valuables to Aosta. The first part of the journey was made on skis through a thick snowstorm.

Not a single British newspaper and only one French one could be purchased yesterday. Officials blame the traffic confusion, but Austrian, German and Hungarian newspapers can be obtained.

HARD TO STOP.

GUERILLA WAR TACTICS,

LONDON, December 4. Lieutenant - Commander Mortimer Durand, the "Daily Telegraph" correspondent with the Italian Army at Asmara, refers to the difficulty of "mopping up" the occupied areas. He instances a communique which reported a skirmish in the Alemale Pass, in the Eastern Tembien area. This was thought to have been cleared of Abyssinians as far back as October 27, yet a brisk action there resulted in 15 Ethiopians being left dead on the field and five Askaris and one non-commissioned native officer being killed. This guerilla fighting is difficult to stop, says the writer, because the bands left by Ras Seyouin in the Tembien country cannot be prevented from penetrating between the posts of the i Askaris' front line at night. The broken terrain affords plentiful cover for irregulars who, by hiding their guns in the daytime, are able to pass as ordinary Ethiopians friendly to Italy in the event of a surprise by Italian troops.

The Addis Ababa version of this fight was that the Abyssinians put a column of 500 Italians to flight and killed 50 of them.