BLOCKADE OF FIUME.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17664, 28 December 1920, Page 5

BLOCKADE OF FIUME.

NET DRAWN TIGHTER. NO TERMS WITH D'ANNUNZIO. AVIATiOX PARK CAPTURED. By Telegraph -Press Association—Copyright. Received O.lb p m.) A * nd N " z ROM?:, Dec. 26 In an official reply ).o D'Annunzio's rffer to evacuate certain islands if left in undisturbed possession of Piume, the Italian Government states that it will take steps to make the blockade of Fiume .: hso'uteiy effective i'LStraliAn and N.Z. Table Association. (Reod S.Tn r> "i-1 NEW YORK. Dec. 26. \dvkes from Trieste state that Italian regular have reached the outskirts •• r uime. and are gradually closing in on < .# port's dtr<.n;liokl. It is expected that. "e (ity wsil be taken in the next 48 1 on its A despatch from IMine states that rerseral (avieilia's regular troops advan red without firing a shot in a com-'••:*\-i lanj and naval movement to sur--•■ur.d Fiume. D'Annunzio's men retired, sr i ::is aviation park was captured. POET WHO DEFIED POWERS. P AN NT NZI'VS DICTATORSHIP. Fume has heen under the control of the fan-..-m? Italian poet, Gabriele D'Annunzio, r 1? ninths. When at the head of 4000 Itatiaji volunteers D'Annunzio entered K.-me on September 12 last year, while the Allied conference at Paris -was deitmg whether the city should be awarded io Vugoslavia or Italy, many regarded it as a transitory adventure that would endure no longer than the caprice of the l oet who evoked it. D'Annunzio, however, has tenaciously retained his hold on the city, despite the alternating threats and cajolery of the Italian Government, and has exercised a virtual dictatorship. After several months of intermittent and r-effectual debate by the Supreme Council at Pans, the Allies decided to resign to Italy and Yugoslavia the responsibility of fettling the disposal of Fiume by direct negotiation. Last month the Governments of Rome and Belgrade reached an agreement, and a treaty was signed at Rapallo. Details of the treaty have not been received yet, but the cabled summaries indicate that Fiume is to bo constituted a free city under Italian protection and taat Yugoslavia is to receive compensation in the form of neighbouring islands off the Dalmatian coast. To execute its obligations under the treaty the Italian Government has been compelled at last to take action against D'Annunzio. From accounts cabled during the past few months it would seem that the forces under the command of the poet-dictator, both naval and military, have been considerably augmented by" desertions from the Italian nav? and" array. Several islands in the Gulf of Quaroevo, the approach to Fiuime bv sea, and along the Dalmatian coast have been occupied by D'Annunzio's legionaries, and a small fleet of destroyer! and light craft brought to Fiume by naval mutineers is at the poet's command. D'Annunzio is now 56 years of age. Before the war he v;as Italy's foremost poet novelist, and dramatist. By hu stirring orations he played an important cart in bringing about Italy's intervention in tht- war."and afterwards he won fame as a fearless airman.