AFTER CHRISTMAS.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13103, 11 November 1935, Page 5

AFTER CHRISTMAS.

WAR WILL START IN EARNEST.

ETHIOPIANS ENTRENCHING. United Press Assn.—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright. LONDON, November 10. It is accepted as a certainty that the Abyssinians will make ~ their first stand at Ainba Alagi. Therefore the most important phase of the war cannot be before Christmas. J hen Alagi will be stormed and a sweep make to Lake Ashangi to complete the capture of the Tigre Province. A despatch from the southern front says the Italians pushing out from. Goraliai captured the villages of Gabrodarre, Badiad and Dadeno, also Durrehi and Araro further east! They admitted that the main and tlie difficult terrain are hampering the movements of the motorised units which were responsible for the capture of Goraliai.

All Addis Ababa message says that a caravan of 200 mules conveying a small army of journalists and their kits set off during the forenoon for Dessie in anticipation of the Emperor’s early arriial there to establish its field headquarters. A Rome official communique states: Fitauri Oebremedin with his armed followers submitted and placed himself under Italian orders. Leading notables and clergy in the A diet region made the act of submission. Our Danakil column has reached Damale.

The Daily Telegraph’s Port Said correspondent says the imminence of sanctions has led the Italian Government to speed up the shipment of stores and muntions to East Africa. The number of cargo boats traversing the Suez Canal to Massawa last week markedly increased. . All canal records were broken in October and tlie November returns will be even higher. HALF A MILLION TROOPS. LONDON, November 10. Ihe Sunday limes’ Addis Ababa correspondent says unending columns of troops are still marching to the front. It is expected the concentrations will be complete by the 30th when the Emperor anticipates he will be able to marshal half a million w ell-armed troops against Italy. Has Kassa and Ras Seyoum have already telegraphed that they require no more soldiers but rifles and ammunition. The authorities are finding difficulty in feeding and sheltering the newly-arrived troops in the mountains and also fear that the congestion will hamper tactical retreats and other movements. Government circles assert that Italy’s hardest task is now beginning. The Abyssinians are massing 111 strong mountain positions south of Ma kale at altitudes of 11,<XXI and teet which will present a formidable barrier to tanks and artillery and which is described as the key sector. Simultaneously the Abyssinians are reported to be making an effort at enveloping operations on the extreme north-west with a view to °ff the Italian columns in tlm neighbourhood of Makale. The Emperor has discovered that the treasure in Menelik's tomb is greater than expected. It includes quantities of gold and is accompanied by Menelik’s malediction and God s curse upon those disturbing the gold except in time of national peril.

An aerial reconnaissance this morning 59 miles south of Ala kale did not reveal a single Abvssinian concent r a t ion.