Worst Yet

The U.S. Army was having trouble enough with the Italian prisoners it had put to work in many a U.S. community as labor troops on "modified parole." There had been fisticuffs in Boston, criticism everywhere from citizens who could not forget that the Italians had once fought against U.S. troops. Last week the Army had more Italian trouble--the worst yet.

In some U.S. ports Italian prisoners do stevedore duty. In Seattle it is done in part by a Negro battalion stationed at Fort Lawton; the paroled Italians work as gardeners and orderlies in the camp. They also have long had the run of the post exchange, and for the Negro troops that, along with other privileges, was just too much. There was open bad feeling, a small scrap last week when the U.S. troops decided the Italians were getting the best of the PX's beer and cigarets.

The next night a group of Negro troops slipped out of their quarters, armed themselves with stones and poured into the barracks where the Italians were asleep. The riot had reached serious proportions before MPs dashed in and broke it up. Twenty six Italians, three U.S. soldiers attached to the unit as interpreters were sent to hospital; the Negro rioters were confined to quarters along with the rest of their unit.

The worse was yet to come. Few hours after the fray the body of one Italian was found 600 yards from his barracks, hanged on a tree. Army officers hoped it would prove to be suicide.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.