For what happened before our arrival I am indebted to the chemist
Radimiri, from whose report the following is an extract: "At ten in the
morning Major Verdinois had summoned to his office the communal doctor,
Moretti, and the secretary, Draguni['c], both of them Yugoslavs. He told
them that two Englishmen who were cruising about in the _Porer_ would
very likely be coming up that afternoon to Blato and he would permit no
sort of demonstration. The doctor, he said, would be held responsible
for any disorder; and as Moretti was about to make this known to the
people, who were just coming out of church, the Italian adjutant
approached him with a paper and ordered him to read it to the Yugoslavs.
This document--it has been preserved--is in the Serbo-Croat language and
was given to the doctor because the adjutant, who did not know the
language, mistook it for another one. It was an exhortation to the
people, urging them to have nothing more to do with the Yugoslav
_intelligentsia_, which had made a great deal of money during the War.
'And you have given your blood for four and a half years and what has
been your benefit?' Dr. Moretti made a personal appeal for the
maintenance of order, and the people, having called out 'Long live
Wilson!' went their divers ways in peace. Nevertheless three platoons
appeared, each with one officer and one N.C.O. The adjutant's platoon
distinguished itself, for while the arditi attacked anyone they saw,
including women and children, with the butt end of their muskets, Lieut.
Giovanoni laid about him with a dog-whip. Several of the soldiers made
for a group of four young fellows; three of them escaped and the fourth,
Peter Kraljevi['c], was struck with a rifle so severely across the face
that he was bathed in blood. As he tried to defend himself he was shot
at from a distance of three paces: one bullet went through his nose,
another wounded him in the forehead. He fell to the ground, and a
teacher, Mrs. Maria Grubisi['c], who had witnessed the whole incident,
sank down unconscious at his side and was covered with his blood.
Various other people were injured--three little girls received rifle
shots in their bodies. All the main streets were shut off and eight
machine guns were placed in readiness. But the people were not to be
intimidated, and when the Englishmen arrived their national
consciousness was displayed. As a result Peter [vC]arap was knocked
unconscious with a mighty blow of a musket, the fourteen-year-old Joseph
Sule[vz]i['c] had a similar experience, and among many others who were
assaulted we will only mention an ex-official, Anthony Pi[vz]tuli['c], a
man of sixty, who was struck twice with a rifle on his stomach and then
prevented from going home but chased out into the fields.... It seemed
as if it would be impossible for our people to have a conversation with
the Englishmen, but at last twenty men and twelve girls managed to reach
that house...."