Show weekly news analysis U S fleet secures macarthur s S supply lines to philippines EDITORS NOTE when opinions vi u expressed la in these iff columns they are those of western newspaper union sews now a analysts lad and sot not necessarily of this newspaper EUROPE clearing holland pushed back in france and belgium the germans were being shoved out of their last holdings in holland by canadian and british troops applying a double squeeze on some nazis in th the e southwestern part of 01 the country only in holland was there major action on the western front with rain and snow bogging U S daiv drives s about aachen metz and the mountains even though the british 2nd and army had bad overrun the entire eastern section of holland in a drive that the nazis only stopped at the gateway to their important ruhr valley the germans held their ground in the western part of the country for the purpose of denying the allies use of the great north sea ports for the supply of their onrushing armies principal port denied the allies was antwerp which the nazis blocked off by occupying both sides of the schelde river leading inland to the city dotting one side of the schelde are the Wal cheren and south beveland islands connected to the mainland by a causeway below bergen op zoom in attempting to knock the germans out of their strategic positions along both sides of the schelde canadian troops cut into the defenses on the south bank of the river and fought to capture the causeway below bergen op zoom and cut off island communications with the mainland meanwhile british troops smashed through nazi defenses to the north with the aim of racing toward the speaking in the house of commons after his conference with josef stalin in moscow prime minister churchill declared unconditional surrender in the sense of no bargaining with the enemy is still the policy of the government sea and thus cutting off all german troops along the schelde to to the south capture of antwerp and rotterdam would give the allies at least two great ports for tunneling funneling in supplies for the drive on germany and relieve the need for a reliance on smaller crowded facilities slow going in italy in italy german field marshall albert kesselring seemed to be pulling his lines northward in a slow withdrawing movement hinged on the big communications hub of bologna as allied troops pushed further through the mud onto the broad plains of the po valley russ reach norway norway was the latest european state to be invaded by the russians with gen K A northern red army driving into the arctic port of kirkenes birkenes Kir kenes in the wake of its abandonment by nazi troops russian entrance into norway coincided with the reds all out offensive against east prussia noted wooded and lake country of the junker military caste calling panzer formations into action along roadways leading to the heart of the province the germans sought to stall the russians advance westward originally paced by an estimated tanks compelled to throw additional forces in hungary to stave off the russian drive on budapest the germans fought hard to protect the broad gateway to austria from the western end of the country in raging tank battles the enemy succeeded in slowing the red advance 60 50 miles from budapest 64 2 M A at 01 U S doughboy is shown knocking out nazi tank with bazooka on western front HOME FRONT news for consumers on the home front consumers heard this news there will be less meat for civilians in november but more of the better grades there will be less cheese but the same amount of butter as in october approximately plants were authorized to produce million dollars of civilian goods during the next year infants and childrens clothes were expected to be in greater supply next january february and march cotton textile controls will be maintained after germanys germanas Germ anys defeat ros possessing available facilities and labor the plants will be permitted to manufacture vacuum cleaners bed springs and innerspring inner spring mattresses automotive parts building materials plumbing and heating items household aluminum ware electric irons lamps lawn mowers furniture church goods fountain pens and sporting goods because of pent up demand made even more formidable by swollen purchasing power the amount of goods authorized represents virtually a drop in the bucket to assure production of more infants and childrens wear for the first three months of 1945 1943 the war production board moved to release sufficient material for garments and also laid down specifications for the type of goods and workmanship to be employed the hurried the program even as its chairman J A krug announced that because of drops in output of cotton textiles due to labor difficulties controls will be extended after germanys germanas Germ anys downfall to prevent acute shortages production this year is estimated at increase visibility and contrast to further guard against accidents RAIL RATES wants boosts supporting their petition for continuance ti nuance of the 10 per cent increase in passenger fares and immediate application of the 4 per cent freight rate boost railroad representatives declared the carriers faced decreasing revenues when war traffic subsides previously federal ag agricultural ri cultural agencies opposed the freight rate increases on the strength of continued high farm traffic for at least two years after the war while the OPA claimed the carriers were trying to pass wartime taxation along to the public unless rail revenue is bolstered by rate increases said vice president walter S franklin of the pennsylvania railroad the financial structure of the carriers will be seriously impaired in the postwar years with the result being a very much less effective operation and a serious impairment of the railroads ability y to be ready to do their part in meeting the employment problem after the war ROAD BUILDING huge program with urgent highway construction in the early postwar years exceeding 10 billion dollars the vast quantities of labor material and equipment needed for carrying on the program should act as a stabilizing factor in the future economy the american road builders associations engineer director charles M upham declared by next october the states will have drawn up plans tor for one billion dollars of highway construction deferred because of the war and city county and local road projects will amount to another billion postwar plans of business and industry call for greater production and distribution of goods upham said that means roads and streets must carry greater burdens obviously sly inadequate roads and streets will hold back business and industrial activity MANPOWER employment drops with the nations labor force dropping by in september war manpower commissioner paul V mcnutt declared the reduction a serious development in view of increased production requirements in certain industries most of the were either students returning to school or women becoming housewives mcnutt said and their places would have to be taken by those in unessential industry or presently not engaged in some work SURPLUS HOLDINGS disposal problem with U S holdings of industrial facilities amounting to about 16 billion dollars or 20 per cent of the total private and public facilities in the country the government already has taken steps for disposal of its properties in the postwar period difficulties are expected to rise in the sale of the bulk of such bacill ties as aircraft shipbuilding and munitions however since these industries dus tries have been greatly eap exp expanded to meet w wartime artime requirements which will drop sharply with peace of the governments government 3 billion dollar investment in war housing permanent buildings must be sold when no longer needed and fabricated structures must be dismantled with materials made part of general surplus property BIG DEAL check wall wall street gave way to lasalle st street reet when the commonwealth edison company re financed mi million ilion dollars worth of bonds in the biggest private financing operation in the nations history featuring the deal was the purchase for resale of million dollars of new bonds by the big chicago investment house of halsey stuart company which with otis company of cleveland ohio has been bucking the great wall street banking firms in completing the transaction halsey stuarts president handed commonwealths representative senta tive a check for million dollars also covering interest due on the bonds and the premium paid for getting the business in addition to the million dollars refunded with new bonds commonwealth retired an additional 23 million dollars of securities with its own cash BRITISH LAND avert clash steering clear of any political battle between conservatives and liberals that might upset the present coalition government britaina Brit ains house of commons passed a bill for postwar town and country reconstruction st passage was aimed at avoiding an all out battle between the two political elements over the bills provision that landlords only be paid prewar prices for land condemned for reconstruction use with increases up to 30 per cent for occupying owners news briefs the kitchen was termed one of the most hazardous spots on earth by marye Da dahnke linke home economics specialist in an address before the national safety congress she urged care in placing kitchen tables well apart from the stove to render it less easy tor for hot foods to be overturned onto the table and for grease to spatter into so eyes she also urged that such ferocious substances as lye kerosene naphtha abrasive powders and bleaches be treated with wholesome respect for their uncomfortable for table potentials in addition to this author itys recommendations competent experts on the modern home also recommend painting kitchens in light cheerful tints net only for sanitation but also to increase visibility 0 the bureau of animal industry says that there are 11 states of the union known as western range states which round up range horses namely arizona new mexico colorado nevada wyoming oregon california washington montana idaho and utah these horses are old at auction under state laws PACIFIC save communications long in hiding japans imperia navy came out for battle in an effort to smash the american supply line to general douglas macarthurs Mac Arthurs forces in the philippines and limped oft off in defeat as the U S 3rd ard and fth fleets shattered the attack and se cured the vital communications the japs attack took the sf S of a three pronged assault with 1 fl enemy my force coming in through th narrow straits south 1 0 leyte the second driving in through throng the san bernardino straits north tha 0 leyte and the third he heading adine south ward from formosan waters apprised of the japs approach h b 03 alert U S carrier planes vice ad adm n thomas C kinkaid divided his 0 out ut numbered ath fleet into two forces which with the aid of carrier planes dealt the enemy a telling blow be fore he could fully develop his attack meanwhile adm william F halseys Hal 3rd ard fleet made up dfwar ships carriers and subs caught the japs sailing down from formosa after the smoke of battle had cleared two jap carriers tv tap twp battleships five cruisers ai a three destroyers were sun sunk vi 1 I iw three more warships probably sunk and a dozen damaged for their part the japs claimed to have primarily struck transports and landing craft As the crippled jap fleet limped homeward licking its wounds gen braf macarthurs Mac Arthurs ground forces consolidated soli dated their hold on leyte island despite mounting enemy resistance and also strengthened their grip on samar island just across the san sac juanico straits I 1 finds home N A infant son of a yank aviator killed in action and of a mother who died in giving him birth tiny kenneth maloney was taken by maternal grandparents who were gatei killed by robot bomb in london h army then flew six month old kel ke 13 c neth to paternal grandmother in grand rapids alich baich who nho is shown putting b him to bed while 22 month old co cousin terry looks on CROP LOSS hurricanes toll As it swirled through cuba and florida the recent hurricane not only took a heavy toll of life and property but also severely damaged the citrus fruit and sugar crops between 50 and 75 per cent of the grapefruit and 20 to 30 per cent of the orange crops were blown from florida trees observers estimated and directors of the states citrus exchange requested an immediate boost in price ceilings in line with the laws provisions tor for such adjust ments in cases of disaster kw in addition to the destruction of enough cane to yield approximately tons of sugar machinery and warehouses of several refiners refinery re finers were buffeted by the hurricane in cuba with the result that the country is ia not expected to manufacture its proposed quota of tons in 1945 released by western newsy newspaper per union |