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Weather Forecast Cloudy; near freezing tonight. Tomor row warmer, occasional rain. Temperatures today—Highest, 38, at 1.30 pin.; lowest, 28, at 8:05 a.m. Yes terday—Highest, 44, at 4 p.m.; lowest, 34, at 3:45 a.m. __Late New York Markets, Poge A-17._ Guide for Readers Page. ! Amusements A-12 Comics_B-18-19 Editorials -.A-8 Edlt’l Articles - A-9 Finance .A-17 Lost and Found A-3 Page. Obituary .A-10 Radio .B-19 Society.B-3 Sports .A-14-15 Where to Go __ B-8 Woman’s Page.A-11 An Associoted Press Newspaper 92d YEAR. No. 36,449. WASHINGTON, D, C., WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1944—THIRTY-EIGHT PAGES. *** ~ THREE CENTS. " RAF Drops 2,800 Tons of Bombs On Berlin in War's Biggest Raid; Germans' Cassino Line Breached Big Fires Started; 43 Aircraft Lost In Night Forays Fy the Associated Press. LONDON, Feb. 16.—The RAF smashed Berlin last night with the greatest load of bombs ever dropped on a single target—well over 2.800 tons—which cascaded down in a 20-minute attack by 800 to 900 heavy bombers. Forty-three aircraft are missing from the night's operations, which included other forays. The Air Ministry first listed 45 planes lost, but later announced the toll was 43. The RAF waited two weeks to deal this crushing blow against the Ger man capital. Not since January 30, when Berlin was hit by a force ap proaching 800 planes, had it made a major attack. It is believed that the armada sent over Germany last night com prised the greatest number of planes ever to fill the Reich’s skies in one night, including 1,000 heavy bomb ers and more than 200 lighter craft. Berlin itself received the contents of 800 to 900 big bomb bavs. Smoke Rises Four Miles. Billows of flame swept through the city when the assault was fin ished. Crews of reconnoitering Mosquitos reported a large field of fire, with smoke rising 4 miles into the air. Just before Berlin was hit a smaller force of Lancasters made a feint attack on Frankfurt-on-Oder, 50 miles east of Berlin, and Mos quitos bombed targets in Western Germany and Holland. Mines also were laid in enemy waters. The heaviest previous raid on Berlin was on the night of last January 20, when more than 2,578 tons #2,300 British long tons) were dropped within an hour. The RAF’s heaviest previous raid on a single target was its attack on Hannover, about 2,800 tons, last September 22. A Swedish report quoting private advices reaching Stockholm said high explosives and incendiaries showered down on all sections of Berlin last night. Many Fires Started. All bus, tram and underground traffic was reported disrupted. Ber lin correspondents Of Swedish news papers were almost completely silenced, but the German-controlled Scandinavian Telegraph Bureau re ported from Zurich that the heavy attack started many fires. DNB, German news agency, de clared in a broadcast: "British air Huns carried out an other terror raid on the Reich cap ital. The raiders were favored by the weather. A layer of dense cloud lay over the city and the enemy took advantage of this to drop bombs at random in several districts. The terror raiders ■were met by extraordinarily heavy anti aircraft fire. Damage was caused mainly in residential districts.” Returning pilots agreed a ceiling of heavy clouds over Berlin pre vented accurate observation of the results and also impeded the de fenses. They said flak over the tar get area was intense but inaccurate. Fighter opposition was light as com pared with some of the previous Berlin attacks. The Swedish newspaper Afton bladet's Berlin correspondent re ported that two houses used tem porarily by the Swedish Legation were destroyed by fire bombs and that a Swedish church in the South western section of the city was hit By incendiaries. 28,000 Tons Dropped. Berlin now' has received almost 28.000 tons (25.000 long tons) of bombs in a series of 15 heavy at tacks beginning November 18. 1943. The total heavy bombers last on these night raids is 467, an aver age of 31 a raid. Frankfurt-on-Oder, a city of about 70,000. was attacked only once before, in October, 1940. Its main industries manufacture machinery and chemicals and it is important as a railway center. Among the hundreds of planes which flew to Berlin was the largest force of heavy bombers ever to oper ate from Royal Canadian Air Force bases in Britain. It was composed of four-engined Lancasters and Hali faxes. of which four were missing. A communique declared that the bombers "took the offensive against Germany in very great strength, flying in all operations over 1,000 sorties. The main objective was Berlin, where well over 2,500 long tons of high explosive and in cendiary bombs were dropped, a heavier load than in any previous attack on any objective in air war fare." Entire Formation Returns. Indicating the scarcity of opposi tion over Berlin, 35 Lancasters manned by British, Canadian and Australian crews took off from one (See RAIDS, Page A-27) Two Japanese Admirals Killed in Marshalls By the Associated Press. UNITED STATES ARMY HEAD QUARTERS, Central Pacific. Feb. 16.—Two Japanese admirals were killed in the American conquest of Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshalls, Maj. Gen. Charles H. Corlett, com manding the 7th Army Division of Army troops, said yesterday. One was killed On Kwajalein Island, one on Ebeye—both eitlier by Army artillery or rifle fire. Gen. Corlett said the admiral of Kwajalein was commander of the whole Marshalls and other terri tories. The admiral emerged from a dugout on the second day of the invasion and was hit. The next day hxfcataff committed hara-kiri. j ► _ - ■ ' On-Spot Radio Facilities Barred To War Correspondents in Italy Dispatches Must Go To Base Headquarters For Censorship E.v the Associated Press. LONDON, Feb. 16.—Delayed j dispatches from the Anzio bridgehead below Rome said to day the Allied command had banned use of on-the-spot radio facilities to news correspondents, decreeing that news copy must be carried by courier service and censored at base headquarters on policy as well as security grounds. A Reuters dispatch, dated Febru ary 13, said Lt. Gen. Mark W. Clark’s command had taken this action because of annoyance caused by some press dispatches concerning the beachhead operation. The dis patch said there was criticism of reports which called the beachhead another Tobruk or Dunkerque. Norman Clark, representing the combined British press, said in a dispatch also dated February 13 that this "bridling'’ of the correspond ents’ attempts to represent the day (See CORRESPONDENTS? Pg. A-2?i Gen. Alexander, Sure Of Victory, Assails 'Pessimistic Rubbish' Bv DANIEL DE LUCE, Associated Press War Correspondent. ! ON THE ANZIO BEACHHEAD, Italy, Feb. 14 (Delayed).—Gen. Sir Harold Alexander, command er in chief of Allied armies in Italy, declared today after a tour of the Anzio front that “we are ! winning the second round of the j battle of the beachhead.” | Using strong, unqualified lan guage to express the conviction that the Anzio landings would lead to success, the general, in barely 10 minutes of rapid-fire discussion, gave the clearest statement on the beachhead situation yet made by any high military source. “We won the first round with our surprise landing—a beauty!” Gen. Alexander said. “I assure you the Germans opppsite us are a very un happy party. As Kesselring (Field Marshal Gen. Albert Kesselring,1 commander of German forces in Italy i cnce said, if you allow the _(See ALEXANDER. Page A-2.i Green Islands Seizure Ends Solomons Drive, Trapping 22,000 Japs Latest Landing Marks 750-Mile Push Since Guadalcanal Invasion (Map on Page A-4.) By the Associated Press. ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC. Feb. 16.—Admiral William F. Halsey's South Pacific forces in a bold surprise move seized the Green Islands at the northern j tip of the Solomons Monday,! Gen. Douglas MacArthur an nounced today, closing a itarve or-surrender trap, on 22,000 Jap anese troops to the south. American and New Zealand troops, under cover of air and naval surface strength which included cruisers, landed in an 8 p.m. twilight and met only light machine-gun resistance. ‘For all strategic military pur poses, this completes the campaign for the Solomon Islands.” Gen. Mac Arthur said in a communique. The estimated 22.000 ~ Japanese trapped on Choiseul, Shortland Bougainville and Buka Islands to the south “are now isolated from their sources of supply at Rabaul (New Britain),” he said. “Starvation and disease are cer tain to ensue from the military blockade, which renders their posi tion hopeless. With their airfields destroyed and their barge traffic paralyzed, relief of the scattered garrisons is no longer practicable and their ultimate fate is sealed.” Rear Admiral Theodore S. Wilkin son of Washington, commanded the amphibious operation. New Zealand Maj. Gen. Harold E. Barrow Clough was in charge of the ground troops, mainly New Zealanders. The Green Islands, also known as the Nissan Islands, are 40 miles northwest of Buka Island and about 120 miles east of the Japanese base at Rabaul, where the enemy has been taking repeated and heavy Al lied aerial pounding.'. They also are only 230 miles southeast of another Japanese base at Kavieng, New Ire land. Territory seized by the Americans and New Zealanders is composed of a group of five coral islands form ing a horseshoe-shaped atoll 16 by 14 miles. Thera is an interior la goon and a low coral perimeter. Highest point on the atoll is 200 feet, and there are a number of flat places suitable for airfields. The operation culminated a series of outflanking maneuvers In the (See PACIFIC, Page A-4.) Air and Sea Power Cannot Defeat Japs, MacArthur Declares Must Be Supported by Ground Action to Clinch Victory, He Points Out Ej the Associated Press. ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN SOUTHWEST PACIFIC. Feb. 16. —Gen. Douglas MacArthur said today that Japan cannot be de feated through blockade and bombing alone. “We must defeat Japan's army and for that purpose our strategy must devise ways and means ,to bring our ground forces into con tact with his at decisive points,” he said in a special statement. The Southwest Pacific commander made his comment following discus sion of recent successes in his sector in which blockade and bombardment played such a vital part. The statement said the general was asked If he thought Japan could be defeated through blockade and bombing alone, and the answer was a decisive “no.” Must Defeat Jap Army. “Both of these are powerful weapons, indeed, but decisive results in modern war can only be achieved through the combined efforts of all three forces—ground, naval and air.", Gen. MacArthur declared. “No one ‘ or no two of them can obtain vic tory. “The strongest military element of Japan is the army which must be defeated before our success is as sured. This can only be done by1 th% use of large ground forces. It's! useless and misleading to talk of short cuts. They do not exist. “It’s teamwork of a united, well balanced command used as a unit and not its preponderance of any one element that is essential to vic tory. We delude ourselves if we plan otherwise. Just as is the case with j Germany, we must devise ways and means to bring our ground forces into contact with his at decisive! points.” Jap Holdings Large. Gen. MacArthur said the old con cept of Japan as a predominantly maritime nation based on her island empire is no longer “factual,'’ adding: “With her immense holdings on the Asiatic continent, Manchuria, Korea, and Northern China, to say nothing of her southern mainland conquests, she has become intrinsi cally a continental power with her greatest potential inland. “Her outlying islands of the Pa ciflc represent an outpost position • See MACARTHUR, Page A-4.) Curt Nazi Note Took Argentina Near War Before Gilbert Ouster Ey the Associates Press. MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Feb. 16. — Germany’s curt protest against detention of the German Military Attache, Gen. Friedrich Wolff, brought Argentina close to war with the Reich last week, a diplomatic source said today, and precipitated yesterday’s palace revolution ousting For eign Minister Gen. Alberto Gil bert. This source, conversant with the swiftly-moving events in Argentina, gave this version: Germany on Friday sent an inso lent note to Argentina through the Swiss government. The note de clared that charges of Nazi espion age in Argentina were a “lie,” and that Germany would hold Argentina responsible for treatment accorded to Wolff. It threatened reprisals against Argentine diplomatic repre sentatives in Nazi-controlled terri tories. t Wanted to Prove Good Faith. Gilbert angrily demanded a declaration of war against Ger many, and rupture of relations with Spain on grounds it also was impli cated in Axis espionage in Argentina. He was pictured as feeling this w6uld not only prove Argentina’s good faith abroad, but also would strengthen the government of Gen. Pedro Ramirez at home against na tionalists who still were grumbling over the breaking of relations with Germany and Japan. But Gilbert, who presumably had the support of Ramirez and the President’s former executive secre tary, Col. Enrique Gonzalez, was un able to persuade the Nationalist of ficers to agree to war. There were signs of unusual military prepara tions in Argentina during this time. Gilbert and two other state of ficials were forced to resign as a result. Gen. Ramirez himself apparently was left in a precarious situation by the coup, engineered by a group of reactionary army officers who seized control of the Foreign Ministry while unknowing Argentine citizens fanned themselves in the sultry weather. The sudden turn of events caused Gustavo Martines Zuviria, whoJiad resigned earlier as Minister of Jus tice and Education because of his opposition to the break with the Axis, to withdraw his resignation, ’ (See ARGENTINE, Page A-4.) Siege Guns Open Bombardment of Monastery Hill (Map on Page A-3.) By the Associated Press. ALLIED HEADQUARTERS, Al giers, Feb. 16.—American siege guns have opened a concentrated bombardment of Monastery Hill, following the destruction of the historic Mount Cassino Abbey, and breaches have been opened in that main sector of the Ger man line overlooking the town of Cassino, Allied headquarters announced today. To the west, along the invasion beachhead, the lull in ground fight ing continued, with only patrol clashes in the Cisterna and Car roceto (Aprilla) areas, a com munique said. Headquarters said Carroceto was in German hands. Fierce fighting has swirled in this neighborhood, with a canning factory there chang ing hands four times. Allied forces had pushed 4 miles north of Car roceto to the outskirts of Campo leone, 16 miles below Rome, but German counterattacks forced them back. Carroceto is 10 miles north of Anzio. Warships again battered the Ger mans ringing the beachhead and RAF Wellingtons flung down block busters in a night attack. Rome Suburbs Raided. While Allied heavy bombers gave direct support to infantry on both the beach and Cassino front. A-36 Invaders struck a sharp series of blows at railroad yards in the suburbs of Rome, plastering the Trastevere and Tiburtina freight yards through which German sup plies and reinforcements were mov ing southward. (The Paris radio said the Rome area was attacked again today and that Castel Gan dolfo was hit yesterday.) The Germans launched their first attack in several weeks against 8th Army positions along the Adri atic, sending infantry and light tanks against Indian troops. The assault, described as on a "small scale,” was beaten back. (Douglas Amaron, Canadian Press war correspondent, said in a dispatch from the 8th Army front that columns of smoke, ob served Monday night on the coastal road about 6 miles north west of Ortona, were believed to have resulted from German demolitions in anticipation of a renewed Allied offensive.) In the town of Cassino, doughboys were forcing their way through blistering machine gun fire from steel-reinforced concrete pillboxes in the dwellings. These strong points, protected by armor plate 3 to 4 inches thick, each are held by two men, aiming machine gums with periscopes without exposing them selves. Monastery Destroyed. Photographic recon naissance showed that the Benedictine Mon astery was destroyed yesterday in the attack by United States heavy and medium bombers and artillery fire. Only a small portion of the west wall was left. Infantrymen who watched the as sault said the bombing was "ex tremely accurate and successful.” Immediately after the panles left, Allied artillery shells began drop ping into the monastery ruins and the entire area around. The Germans may have tried to rush infantry back into the ruins, but whether they succeeded was not known here. The bombing smoked out nearly 300 Nazis. The American Air Force disclosed that four waves of Flying Fortresses hammered the monastery with “many tons” of high explosives and incendiaries. The last waves of bombers dropped the incendiaries. German infantry presumably was still in possession of Monastery Hill. Weather Clears. Clearing weather brought virtual ly every type of Allied aircraft into action, and Liberators also struck at the Poggibonsi rail yards 20 miles south of Florence. Nine enemy planes were downed, including four ove» the beachhead, while the Allies lost one. One formation of invaders caught a string of nearly 200 freight cars in the Tiburtina yards on the out skirts of Rome, hitting them with (See ITALY, Page A-3.) Japs Bootleg Poison Liquor To U. S. Troops in China By the Associated Press. HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES AIR FORCE IN CHINA, Feb. 14 (Delayed).—The Japanese have turned bootlegger In this war theater, attempting to peddle phoney “American” brands of liquor—some of it poisoned—to American "troops. Lt. Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell in an order to his troops in China de clared liquors represented as Scotch, rye, brandy and others are “being smuggled into China from enemy occupied territories by Japanese agents intended for sale to Ameri can troops.” "Recent reports indicate the Jap anese in some instances introduced poisons into these liquors,” the order said. "All United States Army per sonnel is warned that the purchase of these spurious liquors actually is aiding and abetting the enemy, and drinking the Japanese beverages may result in serious illness or death," Hull Tells House It's ‘Too Late' For Him to Join Bureaucrats $231,304,700 Fund Reported Out For Three Government Departments By the Associated Press. The House Appropriations Committee sent to the floor to day legislation appropriating $231,304,700 for the State, Com merce and Justice Departments for the fiscal year starting July 1. The total was allocated in this manner: State Department, $44. 234,500; Justice. $116,477,200; Com merce, $70,593,000. The aggregate was $5,987,700 below budget esti mates. The legislation was accompanied by almost 1,000 pages of printed testimony from high-ranking offi cials of the three departments. From Secretary of State Hull, who told the committee at one point that it was “too late in life for me" to join “the bureaucrats,” came a warning that the war is not “all over but the shouting,” and Secre tary of Commerce Jones declared that much of the $2,700,000,000 in vested by the Government in air plane and engine plants will have to be written off as a dead loss. Outlined in the foreign service section were reports that Americans 'See APPROPRIATIONS, Pg. A-57) Reds Nearing Pskov, Whittle Down Size of Cherkasy Pocket 50,000 Trapped Nazis Declared Fighting Last-Ditch Battle By the Associftt’er 1'ren*. LONDON, Feb. 16 —Gen. Leo nid A. Govorov's Leningrad army pressed closer to historic Pskov today as other Red Army forces steadily whittled down the Cherkasy death pocket in the. upper Dnieper bend, where, the Russians said, about 50.000 trapped Nazis were fighting a last-ditch battle against over whelming odds. Capture of Pskov, hub of trunk lines serving an" immense area to the south, west and east, would set up the beginning of a potential en trapment .circle for those Germans holding positions between Lake Ilmen on the north and Novosokol niki, 120 miles to the south. Their escape avenue then would be cut to a 120-mile-wide gap between Pskov and Novosokolniki. Moscow dispatches said Govorov hoped to be in Pskov by February 23, the 25th anniversary of the Red Army's official birthday. Many Prisoners Captured. A Russian communique yesterday said Govorov's troops storming down the Leningrad-Pskov railway from Luga captured the railway station of Serebryanka, 15 miles southwest of Luca, and the highway town of Gorodets, a few miles east of Sere bryanka. Spearheads of this force then battered their way into the town of Kalbutitsy, 16 miles south of Luga and 75 miles northeast of Pskov. Another Govorov column, pound ing down the Narva-Pskov railway along the eastern shore of Lake Piepus, overran several towns, routed an enemy regiment and cap tured many prisoners, the Moscow bulletin said. Russian advance units on this sector were last re ported at Polna, 47 miles north of Pskov. German transport was reported in hopeless confusion, as the retreating Nazis were forced off the main roads by Soviet artillery fire and bombing attacks. Columns of Nazi trucks, carts and other transport were blown to bits^ the Soviet bulletin said. More than 1,000 German troops were killed and 40 towns and vil (See RUSSIA, Page A-4l Late Bulletin Wants Bill Reconsidered Senator O'Mahoney, Demo crat, of Wyoming, moved in the Senate today for reconsid eration of the bill passed yes terday giving the District in surance superintendent power toi regulate Are insurance rates. He expressed fear there were too many strings at tached to the superintendent’s authority, and made clear he was in favor of the objectives of the measure. (Earlier Story on Page B-l.) 24 Lost as Blizzard Drives British Vessel Onto Maine Rocks 20 Rescued After Ship Splits in Two Under Heavy Sea Pounding Bt the Associated Press. PORTSMOUTH, N. H . Feb. 16 — Twenty-four members of the crew of 44 on a 7.244-ton British freighter were lost when the ship piled onto Boon Island Ledge, about 12 miles off York. Me., in a driving blizzard Friday and split in two, the 1st Naval District public relations office disclosed today, with approval of the British Admiralty. The motor vessel crashed onto the rock at 2:23 p.m. and. pounded all night by terrific seas, broke up Sat urday morning, with the forward half remaining fast on the ledge and the aft half floating crazilv away to sink later. Chief Engineer Svend Haagensen related. Rescuers Handicapped. Rescue ships stood by. but could not get close enough to take off the men. The rescue craft, including Coast Guard and United States naval vessels, rendered daring service, however, in picking up survivors from the tempest-ridden seas. Thir teen bodies were recovered later. Thirteen of the survivors were taken to Portland, Me., and seven more were brought into Portsmouth. Virtually all required hospital treat ment. Most of the ship's life-saving equipment either was washed into the sea or smashed when the ves sel split, and some rafts capsized after they hit the water. Mr. Haagensen related that he was 1 of the 19 men ii^ the for ward section who plunged into the boisterous ocean as the ship split. Fifty-foot swells, he said, were run ning during the night. Jumped as Ship Broke, "We jumped," he reiterated, “just as the ship broke in two, between the saloon and the third hatch. I was in the water about 20 minutes before a liferaft floated by with <See SiUPWRECK~Page~A^37) Labor Conscription Would Not Prevent Strikes, Green Insists Citizens' Committee Tells Hearing Union Chiefs Fought Selective Service Bv J. A. O’LEARY. A national service law would not prevent strikes and is not needed to meet war production requirements. William Green, president of the American Fed eration of Labor, told the Senate Military Affairs Committee today in opposing a labor draft system. At the same time, the Citizens Committee for a National War Serv ice Act told the committee the same labor leaders who now are oppos ing this legislation objected to the selective service law in 1940. Mr. Green condemned wartime strikes, but predicted they woulc continue to occur because the Gov ernment has failed to stabilize liv ing costs along with wages. Britain's Experienre Cited. “The War Labor Disputes Act has not prevented strikes." said the AFL leader, referring to the Con nally law. "Neither would a na tional service law. “We have only to examine the experiences of Great Britain for further confirmation. Britain has a national service law. adopted in the national emergency which fol lowed Dunkerque. This law has not prevented strikes in Britain On the contrary, the records show that there have been more strike. proportionately in Great Britain while the national service law was in effect there than there have been in this country during the same period." The Citizens' Committee countered with the charge that some of labor’s strike comparisons with England have been misleading be cause they were based on one year —1942—and "because the emphasis is placed solely on relative numbers of strikes and omits the true cri terion of the number of work davs lost." Statistics Presented. The committee favoring national service said official figures of the British and American government; for the three calendar years 1941 1942 and 1943 inclusive show the following results; Total number of strikes — Great Britain. 4.307: United States. 11.006 Man days lost—Great Britain. 4. 410.000; United States. 40.730.000. "No one in America has been more outspoken in condemnation of war time strikes than I have." said Mr Green. ‘Repeatedly I have urged the membership of the American Federation of Labor to live up to our no-strike pledge, and they have followed this advice to the extent of more than 99 per cent. There can be no possible justification for strikes at a time when the fate of the Nation and the lives of thou ~7~See LABOrTDRAFT.Page A-2.r Two Canceled Weddings Bring Walter Reed Explanations Arrangements for the weddings of iwo young Washington women to servicemen, which their families un derstood had been definitely sched uled for the chapel at Walter Reed Hospital next Saturday, have been cancelled by military authorities there and will be held elsewhere, The Star learned today. Definitely scheduled for 8 p.m. next Saturday in the same chapel is the floral wedding of Miss Jane Kirk, daughter of Maj. Gen. and Mrs. Norman T. Kirk, to Lt. Marvin Rea Kimbrell. Gen. Kirk is the surgeon general of the Army. Plans for a fourth wedding which had been scheduled for the same day were canceled orally by Lt. Neal McManus, Catholic chaplain attached to the chapel, but it was subsequently authorized. This wed ding, that of Muss Mary Howard Gillespie and Lt. Laurence Sanford Kritchell, will be performed at noon, or eight hours before the Kirk nuptials. Arrangements Made. Miss Kathryn May Galiher, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Claude Galiher, 1629 Montague street N.W., who is to wed Lt. Edward Turner. U. S. N., told The Star today that she and her fiance, who recently returned from an assignment in [the Pacific, visited Father Mc Manus on January 23 and made arrangements to use the chapel for their wedding. A rehearsal, she added, was set for last Monday. Consequently, Miss Galiher said, her parents sent engraved invita tions to some 200 persons, many of whom live in other cities, inviting them to the wedding at the chapel On February 4, Miss Galiher said, she was informed by telephone by an orderly at Walter Reed that all weddings at the chapel for next Saturday had been canceled. No reason was given, she added. Subsequently, Miss Galiher said she learned that Miss Kirk's wed ding was still scheduled, and be lieving there might be clash in ar rangements, called Miss Kirk on the telephone. Miss Galiher de scribed Miss Kirk’s attitude as “friendly,” but said her (the Kirk) family was insistent that Miss Galiher’s wedding not be held the (See WEDDINGS, Page A-16.) U. S. Oil Policy Is Demanded in Truman Report Says Nation's Future May Depend on Foreign Supplies By the Associated Press. A warning that the Nation’s future may depend on develop ment of foreign oil reserves was sounded by the Truman Com mittee today in calling for im mediate congressional formula tion of “a positive, vigorous American policy” on petroleum. Asserting that the war is deplet ing domestic reserves, the commit tee urged that the Nation’s Allies, particularly Great Britain, be asked to transfer to the United States "a compensating volume of proved reserves outside this country.” “However,” it continued, "even more important is an agreement with our Allies on the equitable al location of world reserves of petro leum which will be discovered and proved in the future, plus the for mulation of a positive, vigorous American policy on the whole sub ject.” Parley on Committee Held. Before issuance of the Truman Committee report Majority Leader Barkley conferred with Chairman Bailey of the Senate Commerce Committee and others on establish ment of a nine-man Senate com mitee to establish a national petro leum policy. Senator Bailey said the proposed group would include three repre sentatives each from the Commerce, Foreign Relations and Interstate Commerce Committees. In addition to its broader duties it would con sider complaints made by Senator Moore. Republican, of Oklahoma against Petroleum Administrator Ickes and would investigate the proposed construction of a 1.250-mile pipe line from the Persian Gulf area to the Mediterranean. Oil Ample to Win War. The Truman committee said the current depletion' of petroleum re sources "does not present the possi bility of an immediate catastrophe, .because fortunately we have beyond doubt sufficient petroleum to win this war.” It made public a letter from Mr. Ickes asserting that reserves in this country "have a relatively short life expectancy of 14 years” The com mittee said that indicated the im portance of assuring access to petro leum resources in the Eastern Hemi sphere. While Mr. Ickes declared that American interests were supplying a disproportionate share of oil, in cluding 95 per cent of the aviation gasoline, he added that the British were "producing and refining all .that they can. subject only to the ^physical limitations of available facilities” Partial Government Ownership. ■While asserting that Government ownership of foreign oil reserves is out of the question on the ground that "if there had been no incentive for private initiative, our conces sions at Bahrein Island and in Saudi Arabia would never have been obtained." and that it would involve "a radical change in our economic system," the committee said par tial Government ownership cannot be ruled out. Although partial ownership might also discourage private initiative and impose the possibility of politi cal influences, the report asserted. | obtaining oil resources is so vital and the regulation of foreign fields so difficult, that “Government par ticipation in ownership may need to be given serious consideration” Other courses Congress should consider, it said, are continuation of the present policy of exploration by private firm with limited diplo matic assistance or "full diplomatic backing" for American business. Although private American en (See OIL. Page A-4.) 5 Drown as Taxi Carrying 9 Plunges Into Virginia River By the Associated Press. GRUNDY. Va„ Feb 16 —Three ; adults and two small girls were ■ drowned when a rural taxicab carry ing nine persons plunged into the Levisa River near this Southwest Virginia coal mining town last night. Buchanan County authorities said the driver, Australia Justus, had picked up the passengers along a 10-mile route between Harman and Grundy. Justus was being held on manslaughter charges. Bodies recovered included those of Amanda Keene. 35. Grundy; Leon Clevenger, 24, Vansant: Lloyd Sims, 35. Harman, and Jeraldine Owens, 11. of near Grundy. U. S. Holds 2,000 Alien Foes From Latin Nations By the Associate:! Press. Attorney General Biddle has told Congress that approximately 2.000 enealiy aliens have been brought to the United States from South Amer ican countries and are being kept in the 11 detention camps at this Government's expense. Testimony before the House Ap propriations Committee made pub lic today disclosed that the State Department agreed with various South American countries that these enemy aliens, mostly Ger mans, were “dangerous” and were "not being properly protected” in South America. * “The total camp population is ap proximately 10,000,” Mr. Biddle said, “and of that total population about 2.000 have been brought up from South America.” After the war these persons will be sent back to South America and repatriated, the Attorney General explained. Cost of keeping the prisoners Is about $1 a day, he said.