BULLETIN _ _, ____ __ A bulletin from ~ashington. Secretary of the Interior Krug announces he has authorized construction of a fort y- five million dollar irrigation project at Solano, California. Eighty-three thousan d acres of IA/Li/ farm landAto be irrigated, and water supplied to Mare Island Navy area. R A ILROADS ------- In · S a n Francisco t o night the Soutnern Paci f ic R a ilro ad anno u nces that over t w o thousand fi ve hun d r ed s h o em pl oyees ill be laid of f at the end of J a nuary, in the s ix w e stern states cove r ed by the company's Pa~i f ic Division. The layoff effects thirteen percent of the railroad's total of nineteen thous a nd sho em -: oyees. The com any says that the layoffs are due to a normal sea s onal decline in traffic, and t.. Jo an unusually he a vy loss in freight because of the extreme winter weather. But the company hopes that the l a yoff will be only temp~rary. And from Chica g o tonight we h ear that President Truman h a s intervened in th a t dispute between ) the Brotherhoo of Locomotive E n ineers and the nation's railroads. T he President's a ction has averted the strike cheduled by employees of fifteen western railroads on Janu ~ ry thirty-first. The Pre ident has set up an emergency board to examine the fact s of the disputes which may ultimately effect sixty-nine major railroads. So until the emergency board arrives at its decision the railroads of the west will be kept rolling. IR O E --------- Ai e c r t ry , St e a r + · t .., ym1n on, told Co re s to a t l t ~I'. Tru a a nts t o increase U . . air o er. Th a t th e resident be ieves that we should ave t · t seve -gr up Air Force he we can affor it. Also, that r. Truman t h in s th t Congress should authorize the form tion oft . ~ seve ty groups. And do it no , so the additional units of air ower can be org a nized uickly; ,hen the oney is available. The Presi ent ad Air Secretary Symington are known to have iffered on our air ploicy in the p t. Last y ~a r Symington p · ersuaded Congress to endorse his seventy gr o up Air Force plan. ~ul the President objected. No a. parently it is all settled. llr. Truman is agreeing to increasing our Air Force when we have the oney to pay for it -- about two billion eight hundred million doll rs. EUROPE -------- , J N ~ There' to be a 1 parliam _ ntary body for Y'eetern urope. Th t's the news comin out of London. Forei n ini ter of the Benelux countries announce plan to establish n international legislature, to be composed of representatives of the states subscribing to the festern European Defense Treaty. There will be not only House of Representatives, but a Cabinet. The Cabinet will be concerned with defense problem,. And tonight the Foreign Ministers of Sweden, Nor ay, Penmark an Iceland say they favor the establishment of a Council of Europe and a European Parliament. They all want to come in -- to start a United States of Europe. Q] Lon o ~ c e s that t h e l''oreign Ministers " of Great Britain, Belgium, Holland and Luxemburg, the Benelux countries -- have agreed to accord de facto recognition to the State of Israel. Their .$' decision follo•---closely those of Australia, France and Switzerland n a tions. /~ h ~ Israel niignized .... b7 twent7-fi•• , I\ !SRAEL PE ~E T!b . l§ " el . viv a ys that Israel will walk out of the alestine pe a ce talks on the Island of Hhodes. If Egypt insist on more territorial concessions; that is, if ting Farou 's represent tives ant more than a strip of coastline on the western shores of the Begev esart. Israel's Foreign inister ~herto is reported to have told his representatives at rlhodaa to deliver a Yirtual ultimatum to the Egyptians. ■ast Farouk's meJi either agr~e to come to terms with lsratl, or call off the armistice talks. And Shertok, e are told, is in a strong position now as Pri■e Winister Ben-Gurion's Moderate Labor Part y be~ds the polls in Israel's first general election. Ben-Gurion is expected to for■ a coalition •ith a group ot religious political parties or with the Onited Workers Party. Working with either of these he •ill have a powerful majority in the Tel Aviv parlia■ent. Out in th e e s t, Air Fr oc e C a rg o a n es took off today to continue the Bay Lift; to fly food to some three m illio n cattle st a rving on the snowbound ranges. A heavy blizzard yesterday grounded the aa1 Lift, and laid a dee p lianket of new snow. In some states forty-mile-an-hour winds h ve p iled up huge drifts to bri n ne w menace to the ranchers and their cattle. Ahd today in some areas the Air Force pilots are fl1ing ~hrough blinding snow and fiihting high winds, as they search out the snowbound h•~•• - to dro bales of ha7. The bales are tied in a special way; so that they burst as they hit the ground. But the pilots report many of the beasts are too exhausted to eat. From South Dakota, Governor George lichelso re p orts mo tin g human suff e ring caused by the great blizz ard . Be h a s a pealed to the Fifth Army for all- out aid. The situation so grievous, he says, that it is beyond the sco p e of st te and local agencies. · EATflER - 2 _.----- Every resource exhausted. With more tha a thousand wor- kers and o ne-hun red-and- f ourteen bulldozers fighting a losin b ttle against m o untainous snowdrifts. Out th er e, in South Dakota, they are trying to re a ch the herds by cleal"ing · t · he · roilcls • . But . the · g"o . ing is a p parent l y tho ug h, and Governor Michelson talks of possible losses in livestock as st ag gering. But hel is coming. The Army is sending more heavy equi p ment and the Bay Lift will be stepped up -- if possible. More men and lanes are to be ut on the perilou job of feeding those three million starYing sheep and cattle. OAKRI D -- ---- The At mic Energy head uarters a t Oakrid ge , Tenn e see, tells of atomic energy bei g u ed in an a utomobile for the first time. To test the effect of fuels and lubrica t s on engine wear . The automobile engine was ~itted with · radio-active iston rings. And they were heated by a bom~dment of uranium atoms. An Oakridge scientist tels us that this successful experiment may eventua l ly benefit all motorists. They ex ~ ect it to led to the use of better fuels and lubricants and thus cut repair costs. And the good old car will be iven an P. vefr. longer life. COST OF LIVING ----- -- The cost of living i s apparently falling. Th a t i s g 0od news for all of us. In Washington the Labor Departme nt re orts t ha t it s price index on nine hundred wholes le commodities is down. the index now stands at three p oint five percent below the same week in nineteen-forty-eight. And frua the stores CDle re . orts ot price cuts in meat and vegetables. The meat cuts range fro ■ twenty to thirty percent. On some vegetables retail prices are cut in half. And because of the drop in the price of wholesale commodities the Aaalaam~ted Clothing lorkera Association of America today decided to shelve action on its demand for new wage hikes. But this is only a temporar7 measure. The spokesman for the Clothing Workers, the fourth largest union in the CIO, sayin& that demands for a wage hike could be made at any time. WI OF LIVI . ~ - 2 And in Detroit Walter l euther, President of the CIO Auto Workers, says that h i s union will con- ce tr a te thi s year on demande for pensions of at leaat one ' undred dollars a month. And more social security for automobil e workers. Wage demands to be put in second p l a ce. (j) In Athens the Q•••k government announces that () yesterday it will accept that offer~fro ■ the Greek Guerilla• for an immediate cease-fire order.to end the Greek CiTil, , ar. But the A thens go Tern men t makes condi tiona. A ■ on1 the ■ that a nationwide vote be taken. Everyone in . µ Greece,,to vote as to whether A ■erican econo ■ ic and military aid to the Hellenic Republic shall continue. And Premier Sophoulos wants the United lation1 to superTise the polling. Be says that he is acceptin1 th ,r; latest peace offer to t e s t ~ sincerity. Yesterday the leader of the Greek Guerillas made hispeace proposal oYer the radio. The Guerilla ter■ s for a cease-fire being for all foreign ■ is1iona and military forces to leave Greece; a general election and an i ■mediate p a rdon for all political prisoner,. • MOSCO W --- From time to time w e have news of the progreaa of culture behind the Iron Curtain -- the condition of t h e rts. organ In Moscow this morning, PRAVDA, the official of the Communist Party, d el iYe/. four-colu■■ blast a g ainst unpatriotic dra ■ atic critics. S•••n lloscow , theatre writers are accused ofbein1 •cosmopolitans, who know no fatherland.• The Red newspaper chideJ, th•• for attacking the artistic i • pe r f e ct i on of the Sovie t ' a it de■u, dftbei r ideological blue ribbon playa. destruction. And low I wonder bow you bring about •ideological destruction" of a critic. Give hi■ a course in Communism? Or set hi ■ to study Polti'a Dra■ atic Situations -- on which we are told, all dra■a i1 ' baaed. PRAVDA suggests a pu~ge. Fire all the1e MOSCOW - 2 --- ----- 15 critics with their anti-patriotic and coe ■opolitan attitude to oviet drama. Plays, whi c h say1 PRAVDA, depicta so a~tistically •the creatiYe force, ot the nation's patriotism•. * * * * * * And from Czechoslovakia we learn how true lo•• goes hand in hand with industrial production. A Pra1•• ■ orning newspaper trontpages a sonnet de1oribin1 two young Co ■ muniet workers dating outside the tactorJ gates. Boy me•ts girl after wort. • 1th her kiss I heard the breathle•• question •whether the shock brigade in plant nuaber two •Had proclaiaed its coapetition with worta plant nuaber one.• And here's the draaa. The boy friend'• rlYal works in pl a nt number one -- a n d he's told the girl th a t he is g oin g to wipe the other fellow out by turning in a smash-up production pertor■ ance. But the girl just laughs that off. After another tiaa she tells her boy "I only laughed at hi ■ becau1e I knew tbat you are . the best of all, "That you will wort until your bone1 crack in your b ody.• To which the boy friend replie1: "Sure, we'll beat the record by twenty per centu ■.• "So she clasped hia cloaely to heraelf, a tarry-eyed, "Her d ear boy, the best worker of the■ all.• II •There was love in his • orda" says the Red poet; ae . the boy realized thatwork and a good wo ■ an are the , saae thing. And his blood was boiling as he lietene4. I wonder what Stephen Vincent Benet would say to that. .. WIVES ...------ ,('the A t---La~ S"Oe-ces-s t ~ t e e s h i p - e o u n c i l United Nation~d a sole■n protest fro■ darkest Africa. From the Fon of Biko■• Biko ■ ie a tribal kingdom in the Ca■eroons. The Fon 11 eighty 7ears old, and the old gentle ■ an is mighty annoyed over so ■ e idle goeeip about hi ■ .whicb hae reached the U.I. Some unkind people, says he, have reported that he bas six hundred wives. And that, they aay, 1• fiYe hundred and ninety-nine too many. rurtber, they charge the Fon drafted soae ladies into hi1 hare ■ • It isn't true, proclaiae the aged Patriarch Africa. Please stick to tacts, be saya. B• 11 only aarried to one hundred and ten wo■en. Moreo•er, be says, every one of the■, the entire hare■, can pack up and go, whenever she likes; and cut his hou1ekeepin1 coats. I l ) IVES - 2 . ....... ----- As 4 final declaration of good intention, hie eighty-year-old Majesty, the Fon of Bikoa, aole ■ nly assures the U.N. that he will not draft any ■ ore brides. In future he will only marry those who are willing. Even that may be too many. What do you th int, N e 1 s on? MEDI IA . 1iKE~ Ft'tJ M E:IHrly s f1cw -- ..,. ~ p~ i 3/:I In e York to a y Federal Judge Harold Medina, who is presiding over the trial of those eleven Communist, rev e aled th a t he has been getting believe that all of the were connected with the Defen1e Attorneys, or he defendants. But he warned that some of the emo made by the Defense Attorneys ad misguided people to irr••- ponsible acts. Whereupon Defense Attorney Harry inform the Court that not only bad the Defen ■e lawyer and the men on the trial but also their ives an d ledina'• Court Bailiff to make a personal protest to th• Judge bec a use s . app rently could not get a seat. nd te~ his reference to state ■ ents aade in Court out his imp rtialitJ as a Judge, Bia Honor said that he had no great opinion of hi ■self. But,•••• • • he bad a high opinion of the post which he held. je went on to describe hi■self as a Judge for the danger. But if I am in danger, I will face it calaly•.