December 25, 1972 Reid Collins BOMBING HALT There apparentl y exis ls a bombing halt over North Vie In am , one w h i ch a s en i or A me,. i can official in Saigon says has spanned more than twenty-four hours . The Associated Press quotes the official as sayiflg "The bombing halt has gone more than twenty-fo11r hours flOW. There is nothing moving. No indication wlte n it aoi ll start again. " Tl,e White House aftd other gover,ement det,artme,ats maintain absolute silence Oft Ille subject, waiting, possibly, to hear if negotiatiag possibilities have imt,roved . ... VIETNAM South Vietnamese militar }' commanders in Saigon sa y the fighting on this Christmas Da y has resulted in moYe casualties than on any oth , er Christmas since the United States became in v ol v ed in the Indochina war. This dest,ite a Yuletide trrcce, sut,t,osedly now in effect, NO Americans are reported amo,ag the forty-fi v e government soldiers and c lvlltans killed and more titan sixty wounded. Commuais I casual ties are l is led as sixty killed. TRUMAN Former President Truman's condition is listed as ery critical tonight at Research Hospital in Kansas CHy. Tile latest medical bttlletin says the eighty-eight-year-old former chief executive's death could occur witltin hours this. of co,,rse, barring another remarkable recovery sucl, as those he has demonstrated in the past. QUAKE Transport ai · -rcr : aft from ntitions throughout the uorld to,1ighl are bringing tons of relief supplies to the earthquake rat aged capital city of Managua, Nicaragua . . At the same time, government leader General Anastasio Somoza has ordered e1 ac,iation of the city - population four- h11n . d't'ed-f:ifty-lhousand - by midnight to forestall a possible epidemic of typhoid and otlter diseases, t.ought on by thousands . of 11nb11ried bodies and t11e absence of drinking waler aJtd saJ1ita.tion facilities. Current estimates of tire total dead range from six to ten thousand or even lriglrer allho11glr it may be mo,rtlls before an accurate figure ca,r be establislred. CHRISTMAS Pope Paul celebrated Christmas mass under the dome of Saint Peter's Basilica - telling an audience of tens of thousands i11 the Square that his thoughts are with those f>eop/es, and those lands, where there's "still war, hunger, suffering and dis tress - and where the coming of peace and justice is still awaited." In Israeli-occupied Jordan, Christian worshippers fJaid their annual pilgrimage to the traditional birthplace of Jesus in Bethlehem. Ch11rch bells rang on the hour, resoun ding through the chill Judean IIHls. I Meantime, Arab I ,: cleanup crews •orked through tire day - clearing away paper streamers, roasted clresh,ut shells, broken IDine bottles and allier litter left ,,.. Manger Square Off Christmas Eve by thou~ ands of pilgrims and tour is ts. And Ille Square - which fronts on the Churcll of tire Nativity - today reverted to its customary use as a - parking lot. KATZENJAMMER (tape) Time now to hear from Lowell Thomas who gives 11 s the gen ea ol ogy of a famous funny pa . r,e r family. Tape Runs: l:45 Outcue : So Lon . g . . . CAROL Who wrote the words a"d mrisic for the beloved Christmas carol, "Silent Nigltl, Holy Nigltt?" The atory goes all th• way back to Eiglrtee,a-Eightee,a ;,. tlte A,utria,a village of Ober,adorf 1ohere Fatlaer Josef Moltr, tire local priest, 111as casti,ag aboe,t for sometlai,ag •t>ecial i,a tlte way of music for lais Clariiitmas Eve mass. Wltat's more, tlae c I, Nf'C h Of' ga,. was b f'olt e 11. Some tit i,eg ltad to be do,a e - a,ed qNicltly. JNst l•o days before Cltristmas, Fatlter Moltr was inst, if' ed wll Ile 111allti,ag llo me tltf'oNglt tit e • '10111. Overwlte l med by tlte majestic s il e,ece a,ed bea• ly of t•• .,,,.,.,. nig-,,t, lte lrurried lto•e a,ed t,11t lti• feeli,egs l,elo words. Nest day, lie took tlle f)oem to l,ls frle,ed, m11sicla,e Fra11a Gr•ber, wlto set Ille words to mualc. Tl,e,a 011 Clari• hnas Eve, says Natio11al Geograt,ltic, Molar a,ed Gr•ber re11dered lite flrat t>erfor · ma,ace of "Sile11t Nigltt, Holy Nigltt" to tl,e accomt,a,riame,at of all Itl,lia,a guitar. I• Ille ce11tury a,ed a lralf 8 ; 11 ce, tlte 1,ym 11 1,as sr,a.1111,ed tlte world.