G<.OD 1./1..:NINC .:VERYB Y: A rull-3cr•l~ 1,v:estigation -- underway today ln N ~ Yor~; to determine the cause of that spectacular earl:·-i,1ornin[; r1re -- in the ,lamaica section of the Borough of . ueens. More important -- lf possible prevent it ever hGppenin1:, again. The fire -- as you may have heard -- one of the worst in memory tn New York. I~nfted by a gas main exploston -- lt quickly enveloped an entire residential neighborhood; 1nc1nernt1ng four· blocks of buildings -- "like paper boxes, a Ja i d j ~iremen. Wlth flames shooting more than four .undre~ feet 1ntn the air -- as if from an atom bomb. W1en the fire was finally brought under control -- ~ouse3 ar1~ apartment. dwellings were l.!ompletely gutted -- :ni:-tp 1 ut 111 t,y pn 1 Pc; bent lcubl':' !'rom tl!P hertt - - anri tile "!'en 1bt1unrleri ln cllnrrwi v~~I<·les. tnclucUng nt least. two LEAD-- ~ fire truc~s. Yet strRngely -- indeed mlra ulously -- not a single known fatality -- or even a ~erious injury. The credit golng to two policemen -- who saw the first explosion than raced from door to door; rousing some three hundred sleeping residents -- and tellir1g them to get out -- but quick. Which they dtd. f JJ_J ]f .11,_ Latest word from Red China - a report toda_v that more than a million workers have left their homes a11d jobs throflghout the countrys " ide; that they 're now pouring into Peking -- lo protest forced wage reductio,rs; under Chairman Mao Tse Tung's so-called "rultural -revolution". Japanese correspondents at the scene - sayifig the sHuation may be on the verge of a showdown. Reporting that many of the wo,·kers - have already scuffled with Mao's Red guards; adding that Red officials fear the possibility of a . major clash -- unless they can Pet the workers to go home . At the same time - a brief air battle today over the Formosa Stra · it. Nationalist Chinese planes dou:ning two Comm11nist Migs -- in the first such clash in six years. ~ Ch in a - w a I ch e rs s u g g e s ting, ll • JtJXJ ho tu e v e r - Iha t Re d leaders may have deliberately instigated the fight; in . an effort to divert attentio,, - fro111, their growing troubles atf,.ome. VIET NAM In Viet Nam - the major ground action again today in that "Iron Triangle" north of Saigon . f':t« The biggest allied push of the war - accounting for another forty-one Viet Cong dead; raising the Communist death -• toll - to more than two hundred and th · irty JlfNHI in less than a week. The day marred, however, by another tragic mishap. When a number of artillery shells in a rk rolling barrage - somehow fell sho ~ t. Explo , ding among advancing troops~ of the US First Infantry. _ ,Killing at least eight ~ / Americans - and wounding some thirty more. Almost as many casualties - as the Viet Cong themselves have been able lo inflict during the entire action. West German Chancellor Kurt-Georg Kiesinger - a visitor today to Paris ,· for his f i rst summit meeting - with French Presl dent De Gaulle. After their first ninety-minute conference - both men expressing a determination to revive friendship and cooperation betwee,i France and Germany; after two years of relative coolness -- during the reign of Kiesinger's predecessor, Ludwig Erhard. Kiesinger, for one, declaring: "The conversation this morning has give11 me the h . ope - that we can recover a good c:,unk of te.·ritory." DeGaulle, for his part, promising his guest: "You will always find our government -- fully ready to meet your intentions." TOGO --- - - The New Year less lhan /1 o weeks . old - and alre · ady another co • up in Africa. Rebel army leaders today sei~ing ~,4 pou:er - in the .,.,, i. est African slate of Togo) ,,Deposing President Nicholas Grunitzky - four years to /he day - after his brotherin-law toas assassinated in a similar takeover. 1he coup • necessary - said an army spokesman - to "prevent an imminent civil wa · r." Thus, control of the government falling to tlrirty year old Lieutenant Colonel Etienne EyatAema; the same man who four ye . ars ago fatally shot Togo's j, , rst President -- Sylvanus Olu.mpio -- to prevent him from seeking asylum in the U S Embassy. The subject of the , draft - much in the news today. some pertinent remarks from draft Director Lewis Hershey - ~ ~ ~ / J - p , u t · ? a . ~ a t ~ Newark College of Engineering. On the subject of college deferments - Hershey declaring; "the vast m . ajorit : y of students are able to give better service to their country - after college than before." On the subject of drafting women - o:Ne-NJJl'f1'Y ~ he hopes it will never be necessary; because said he - it 'would mean we would be fighting for our lives.'' Finally, a question as to why the United States needs a draft at all - when a country like Canada, for exampl• can get along ...,,..,,.n-~ without it. Hershey's reply: "Canada can get along withoi,t the draft for one good " 'd h •• reason -- they live next lo us. - sai e. Plans for a thirteen percent increase in overseas postal rates - - announced today by US Postmaster General Lawrence O'Brien. The new rates - expected to take effect February fourteen. Under the higher schedule - - the air mail rate to the Caribbean, for example, would increase from thirteen cents to fifteen cents per half ounce. To Europe - from fifteen to twenty cents. Although there would be no change • in the twenty-Jive cent air mail rate to the rest of the world; m: which includes, ~ Viet Nam. The increase needed - said O'Brien - t · o offset the current operating deficit of about Sixteen million a y e a r. J t 's a l s o s e e n a s th e p o s s i b l e p re l u de to a re q t' e s t to Congress later this year - for a ~npx comparable increase in domestic rates, as well. From WPsh1n£ton; the National A~ronaut1cs and Space Administratl n today release , striking photocraph -- of the surfac~ of the Moon; tu en last November by America's Lunar Orbiter-Two -- which is still up there circling the Moon. The Photograph showing a fresh crater ln the Moon's sea of Tranquility -- a crater differing from all the other craters in the area -- because it seems to have a pale halo around it. The reason -- say space officials--because it was left by that Ranger-Eight , space probe -- that crashed on the Moon a year ago last February. First "~ye-witness" evidence or man-mad scars on the Moon. Incidentally. another series of photos showI"lg that a ~orty-foot rock -- recently rolled down the side of another , larger moon crater. Why - - they can't tell. Anchorage, Alaska, as you no doubt have heard l1as become onr of the majo · r aerial crossroads of J 11,e "orld. Most of the military traffic back and forth from l ' iet Nam goes through Anchorage. Also air tra v el between the Far East and Europe ; and our own American lines fr · om Seattle and the West Coast. So, in Ancl1 c ,age you meet people from ever }, uher e . At break f ast at the Captain Cook Hotel a rugged lookin . g gentleman came over ~ and introduced as Jim Slone, in Alaska lo bid on a big construction project -- power lines. Bv-1-/Jle spoke lo me because he knew of my i,iterest in Nepal where Ire said he had spent se v eral years brlilding a cableu a y a c ros s the lo w er Himalayas from India It• to Kathmandu, the N e palese Shangri-la . ~ King ~ Mahendra~ had other assignments for him su c h as transj, rming one of th e gr e at palaces of Kathmandi, so it to ould be NEPJ\L--;' prorerl e q uipped ." or a '' is 1 t f om Queer ~l L. . abeth and Prince Phillip. The King a!Jo had htm put a 3pecial air strip tn the b~st hunting area of N~ al, the Terai; with a temporary v i llage for the .,ueen and her party. Two hundred eJ.ephants were there to give the , ueen a special salute. He also said the King asked him to have his men paint, white ~ all the miles of buildings between the airport and the center of the city of Katnmanciu so Queen Elizabeth would get a better impression of the Nepalese capital P.nd now J i m Stone · is back in America running a J' construction firm, operating out of Spokane and Seattle. LAWRENCE ---------- News of a mini,ig discovery with possible world- u.,ide implications -- comes today from the rolling plains of Kansas, of all places. A team of geologists from the I University vJ Kansas - finding lieuvy concentrations of copper bearing mineral~: in the vicinity of Lawrence - - in the South-Cenlral part of that state. The find resulting from a government-sponsored s ea r ch f o r c opp er - - w h i ch is currently arix ; ,, s '; · rt s up p l y througho1't the world. Quality and quantity of t he copper deposit-~ - still under study . However, test samples s h o u · Af1'W c o · pp e r c o n c en t r a t ion s - up t o s i x p o in t s i x P e r c en t . Sounds like a bonan~a. A THENS -- -- - - Fr o,, , O hiu f 11 i1·i• 1· s il .v_,,, o:f A lh e 11 s , O hi o -- a f a s h io n pr c· di c li o 11 toda y fro m M o l l i e ."a1·11is - on e o f ~ N e u l ' o , , k ' s I c a d i n J.: ,. l o I Ir e ,-, d e s i >: n e rs . A fJ r e d i c I i o n - o f m o re a11d mor e mi11i - skirl s. Or sho11ld it b e - le ss and less ? Al an y r a l e, m:1> Miss Par11 i s t e ll i ng a coed fash i on f or11m - lltal 'It e ms ar e g oin g to be up a lot more -- before l It e y e , , e r s I a r I t o c a m e b a c k do w ,i • " B e ca u s e - s a i d s I, e - "Ill e mi11i-skirt is natural - it's fu,rctional - and that's the purpose of cloth e s; to move witl, e ase -- for the busy tooma,i . " So t Ii e m i n ; - s k i rt i s fin e - "p I o a p o i 11 t , w e ' re told ; and that poiP1t - i s age thirty . "Any ••rn:alll woman o v er thirty who u ears a mi,ii-skirt a·;, ale ought to 'Ai be arrested"- - says Mollie Parnis .