-WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS Reds Peril Gateway to Austria; Japs Bolster Battered Forces; Check Decline in Hog Prices H»irn«d by WeiUm New*p*p«r Union. . — (EDITOR’S NOTE: When aplnlene nr* •I|rant< In th««« eatumns they nra thaao si Western Newspaper Ualan’s news snslysts and nst necessarily af this newspaper.) rspapat an Yugoslav Partisans carry wounded back to secret stronghold. EUROPE: Budapest Imperilled Once, like Paris, a center of Euro pean gaiety with colorful aidewalk cafes enlivened by gypsy music, Budapest became a fevered and somber city as Russian armies ham mered toward the Hungarian capi tal. Having broken across the Tisza river, some 50 miles to the east, the Reds bore down on Budapest as German and Hungarian armies were hard pressed to hold broad lines across the country’s rolling plains, gateway to Austria. Even as the Russians rolled for ward, thousands of Budapest's civilians were put to work in the erection of entrenchments and forti fications, and the Germans vowed that they would make this city, once one of Europe’s prettiest, into another Warsaw, a battleground. *Sacred Soil'1 As the Germans and Hungarians dug in for a stand about Budapest, the Nazis fought fiercely on the East Prussian front to slow up the Rus sians’ advance across the "sacred soil” of this historic home of the Junkers. As the Germans braced in East Prussia along prepared lines some 20 miles inside the border, the Rus sians, following their traditional military policy, shifted the weight To prevent enemy agents from obtaining vital military Informa tion through contact with U. 8. troops, the army Is rigidly enforc ing stiff regulations against doughboys mixing with Ger man citizens. Troops may not make any so cial calls at German homes. They ' may not contact German girls. Because of service by German bartenders, they may not even buy beer outside of mess bars. Talking with German people Is an "unnecessary contact," the army has ruled, bringing fines of from 925 to 965. of their attacks northward toward a narrow belt of Baltic seacoast at Latvia, where some 100,000 Nazis were reported cut off from the re mainder of the enemy line in the east. Slicing into German positions in this sector with overwhelming numbers of troops, the Russians threatened to chew the entrapped Nazi armies to shreds before they could be successfully evacuated by sea. Gain Port Formerly forced to truck supplies overland 400 miles from Cherbourg, or from temporary beach harbors along the channel coast, the Allies materially improved their communi cation lines by gaining full control of the great Belgian port of Ant werp. Control was gained when Can adian and British troops cleared the Germans from both sides of the Schelde river leading inland to the port. As the Allied attack devel oped, the Nazis pulled out the major bulk of their 40,000 troops to pre vent being encircled from the rear. As the Allies moved to improve communications, the U. S. First army resumed its offensive about Aachen, driving through the once picturesque, now splintered, ftr. pine and silver birch Hurtgen forest on the road to the vital industrial Rhineland. PACIFIC: Enemy Girds Still determined to hold on to the Philippines despite the concentra tion of U. S. strength behind the forces of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the Japanese poured in air re inforcements for the showdown bat tle that will develop when the Americans move onto the larger is lands. Even as the Japs sought to bol ster their defenses, first severely shaken by the U. S. navy’s major triumph in the second sea battle of the Philippines, General Mac Arthur’s ground forces on Leyte Qen. Mur Arthur (left) and I.t.-tlen. Krueger confer on Leylo. pushed the enemy back to the moun tainous western portion of the is land. Because of the terrain, difficulty was encountered in the speedy erec tion of air fields on Leyte, but, as construction progressed, increasing numbers of fighter planes took off from the new bases to join carrier borne aircraft In attacking shipping seeking to reinforce the entrapped enemy troops on the island. With her back being pressed closer and closer to the wall, Japan’s Premier Koiso called for greater war production, declaring that many troops had died for lack of munitions. Almost as Koiso spoke, the enemy reported B-29s recon noitcring over Tokyo. CATTLE: Record Marketing With more than 40 per cent of federally Inspected beef, ve pork and lamb going to the government, supplies of better grades of meat remained In scarcity last month de spite record-breaking marketing of cattle. Shipments of cattle were 37 per cent greater than for the 10-year average for October, and receipts of calves were 71 per cent greater. Although showing substantial in creases over September, market ings of hogs and sheep were lower than in October of 1043. Due to the heavy slaughter of cat tle and calves, productien of beef, veal, lamb and pork amounted to about m billion pounds for Octo ber, 29 per cent greater than the 10 year average for October. Hog Prices After an unsettled market had lopped 75 million dollars off of the value of the nation's hog crop, high er bids by packers stemmed the downward spiral of prices. The packers’ action followed War Food administration hints that the government would cut subsidy pay ments, amounting to $1.30 per hun dredweight, if average prices for good and choice gults and barrows were allowed to drop below a $13.50 per hundredweight average. Lower grade hogs, however, would not be included. As marketings increased during the first week of November, packers became more choosy in the pur chase of hogs, declaring that during the periods of lower receipts they were compelled to pay ceiling prices for many shipments just to keep their plants busy. POSTWAR AIR: World Traffic As representatives from Allied and neutral nations met In Chicago (or the international civil aviation conference, principal question aris ing was in what way could coun tries best cooperate in the develop ment of extensive postwar traffic. At the opening session, three methods were proposed. The U. S. suggestion advocated a free devel opment between friendly and pro gressive states, with an internation al body which would merely consult and advise on allocation of air routes, rate fixing and regulation of competition. On the other hand, the British called for the regulation of postwar air traffic through a strong inter national authority, which, like the U. S. civil aeronautics authority, would assign routes and have a voice in rate making. Australia and New Zealand pre sented the extremist view of pool ing all aerial resources into an in ternational operating company. WAR PRODUCTION: V-E Cutbacks One-third of all war contracts will be terminated within three months after the defeat of Germany, a War Production board official announced, with speedy settlements with manu facturers assuring smoother recon version. To date, the government has let 329 billion dollars in war contracts, it was revealed, with completions totalling 240 billion dollars. After cancellations, about 65 billion dol lars of contracts are now outstand ing, one-third, or about 20 billion dollars worth, of which would be terminated on V-E day. Of 37,000 contracts valued at t billion dollars cancelled thus far, 28,000 have been settled for 340 mil lion dollars, WPB said. V-E Shipping Germany’s defeat will not lessen the demand on the U. S. merchant marine, the Office of War Informa tion reported, with military and re construction traffic continuing to and from the continent, and more ship ping needed to transport increased forces and supplies over vast dis tances in the Pacific. Three times the amount of ship ping presently engaged for the Euro pean war may be required for the Pacific conflict, it was said, and east ern ports will be used to relieve some of the tremendous traffic that will be imposed on those in the west. Presently, OWI revealed, no less than 5,000,000 tons of shipping are being used just to transport sup plies from overseas bases to fight ing fronts. Unusual Quads In the first case of its kind known in medical history, 30-year-old Mrs. Kath leen Hatcher Cirminello of Philadel phia, Pa., gave birth to quadruplets in two minutes in a caeserean operation. Weighing from three to three and a quarter pounds, the quads—three girls and a boy—are the 10th set in the II. S., such births averaging one in 658,503 cases. Five feet and two inches tall, and weighing lib lbs., Mrs. Criminello is the wife of a financial analyst for the Securities and Exchange Commission. A previous child died at birth. Placed in an incubator, the children were tagged A, H, C and D. Said Mr, Cirminello: “My wife went through the ordeal. I’ll let her choose the names." FEED: Outlook Good Despite smaller supplies of con centrated feed for the 1944-’45 sea son, more will be available per ani mal unit, however, because of re duced livestock population, the de partment of agriculture reported. Because of the record production of corn and sorghums for 1944, USDA said, the domestic supply of feed grains will approximate last year’s at 130,500,000 tons. Stocks of by-product feeds will be slightly larger than last year. With de creased demands, moderate price declines were anticipated. According to USDA, local feed grain supplies are smaller than last year in the east north central andi the western states, but slightly larger in other sections Except for the west north central and the west ern states, hay supplies are smaller. CASUALTIES: Total 487,692 With the army suffering the bulk of the losses, U. S battle casual ties on the far-flung fronts totaled 487,692. Army casualties reached 417.121, of which 80.666 were killed, 229.212 wounded, 53,622 missing and 53.621 made prisoners After more than a year of bitter lighting in Italy, where Allied forces pressed their oflensive against strong Nazi fortifications, U. S. losses were estimated at 90,000 Latest navy compilations placed casualties at 70,571, of which 28,231 were killed, 29,441 wounded. 9.421 missing and 4,478 made prisoner. STAR STATE Texas led all states in mineral production in 1943 and was the only state producing minerals valued in excess of a billion dollars in that year, the bureau of mines, depart ment of the interior, revealed With its mineral output valued at $1,116,056,000 last year, the Lone Star State retained for the ninth consecutive year its rank of first in the United States in the value of such products. The total represents 18.97 per cent of the national min eral production value. Shoes Will Be Brighter Next Spring Although civilian shoe production will not return to normal till after the war. retailers will feature brighter lines next spring, surveys of the national shoe fair in Chicago revealed. There will be an airier style, too, with women's shoes open at the toes and heels, and ‘'casuals,” for com fort wear, coming into greater prominence in line with prewar ♦rends. Biggest boon, however, is in the government's lifting of restrictions on the use of colors, with women promised spring wear tn green, lib erty red and blue jacket blue, and men s shoes in shades from army russet to turf tan. Two tones will be made again, it was revealed, with differently col ored leather permitted for the upper part of the shoe if soles are made of some other composition. Washington Di9est> Robot Gives World Taste Of the War of Tomorrow Destructive Power of New Weapon May Be Turned Against Both Armies and Civilians in Future Conflicts. By BAUKHAGE News Analyst and Commentator. tVNU Service, Union Trust Building. Washing t