FINNS APPEAR IN RUSSIA

Southland Times, Issue 24004, 20 December 1939, Page 7

FINNS APPEAR IN RUSSIA

Small Detachments Reported RUMOUR OF PURGE IN LENINGRAD (United Press Assn—Telegraph Copyright) (Received December 19, 11.30 p.m.) LONDON, December 19. The Helsinki correspondent of The Times reports that small detachments of Finns are reported to have penetrated between 30 and 40 miles into Russian territory in the region of Lake Kianta. They are playing havoc with the Soviet lines of communication. A Moscow communique states that the Russians occupied Pitkajarvi, 55 miles south-west of Petsamo. Warships shelled the Bjorko batteries. The Finns are reported to have routed 17,000 Russians at Lake Kiantajarvi, east of SuomussalmL The Russians bombed Wiipuri. A submarine, believed to be Russian, fired 30 shells at the German steamer Pillau without registering a hit. The Finns smashed the Russians across the Taibola river in the twelfth day of the battle for the Mannerheim Line, which now is familiarly known as Finland’s “Verdun.” The Russians day and night assaulted the Finnish position with wave after wave of tanks, artillery and infantry, but the Finns retain the north bank and the mouth of the river. There is evidence of an intensive

purge in the Leningrad command, to which is ascribed the new tactics of heavy frontal attacks. Dead Russian officers’ pockets contained notes threatening a summons before a tribunal unless the advance was speeded up. The Soviet dictator (M. Joseph Stalin) is reported to be dissatisfied with the generalship of the Soviet Commissar for War, Marshal Klementi Voroshilov, who is in charge. In a Russian battalion 800 men mutinied, shooting their officers and political commissars. Some Soviet troops escaped to the Finnish lines. The acting Secretary of the United States Navy, Mr Charles Edison, announced that he was allowing Finland to take the first 40 of a new type of Brewster fighter, which is being built to the Navy’s order. He emphasized that the aeroplanes are being sold by the manufacturer and not the Government. The machines are considered faster than any Soviet machine. It is reliably stated that Finland is also purchasing machine-guns and ammunition. PREVENTION OF PRICE RISES IN BRITAIN FIRST ORDER MADE BY BOARD OF TRADE (British Official Wireless) (Received December 19, 6.30 p.m.) RUGBY, December 18. The Board of Trade made today the first order under Section 2 of the Prices of Goods Act passed during the last session of Parliament. The Prices of Goods Order will come into effect as from January 1. The order contains goods mainly and necessarily used by a large section of the population, the retail prices of which must be limited to those prevailing on August 21. Where prices have been increased, representing an actual rise in costs and expenses, the list will be modified and extended when necessary and it is probable, therefore, that further orders will be made from time to time. The main objective of the order is to check the so-called vicious spirit caused by continuously rising prices followed by a subsequent rise in money wages, followed by further price rises and so on, which sooner or later results in inflation. Luxury and more expensive lines of goods are not included in the list.