Site Ed. Note: The front page reports that the American First and Ninth Armies had plunged forward four miles beyond the Roer River, to Niederseir between Dueren and Juelich, within nineteen miles of Cologne and twelve miles of Muenchen Gladbach, without yet encountering any sign of a German stand, taking 1,400 enemy prisoners and overrunning 17 towns. Bridgeheads had been secured along a 22-mile front, consistent with the German reports of the prior day. In the area of one of the bridgeheads, Dueren, the Americans had achieved control of a fourth of the town. Juelich was being cleared of resistance by the Ninth Army, as units drove two miles beyond the town to within 21 miles of Cologne.

To the north, the Canadian First Army entered Calcar.

The immediate goal of the offensive, said General Eisenhower, was to destroy the entire German Army to the west of the Rhine. He expected, nevertheless, the Germans to continue doggedly the fight, even with small arms, until the Russians and Western Allies would meet in the center of Germany. He assured that the Russians were cooperating fully with the Western Allies in sharing information.

Hitler sent a message to the celebration in Munich marking the 25th anniversary of the formation of the Nazi Party, urging, as he always had, a suicide pact, a fight to the death against the closing Allied forces, in which case, "Providence", he contended, would not let the German nation down. He did not personally appear, but predicted an "historical turning point" in the war during the current year.

And so there would be.

Swedish correspondent Jerge Granberg again provides his inside look at the chaos of late in Berlin, from which he had just departed for Sweden. He tells of Germans no longer much discussing Hitler. Some wondered whether he was still alive or perhaps deaf from the July 20 explosion in the Wolf's Lair during the attempted military coup. Germans were more and more being left to their own individual initiative and were beginning to look to the future.

Some thousand to two thousand Jews or persons of Jewish descent still remained in Berlin. Well-heeled persons were lavishing these individuals with food, clothing, and wine so that they might count on their friendly offices at the point surrender would come. To the same end, those with smaller bank accounts had been reported recently to be providing bread ration coupons to Russian workers.

More than 1,200 American bombers, accompanied by 500 fighters, struck Northwest Germany, hitting rail targets, oil refineries at Hamburg and Misburg, and submarine bases in the vicinity of Hamburg and Bremen. Tactical raids continued along the Western Front, striking enemy positions along the Roer and in the vicinity of Cologne.

The Fifteenth Air Force out of Italy again struck rail targets from Yugoslavia to Vienna.

On the Eastern Front, the First Ukrainian Army engaged the Germans in a large-scale tank battle within the no-man's land of Goerlitz, southeast of Berlin, attacking along the Neisse and Spree River. Moscow suggested that the Russian troops had been able to cross the Neisse and were holding several salients against twelve-mile deep enemy defenses.

To the north, Russian troops moved into the streets of Guben and Forst, against veteran troops and Volkssturm units.

The Russians had cleared the last of the German resistance from long besieged Poznan and Arnswalde, shortening the First White Russian Army's communications lines by 50 miles.

In Italy, American troops of the Fifth Army had secured more ground around Mount Belvedere, taking Mount Torraccia, southwest of Bologna, while to their right, Brazilian troops took out several enemy positions, and, to the southwest, Italian troops captured Rocca Corneta.

On Iwo Jima, the Third and Fourth Division Marines, supported by tanks, launched their most concentrated offensive yet of the campaign which had begun Monday, moving forward from the southwestern tip of Motoyama Airfield No. 2, but were able only to advance inch by inch against hard enemy resistance. It had taken from Tuesday until Friday to cover the 700 yards between the captured Motoyama No. 1, taken on Tuesday, and the edge of Motoyama No. 2.

The virtual clearing of the enemy from Mount Suribachi had considerably improved the ability to flow supplies onto the beaches in the south. The Japanese were equipped, however, with thousand-pound rocket mortars and were entrenched inside tunnel-connected pillboxes built over a period of years, capable of destruction only via direct hit by an artillery shell, flamethrowers, or a strategically placed hand grenade.

In Manila, three regiments of the 37th Division fought from building to building within the walled fortress of the Intramuros District to the south of the Pasig River, the locus of the last contingent of hold-out enemy resistance in the city, the Intramuros having been blasted open by the most concentrated force of artillery shelling of the Pacific war, hurling shells through the twelve-foot thick northeast wall for three consecutive days through Thursday, before entry was effected by the Third Battalion of the 129th Regiment. The Second Battalion of the 145th Regiment then crossed the Pasig in boats under a heavy smoke screen and caught the enemy by surprise by entry though a second breach in the wall. Fierce fighting within the walls continued.

Americans of the Eleventh Airborne Division and Filipino guerrillas under American command struck in force by parachute to free 2,146 Allied and co-belligerent prisoners of war in the civilian internment camp at Los Banos, 30 miles south of Manila. All 243 guards and the camp commander and his staff were taken by surprise and killed. Of the prisoners, 1,589 were Americans, 329, Britons. Only two were wounded in the liberation. They were said to be in better condition than the internees liberated from Santo Tomas. Two of the rescuing force were killed and two others wounded. The total liberated prisoners on Luzon during February had reached 7,700.

Another island in the Philippines, Biri, had been invaded, between Luzon and Samar, to control the San Benardino straits.

A raid of 150 B-29's again struck Singapore.

The Federal duck stamp, inaugurating duck hunting season, issued by the Post Office, was to have three shoveler ducks in flight on its face. On the back would be the usual sticky-lick 'em glue.

Someday, they will put something in the mucilage to make it taste better.

On the editorial page, "Nomination" discusses the upcoming spring election for a new Mayor and City Council of Charlotte. It was likely that incumbent Mayor Herbert Baxter would run for re-election. He had, says the piece, been a progressive and unifying influence on the community and would be therefore an asset for retention in office.

"A Confusion" discusses two bills before the Legislature, both designed to improve the administration of the State mental hospitals, especially that at Morganton. But the bills were mutually exclusive in some respects and thus there was fear that both might be cast aside. The solution was an amalgamation of the best parts into a unified bill.

"Pure Lobby Act" discusses the legislative voracity of freshman Congressman Joe Ervin, Sam J. Ervin's brother, having proposed three more new bills the previous week. He wanted to continue free mailing privileges for veterans during their stay in veterans' hospitals. He proposed armed forces status for members of the Civil Air Patrol. As well, he had put forth a bill to have former Federal employees barred for two years from prosecuting as attorneys claims against the Federal Government and for life as against their old agency.

"Round-About" discusses a proposal by the Mecklenburg delegation to the Legislature to have City and County solicitors elected rather than appointed by the City Council or County Commissioners, as also discussed by Dick Young in his column.

The excerpt from the Congressional Record finds Senator Kenneth McKellar of Tennessee engaging with Senator Langer of North Dakota regarding the former's debate in favor of increased appropriation to continue the farm census. Senator Langer wished to know what the census included. Senator McKellar did not have the list.

Drew Pearson discusses the effort of Mississippi Representative John Rankin to have paid a salary to the four-time draft-deferred flag-waving clerk of the former Dies Committee on Un-American Activities, for a period during which he would otherwise have been in the Army and after the demise of the Dies Committee, between January 2 and January 20. His deferrals had come from influence exerted on the local draft board by former members of the Committee.

Marquis Childs, still in Paris, writes of its being a city, not of light, but darkness, in these days of scant electricity. There was little for sale within the quaint shops, even if the windows still displayed the facade of plentiful stock. Perfume, for instance, had long since been cleaned from the shelves by American servicemen. Black market items were to be had but at ridiculous prices. Second-rate Parisian hats for women were selling at $100 apiece. Butter was $16 per pound. Tires were $125 per wheel.

Dorothy Thompson comments again on the significance of the Yalta Conference, significant not only for what it had accomplished but also for what it had omitted, any mention of disposition of the Balkans, the Near East, or Turkey.

She asks whether President Roosevelt had met in Alexandria with the three kings of the Orient, Farouk of Egypt, Selassie of Ethiopia, and Saud of Arabia, as the emissary of the Big Three or solely on behalf of the United States. Prime Minister Churchill had also met separately with the three kings, as well as with the newly-elected President of Syria, but no Russian representative had been present at either meeting.

The situation with respect to Saudi Arabia was delicate as King Saud was the leading proponent of a Pan-Arab League, including Syria and Palestine, the latter sought by the United States to be a refuge and homeland for a Jewish Commonwealth. Churchill had not hesitated to invite Syria to his meeting, implying that the British were not as sensitive to the issue of Palestine. And despite the fact that the Soviet Union contained millions of Muslims, Stalin did not participate in these meetings.

There remained also the issue of what would happen to the American-built airbases in Egypt, Italian Eritrea, and Iran.