FEARS OF GAS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 December 1939, Page 5

FEARS OF GAS

MORE PEOPLE LEAVING HELSINKI PATHETIC SHORTAGE OF MASKS. THAW MAKES SEA OF SLUSH ON FIGHTING FRONT. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. (Received This Day, 10.45 a.m.) HELSINKI. December 8. A new exodus has begun after reports that the Russians are using gas. Citizens' are hastily improvising gasmasks, of which there is a pathetic shortage in Finland. Wardens are visiting houses, instructing the people in anti-gas measures and also in the use of home-made masks. Workers digging among the ruins during the few hours of daylight arc still recovering bodies. The weather is finer and a thaw is converting the southern front into a sea of slush, making the Russian advance more laborious. The Finnish Intelligence Department reports considerable chaos in the Russian lines through faulty communications. The Finns are convinced that Russian battalion commanders are afraid to take the initiative for fear of offending their superiors. The Finns are withholding as much information as possible about the fighting in order not to help the enemy. BALTIC STATES ABUSED BY GERMANY. LONDON. December 8. The Berlin radio violently attacked the Baltic States. It declared that they had repeatedly flouted the Fuhrer’s approaches and therefore must not expect his help now.