CONFLICTING REPORTS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 September 1941, Page 5

CONFLICTING REPORTS

ATTITUDE OF FINLAND. WASHINGTON, September 16. The spokesman at the Finnish Legation said that as the Finnish troops have almost reached a line which they will in the future be able to defend, “it seems logical for us to cease fighting.” His statement came only a few after the receipt of a cable yesterday in which the Finnish Minister of Commerce denied that Finland had begun peace talks with Russia. MACHINE TOOLS ON WAY TO RUSSIA FROM U.S.A. NEW YORK, September 16. The trade publication, “American Machinist,” says that several, million dollars’ worth of machine tools are already en route to Russia via Vladivostok. FACTOR OF WEATHER OUTLOOK IN MIDDLE EUROPE. “WHITE WINTER” NEAR AT HAND. (Bv Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON. This Day. The coming winter weather will be a big factor in the present campaign now being waged by Germany on Russian soil. The Polish Consul-General in Wellington, Count K. Wodzicki, speaking of the weather generally in middle Europe, said yesterday that the autumn, marked usually by pleasant weather, extended as a rule up to the end. of September. There had been exceptional years when autumnal conditions had extended well into October, but. as a general thing, the rains came early in October, and after that the road surfaces became very muddy, and traffic by road became difficult. The weather became gradually colder in October, and it was not uncommon for snow to fall by the end of that month or early in November. November 11 was St. Martin’s Day in Poland, on which day the ground was invariably covered with snow, the prelude to the white winter. NEW ENEMY THRUST THREAT TO LENINGRAD COMMUNICATIONS. DIRECTED AGAINST RAILWAY TO MOSCOW. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 9.45 a.m.) RUGBY, September 17. Discusing the most recent news of the situation on the Russian front, competent commentators refer to the German report of a large-scale offensive, which appears to be directed towards the Moscow-Leningrad railway, in the direction of Bologoe. It is pointed out that if this operation proves successful, the position of the Soviet forces in the intervening sector would become more difficult, as their supply line would be interfered with, as their supply line would be interfered with, and the task of the German troops operating to-

wards Leningrad would become correspondingly easier. The latest information from the Smolensk area affords ground-for a genuine belief that the Soviet forces are still counter-attacking here with success. Further south, the siutation appears to show no defintie change.