FOR the 17h day Russian army chiefs threw attacks amid snow flurries yesterday against the Finnish stonewall on the Kare-1 in Isthmus in the resumption of the battle against the Mannerheim Line.
Again the Russians unsuccessfully tried to punch through the strong Finnish line, In a setting resembling an old-fashioned Christmas card, with four inches of snow covering the countryside which is dotted with fir and spruce woods, the Red Army made little progress.
During the few bright intervals between snowstorms there was considerable sporadic air activity. The Soviet pilots' maps are poor, however, which may account partly for their lack of success in attaining important military objectives.
United Press, Svanvik, Dec. 24.
The fact that Russian transports: were again seen moving southward along the Salmijaervi road yesterday apparently confirmed United Press reports Friday that winter, more than the Fins, was responsible for the Russian retreat. Heavy winter wea ther, it was believed, convinced the Russian officers that' they could do little more for the remainder of the season than consolidate their tions at advantageous points, It was believed here that the entire Russo-Finnish front would be quiet until Jong after Christmas, All signs yesterday morning indicated that the northern front: would Treeze over for the remainder of the winter with the front lines remaining of less in their present posi tions, "The bulk of the Russian far northern army now appears to be concentrated at Petsamo or Kola, beyond the Russian border.—United Press,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.