Allied Troops
Smash Forward
On Appian Way
French Capture Peak to
Outflank Nazis Crui
sers Shell Shore Batteries
Allied Headquarters, Algiers,
Jan, 21 W) French troops,
crossing the Rapldo river in dif
ficult mountain fighting, have
captured the foot of Mt. II Lago,
north of Cassino, and are threat
ening to outflank the Germans'
"Gustav line" of defense in
Italy, allied headquarters an
nounced today,
y British forces of the fifth
4rmy, supported by the fire of
cruisers and destroyers, smash
ed forward along the Appian
Way, capturing Minturno, 76
miles from Rome, and taking
300 prisoners. They are assault
ing the twin nazi defensive vil
lages of Castelforte and Centosa
on the slopes of 1,000-foot Mt.
Santi Cosma E Damiano, six
miles inland from the Tyrrhen
ian, Adolf Hitler Line
ft, In weather which German
prisoners described as "worse
than Leningrad," American pa
trols of Lt. Gen. Mark W. Clark's
fifth army slashed across the
river below Cassino in probing
expeditions and retired. Eight
army patrols likewise were ac
tive in weather that was awful.
The French push from captured
Sant' Elia, north of Cassino, if
continued would allow them to
take Cassino from the rear, Ger-
Iman prisoners said there was
Vnother German line of forti
fications called the "Adolf Hit
ler line," six miles behind the
Gustav belt which the allies are
now attacking.
Fleet Shells Germans
For the first time in many
weeks cruisers and destroyers
of the British navy engaged in
heavy action against nazi shore
defenses along the western end
of the line, throwing several
hundred rounds of steel ahead
of the fifth army attack last
Tuesday and Wednesday. The
, heaviest shelling was concentra
ted on the Appian way where
the road runs close to the sea
near the village of Garracina.
"Opposition from the enemy
was slight," a naval communi
que said. ;'One ; ship suffered
'.minor damage but no casual-
ties." "
' -Allied destroyers also were
active in the Adriatic the same
night, shelling -the harbor of
Korcula on the island of the
same name off the Yugoslav
coast.
Airfields Smashed
Minturno was taken by the
British after "hard fighting,"
the communique said. The Ger
mans already had announced
evacuation of the town.
Heavy and medium bombers
again concentrated their full
power on German airfields and
communications in central Italy,
Flying Fortresses and Liberators
striking damaging blows at
Ciampino and Centocelle air
fields near Rome for the second
day in succession, and blasting
Guidonia airfield, 14 miles
northeast of Rome, as well.
Clark Confesses
Hatchet Slaying
Spokane, Jan. 21 U.R Police
Chief Ira Martin said today that
Woodrow Wilson Clark, 27-year
old former hotel elevator oper
ator, had signed a complete con
fession as the hatchet-slayer of
T P. Dillon, Mrs. Charles Sta-
I. pies and Dillion's wife, Mrs.
Flora Dillon.
Martin related how Clark un
der intense grilling which lasted
long into the night at first
maintained he was "too drunk'
to remember details of the
crime. But Clark finally broke
down when police offered to
brine the bodies from the mor
gue, place the hatchet in his
hand and completely reconstruct
-the scene, Martin said.
"Don't do that," Clark was
quoted as sobbing suddenly, "I'll
tell you how I did it.
"He then told us the whole
story," the chief said "how he
picked up the hatchet and hit
Dillon when DUllon threatened
him because of Clark's atten
tions to his wife during the
drinking party which preceded
the slaying. Then he told how
he attacked the others, who ap
parently were asleep or in a
stupor.
Prosecutor Leslie M. Carroll
said he would file murder charg
es today against Clark. The
prosecutor declined to state in
what degree the murder charg
es would be filed.
The Weather
Partly cloudy tonight and Satur
day, with morning ton. Pa.st
34 hours: max. 91, min. 32. River
today .8 ft.
aiDital
56th Year, No. 18 tSSfJlSSiSS Salem, Oregon, Friday, January 21,
Berlin Blasted by 2300
Invasion Coast
Also Pounded
By U.S. Bombers
London, Jan, 21 U.R A great
armada of allied bombers, paced
by American Flying Fortresses
and Liberators, rocked the
French invasion coast with al
most 2,000 tons of higii explo
sives today after a record fleet
of RAF night raiders had pound
ed Berlin with more than 2300
tons of bombs.
A five-mile parade of allied
daylight raiders that included
almost every type of bomber in
the Anglo-American arsenal,
streamed across the Dove straits
to rip up the network of Ger
man steel and concrete gun em
placements in the Pas Del Ca
lais sector.
Fourth Major Raid
Swarms of American Thun
derbolts and Lightnings and
RAF Spitfires covered the great
bombing formation, and the
luftwaffe again stayed out of
their range.
It was the fourth major day
light blow at the invasion coast
since the 3000-plane Christmas
eve attack. Varying cloud for
mations obscured the bombing
results of some formations, but
returning airmen reported
that the target area was con
culsed by violent explosions.
The bomb tonnage dropped
on .Berlin (more xnan ,o(u
American tons) about equalled
that of the Nov. 22 raid, for
which an identical figure of
more than 2300 British tons was
announced.
More British bombers than
ever struck at .Berlin Deiore
were understood to have carried
the knockout offensive back to
the nazi capital last night. The
bomb tonnage, however, was
believed to have been short of
record 2576 tons delivered
last Nov. 22.
900 Bombers Used
The size of the previous rec
ord fleet attacking Berlin never
had been announced. But in a
double-header attack on Beriln
and Ludwigshafen on Nov. 18,
the British estimated that near
ly 1000 bombers were used. On
that basis last night's force was
believed to have numbered
around 900.
The Royal Canadian air force
announced that its units partici
pating in the Berlin raid drop
ped their heaviest bombload of
the war.
Other alied air formations put
the assault on Adolf Hitler's
European fortress back on an
around-the-clock basis with day
light raids on the French inva
sion coast today. Formations
swept over one southeast Eng
land town in an almost contin
uous procession for nearly an
hour.
Boilermaker Case
In Supreme Court
The dispute over appointment
of a receiver for the Portland
local of the International AFL
Boilermakers reached the state
supreme court today.
In arguments before the court,
Wilber Henderson, attorney for
the union, asked the court to
compel Circuit Judge Alfred P,
Dobson to fix the amount of a
stay bond, pending appeal to the
high court. The action would
halt activities of Receiver Oscar
Furuset, who was appointed by
Judge Dobson.
YMCA Burns $21,000 Mortgage
And Receives Gift of $15,000
The Salem YMCA celebrated its freedom from debt Friday
noon with a mortgage burning ceremony, participated in by
members of the board, presided over by Paul B. Wallace. The
group also cheered the presenta-
tion of a check for $15,000, the
gift of an eastern friend of the
association, which will be held
in reserve in connection with a
proposed betterment program.
A few weeks ago the Centen
nial committee, headed by Loyal
Warner, initiated a movement
to liquidate a $21,000 mortgage
against the association. This
committee was successful in its
efforts and during a victory
luncheon Warner applied a
match to the paper. Immediate
ly thereafter Fred Lamport,
chairman of the endowment
committee, presented the $15,
000 check which was promised
should tbe mortgage be cleared.
Beth Siewert, secretary to C. A.
Kells, chief of the Y staff, sang
American Indians Fight Japs
U. S. infantry, who have played
fenses in New Guinea, pose in jungle grass in regaua mey it - .".
which to celebrate their traditional Christmas dances. (Left to right) Pfc. Dale Winney, Gallup,
New Mexico; Pvt. Joe Tapaha, Gallup, N. M.; Pfc. Joe Gishi, Holbrook, Ariz., and Pvt. Perry
Toncy, Holbrook, Ariz. (AP wirephoto from signal corps.)
Film Stars, War Heroes
Feature War Bond Show
Steadily mounting enthusiasm
was evidenced rnaay uy aunuuincure... .... " .
quarters that the total of bonds sold by Friday morning had
mounted to $372,000 with still a number of agencies to hear
from and indications that the first half million is well in sight.
Hope Strikers
Return Monday
Seattle. Jan. 21 '"() Dr.
George Bernard Noble, regional
war labor board chairman, ex
pressed belief the 6,000 Oregon
and Washington striking foun
drymen would go back to work
Monday, as the AFL unionists
began balloting on a "back to
work" proposition. They strucK
this week in protest against an
adverse regional WLB decision
their demand for an eight-cents-
an-hour increase in journey
men's pay.
Neil V. Pardo, secretary of the
Seattle Foundrymen's Union
which voted so heavily for the
srtiko ns to overbalance anti-
strike majorities at Portland and
Tacoma, declined to forecast re
sults of today's mass meeting
elections, but said pickets would
be withdrawn immediately if
the back to work vote was af
firmative. I. A. Sandvigen, business
agent for the Machinists' union,
said "think there is a very
strong probability that the out
come of today's voting will be
favorable."
John Kucher, plant superin
tendent for a Seattle foundry,
also expressed belief strikers
would return. So did Denzil
Harley, secretary of the Wash
ington Metal Trades, Inc., the
employers' association.
British Lose Destroyer
London, Jan. 21 (U.R) The loss
of the British destroyer Tyne
dale was announced by the ad
miralty Thursday. The Tyne
dale, one of the hunt class des
troyers completed in 1040, dis
placed 904 tons and mounted
four four-inch guns.
Wishing" during the luncheon.
Her accompanist was Yvonne
Mozee.
The present association build
ing was occupied in 1926. It's
construction followed a cam
paign to raise funds. Many of
those who subscribed failed to
fill their obligations and as a
result a $41,000 mortgage was
placed against the building.
The property, together with the
lot, building and equipment, is
valued at $175,000.
In addition to caring for the
usual activities of the YMCA,
the building is the rendezvous
should tbe mortgage be cleared,
present its dormitory rooms are
occupied by navy trainees from
Willamette university.
in Jungle W American Navajo Indians, members of the 158th
a prominent part in breaking through the main Japanese de
in the Fourth War Loan drive
All tnougnis 01 me cumum-
tecmen were directed toward
the big war bond show being
sponsored by the American Le
gion for the armory Saturday
night when it was revealed that
movie star Edgar .Kennedx and
movie starlet Ramsay Ames' will
be on hand with five wounded
war heroes, along with numer
ous other features being ar
ranged by the legionnaires.
Cherrians under Frank Chatas,
King Bing, have been delegated
to the pleasant task of acting
as escorts for the movie stars
and war heroes.
Edgar Kennedy, the movie
star, is being currently featured
with Olsen and Johnson in their
new comedy, "Crazy House,"
and has appeared for years on
the screen. Ramsay Ames, movie
starlet, advertised as a "blonde
charmer" is widely heralded as
one of the most promising of
the crop of new screen possibil
ities and she also is featured
with Kennedy in the Olsen and
Johnson show.
Wounded war heroes who will
be here to tell their actual ex
periences on the far flung fronts
of the great global war will be
Capt. John S. Young, U. S.
army; Sgt. Lloyd B. Sweeney,
U. S. army; Boatswain's Mate
lc J. P. Nixon, U. S. navy; Sgt.
Edward J. Burmab, U. S. marine
corps and Seaman's Mate lc
(Concluded on page 9, column 5)
Shipyard Also
Repair Center
Portland, Jan. 21 W) A Port
land shipyard, which ostensibly
has been concentrating on
building new vessels, disclosed
today that it is a major repair
center as well.
Until now, waterfront restric
tions have obliged Albina En
gine & Machine Works to keep
a public silence on the 432 ships
its tinhatters have repaired
since Pearl Harbor,
Crews working 12-hour shifts
and on call seven days a week,
have put 161 damaged Russian,
British and Greek merchant ves
sels back into seaworthy condi
tion. With high-pressure work
which sometimes runs 16 hours
without a break, tinhatters have
made additions to 249 Liberty
freighters, repaired tankers,
tugs, mine planters. Repair
gangs have worked on 15 ships
at a time, berthed here and at
Oregon coastal ports.
" Albina, which has been oper
ating since 1904 and is the old
est ship repair company in
Portland, plans to concentrate
on repair jobs in post-war years.
"When new ship construction is
finished," L. A. Hussa, vice
president, said, "we will con
tinue ship repair operations with
more and better equipment and
with personnel that has many
more years war years of ex
perience."
Jouaraal
1944
Tons of
U. S. Subs Sink
12 Jap Ships
Washington, Jan. 21 (U.R) U. -S.
submarines, whittling tena
ciously away at Japanese sup
ply lines, have sunk 12 more
enemy vessels nine freighters,
two transports and a large tank
er the navy announced totiay.
. The sinkings bring to a to
tal of 408 the number of Jap
anese ships sunk by U. S. sub
marines. In addition, 36 have
been probably sunk and 114
damaged for a total of 558,': Ui't
" News of the latest American
submarine successes followed
closely a London announcement
that a British submarine had
penetrated to within a few
hundred miles of Singapore and
sunk a 5,100-ton Japanese crui
ser in the northern approaches
to the Malacca straits. The Bri
tish communique was interpre
ted as proclaiming that coun
try's full partnership in the Pa
cific sea war.
The latest victories of the U.
S. submarines, together with
the British success, brought to
at least 1,012 the total number
of Japanese ships sent to the
bottom by allied forces since
Pearl Harbor. These include at
least 247 warships.
RefuseloOK
Tax Reserve
Washington, Jan. 21 WV-The
senate today rejected a proposed
amendment to the $2,275,600,-
000 added tax bill which would
have permitted corporations and
individuals to lay aside up to
20 percent of their taxes as a
post-war reserve.
The amendment, offered by
Senators Truman (D., Mo.) and
Hatch (D., N.M.) was defeated
by a standing vote.
Under the plan, the taxpayer
beneficiary would have been re
quired to invest the reserved
monys in non-negotiable, non-interest-
bearing government
bonds, redeemable after the war,
and taxable as income at that
time.
Finance Committee Chairman
George (D., Ga.) and Senators
Taft (R., Ohio) and Danaher
(R., Conn.) expressed sympathy
for the motive of the amend
ment but declared it would
cause actual lax collections in
war years to drop too sharply.
George commented that pres
ent lax rates will have to be re
duced materially after the war
or "the country will be busted."
Bowles Wants
Violators Jailed
Chicago, Jan. 21 (ura Price
Administrator Chester Bowles
called upon United States may
ors today to sponsor ordinances
providing fines or jail sentences
for price and rationing viola
tors.
In an address to the annual
conference of mayors, read for
him by Mayor F. H. La Guar
dia of New York, Bowles dis
closed that 18 cities already
have ordinances providing fines
up to $100 and jail sentences up
to 90 days for such violations.
Price Five Cents
Bo
n xjBjqn ogress as Russians Advance in Twin Drives to
wmo J AiA.un. r Capture 300,000 Germans
Japs Lose 49
Zeros, 10,000
Tons Shipping
Advanced Allied Headquar
ters, New Guinea, Jan.l (U.R)
Japan was reported rushing
strong aerial reinforcements to
her threatened Southwest Pa
clfic strongholds today as ai
allied communique announced
the sinking of 10,000 tons of
enemy shipping and the destruc
tion or damaging of 49 aircraft
In new raids on Wcwak and
Rabaul.
A warning that Japan con
stantly was reinforcing her air
strength over New Britain and
New Ireland was issued by Ma
rine Gen. Ralph J. Mitchell, air
craft commander in the Solo
mons, after new allied successes
were disclosed in the daily com
munique from Gen. Douglas
MacArthur's headquarters.
Japs Strengthened
"There is every indication
that Japan considers Rabaul
and Kavieng very important and
that she is going to do every
thing to hold them," Mitchell,
speaking at an advanced air
base, said.
Mitchell revealed that since
Nov. 20 Japan has lost 350
planes defending Rabaul's air
dromes and shipping, but added
that enemy interception failed
to decrease.
He said that each time Amer
ican planes venture toward the
big New Britain base, they meet
from 70 to 100 intercepting
fighters despite the fact that the
allied airmen often knocked
down as many as 31 of the
planes.
8 Ships Blasted
- Feeling the strength of the
latest allied attacks, the com
munique said, were the Boram
air field of the Wewak area, 375
miles above Madang, chief ob
jective of allied ground forces
advancing up the New Guinea
coast, and Rabaul, where eight
cargo ships were hit by allied
planes Monday.
Fighter - escorted medium
bombers from Solomons bases
carried out the third attack on
Rabaul in four days Tuesday,
and shot down 21 enemy fight
ers and probably one other.
On New Guinea
One Japanese plane was de
stroyed on the ground, and 12
others were damaged as the
bombers rained explosives on
the Tobera airdrome from low
altitude.
On New Guinea, Liberator
bombers, escorted by fighters,
ran into more than 50 Japanese
fighters Wednesday when they
dropped 133 tons of bombs on
the Boram airfield and do.
stroved many planes on the
ground.
- Escorting fighters shot down
12 and probably 14 enemy
planes, and three allied fighters
were lost. All the allied DomD
ers returned.
Other allied aircraft blew up
a 5000-ton enemy ammunition
shio and sunk a 2000-ton
freighter in the Admiralty is
lands sector, 270 miles north
west of Wewak.
New Courthouse Placed as
Part of Post-war Program
The Marion county court Friday morning adopted a resolution
leading up to a plan for erection of a new county courthouse as
a probable postwar project and set March 6 at 10 a.m., as time for
a public hearing on the pro
The resolution calls for
a tax levy of $75,000 a year,
starting with the 1944 county
levy and running for 10 years,
or as long as may be necessary
prior thereto. Construction of
the courthouse may start at any
time funds are available so that
if additional funds are secured
at any time by government
"rant, gift, or otherwise it will
be possible to start erection of
the new structure at once. The
resolution was made extremely
clastic to meet any contingency
and it was indicated by the
meeting the probability of hav
ing to wait until 1954 when
the last of the 10-year levies
has run, is extremely remote.
The court met with Ray Glatt
of Woodburn and Leo N. Childs
of Salem, as members of this
year's county budget commit
tee. The third member, M. G.
Gunderson of Silverton, was un
able to attend.
Red Armies Roll on Inflicting
Staggering Casualties on Nazis
Trapped in Lake llmen Area
Greatest Battle of Extermination Since Stalingrad
Moscow, Jan. 21 UR) Red armies fanned out through tremen
dous gaps in the outflanked
Leningrad and Lake llmen today, massacring tens 01 thousands
of panicky Germans in the greatest battle of extermination since
Stalingrad.
The strongest German defenses in Europe appeared to bt
crumbling away as the Russians advanced with irresistible mo.
mentum south of Leningrad and west of Novgorod in twin drives
to kill or capture 300,000 nazi troops on the northwestern front.'
Thousands of Germans, cut off from their main forces in the
snow-covered forests by the speed of the soviet thrusts, surren
dered rather than face certain death. More than 3000 submitted
to captured around Novgorod, which fell yesterday.
The toll of enemy dead on the two fronts already was approach
ing 45,000. More than 40,000 were slaiiyn the first six days of the
coordinated offensives, all but f-
15,000 of them south and south
west of Leningrad
Red Bombers Active
Swarms of red air force
bombers, fighters and attack
planes joined in the campaign of
annihilation, blasting and straf
ing strong points, transport and
columns of reinforcements
ahead of the advancing Siberian,
Ural, VolBa and central Russian
divisions.
Gen. Leonid A. Govorov's two
Leningrad columns joined forces
south of Krasnoye Selo, doom
ing enemy troops remaining in
the Gulf of Finland beachhead
west of Leningrad, and smashed
southward in a drive that threat
ened momentarily to enguu
Krasnogvardeisk, five-way rail
way junction controlling all
lines running into Russia's sec
ond city from the southwest.
Many Towns Captured
The two columns presumably
met at Mikhailovka, nine miles
south of Leningrad, and also
captured the railroad junction
of Uritsk, three miles west of
Leningrad; Strelna, seven miles
southwest, and Nikkorovo, a
miles west southwest.
Front dispatches said the Rus
sians had cleared the entire Gulf
of Finland coast from Oranien
baum, 15 miles west of Lenin
grad, to a point only a couple
of miles from the larger city.
(Radio Berlin said the Ger
mans also had evacuated a 17-
milc salient teaching east oi
Leningrad from Kolpind, com
pleting the lifting of the siege
that began August 21, 1941.)
Liquidating Germans
"Disrupted and isolated
groups of Germans are being
liquidated," the soviet high
command said in its midnight
communique. "Many ucrman
soldiers and officers have lam
down their arms and surrender
ed. Enormous quantities of
various equipment and war ma
terials were captured."
Gen. Kyril A. Meretskov's
army, ripping into the German
eastern flank, swept six miles
beyond Novgorod, 100 miles
south of Leningrad, and captur
ed Naschi on the railroad west
to Batetsk. Dolgovo, 13 miles
northwest of Leningrad, also
was captured.
Booty Seized
Prodigious booty was being
seized by the Russians In the
wake of the demoralized enemy.
The Leningrad and Novgorod
armies together in the past six
days have seized 447 guns, in
cluding 85 super-siege artillery
that have been shelling Lenin
grad; 270 mortars and 30 tanks,
while the Novgorod forces alone
destroyed 178 guns, 16 tanks and
350 trucks.
The only activity reported In
the soviet communique from
the Ukraine was the slaying of
1 Rnn Germans and the wrecking
of 32 tanks in the repulse of
counter-attacks north of the
Khristinovka railroad junctions.
- Harold Tomlinson, deputy
district attorney, explained the
terms of the resolution to the
mooting after County Judge
Grant Murphy had stated that
the object of calling the budget
committee members in was to
discuss with them the project
they had set under way last
year when they recommended
that the court set up a reserve
or lake some necessary action
leading to the construction of a
courthouse. He gave assurance
that the resolution doesn't mean
it will take 10 years to build
a courthouse but it merely set
up a vehicle for getting the
levy under way and to accept
other funds at any time if they
become available.
Tomlinson stated that levy
ing of the $75,000 a year could
be done without exceeding the
6 percent constitutional limita
tion and that the resolution was
drawn under terms of the stat
(Concluded on pate 9, column 2)
110-mile nazi defense line between
Russia's Baltic
Fleet Freed
Moscow, Jan. 21 VP) The
red army's great surge to th
south from Leningrad has vir
tually freed Russia's Baltic
fleet. . Locked in port for twe
years or more, the Baltic fleel
is now free to operate in the
Bay of Kronstadt and possibly
beyond.
To the south of the Baltic
shore the Russians are driving
deep into German positions,
capturing thousands of nazis cut
off from their commands and
communication lines, and arc
speedily closing in on the rail
way and highway junctions thatl
are the key to tne entire uamc
front. ,
Large isolated groups of Ger
mans, either already surrounded
or about to be cut off, are re
ported in sectors west of cap
tured Novgorod, belweet
Oranienbaum and Leningrad
and east of the Moscow-Leningrad
railway.
A huge system of railway!
and highways is located withir.
a radius of 25 miles south, south,
west and southeast of Leningrad
and through this web the red
army was driving steadily for
ward. The task of clearing thi
area already is half accomplish
ed. These great successes . are
coming to Leningrad on the 20th
anniversary of Lenin's death.
Liberation of the city which
bears the beloved leader's name
gave the Russians a big emotion
al uplift, especially as they read
again today the details of hi!
long and ardent labors on behali
of the country.
The army newspaper Red Stai
declared that the Germans sack
ed Peterhof the brilliant and
elaborate summer residence ol
the czars where two centuries
of architectural tastes are re
flected. Tito Recaptures
TownofJajce
London, Jan. 21 VP) Marshal
Josip Broz (Tito) announced
today that his Yugoslav partisan
troops had recaptured the town
of Jajcc, headquarters of the
patriot army in the mountain!
of western Bosnia, which the
Germans said fell on January
12.
Smashing on to the west, the
partisans cleared the area be
tween Mrkonjicgrad and Gla
moc, 30 miles southwest of
Jajce, of German troops, in
cluding units of the first Ger
man Alpine division and a mo
torized division, and drove them
back toward the Dalmatian
coast. -
Jajce occupies a strategic po
sition at the confluence of the
Vrbas and Pliva rivers, 32 miles
south of Bnnja Luka, and is a
chemical center. Tito's head
quarters are on the summit of a
conical hill overlooking the
Vrbas valley, 100 feet below.
Tito's war bulletin, broadcast
by the free Yugoslav radio, said
the partisans had gone over to
the offensive on several other
sectors of the widely-scattered
front.
Partisans smashed back at
strong force of Germans who
had penetrated the town of
Prozar in the Rama sector and
threw them out with a loss of
more than 300 killed.
2 Jap Ships Sunk
Off Coast of China
Chungking, Jan. 21 (U.R) Ll
bertaors of the 14th United
States army air force sank a
1,700 -ton passenger - freighter
and a 1.500-ton tanker in a sea
sweep off the southeast coast of
China yesterday, Lt. Gen. Jo
seph W. Stilwcll's communique
announced tonight.
Both vessels were set afire
before then sank as their crews
abandoned them, the communU
que said. All aircraft returned.