The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-02-05
lO0-mile advance in 36 hours.

Virtually all of the buildings in the camp area, including the in famous, ancient Bilibid prison, had been cleared of Japanese by last night. The Americans fought liter ally room to room for some of the buildings.
 Brig. Gen. William C. Chase of Baltimore, who commanded the res cuing flying wedge" said the con- dition of the internees was most pitiful.'
 They are practically skin and bones," he said. "It would break your heart to look at them"
 Other clements of the first caval- ry division pressed on to the north bank of the Pasig River and seized the Malacanan Palace, former resi- dence of the American governors general and later the seat of the QueZon government.
 The 37th Infantry Division en- tered Manila from the north at 6:30 a. m. yesterday and by early after noon was within a few hundred yards of a junction with the first cavalry units at Santo Tomas.
 The infantrymen overran the Grace Park airfield in the northern suburbs of Manila. Though pitted by American bombs, 1t was expected to be repaired quickly. At least one artillery observation plane already has landed there.
 Both the first cavalry an 37th divisions met only Sniper and ma chine-gun fire in their advances into the capital, but fierce fighting was expected when they attempt to force the Pasig to clean out the re- mainder of the city.
 Tt may be hell of a job" one high officer said. Tt may be sev- eral days before we have the city cleaned out, but the Japs have no chance now"
 The Japanese garrison was doom- ed to death or surrender. It's eS- cape to the south already had been cut off by the 5llth paratroop reg iment of the llth airborne division, which seized Tagaytay Ridge and city 30 miles below the capital Sat urday morning.
 By Saturday night, the paratroops were only l8 miles south of Manila and advancing against light opposi- ton. :.
 The llth Corps. moving toward Manila Bay from the west coast Of Luzon, was believed on the point oi sealing of the Bataan peninsula.
 The First Cavalry and 37th Divi- sions found northern Manila little damaged, though several fires were burning in the area. Great clouds of smoke from the area south Of the Pasig river, however. cast huge pail over the capital.
 First observation indicated the Japanese for the present were con | fining their demolitions below tho Pasig to bridges. warehouses, supply dumps. docks and other similar in- Stallation8 and no indulging in blind destruction.
 The demolitions shook the ground for radius of 20 miles about Man | fla and for a time there was an ex- ploSion every 10 minutes. An ob- server who flew over the city said the National City bank building ap- peared to be smoking but the Bay view and Manila hotels were intact.
 Even should the Japanese not scorch southern Manila, heavy re- Sistance on their part might force the American command to use ar tillcry and bombers against the for tified area. resulting in major de- struction.
 | Several Hundred Slain
 The First Cavalry division jumped of from the Guimba area of central Luzon Friday for its l00-mile dash into Manila. Several hundred Jap anese were slain as the flying col- umns smashed through enemy pock- cts in a wide, enveloping sweep that carried through the hills to the east of the capital.
 Captured intact were the Noyali- ches watershed and great dam and reservoir some 20 miles northeast Of Manila. It was possible. however, that the Japanese destroyed the pumping stations inside Manila, since city water was cut of in at least some sections of the capital.
 Manila Bay, one of the worlds !