December 24, 1972

Cartoon of 12 Days of Christmas depicts Pres Nixon, S Agnew, G McGovern, G Meir, Nguyen Van Thieu, I Gandhi, Mao Tse-Tung, H Kissinger, B Fischer, C Irving, J Lindsay and N Rockefeller

Met Museum's famous bronze horse, which former museum official J Noble designated as a 20th century fraud and forgery in '67, is declared an 'irrefutably genuine work of antiquity' by 4 Met Museum experts and will soon be put back on exhibition; museum conservators and scientists K Lefferts, L Majewski, E Sayre and P Meyers, in recent statement, assert that thorough tech examination of the bronze horse revealed that evidence used by Noble to condemn sculpture's authenticity did not hold up under critical evaluation; study of radiographs and other X-ray photos reptdly supports group's contention that horse was cast by lost-wax method, not sand cast as Noble contended; methods used by group to support its theory detailed; illus of horse

heavy US bombing of N Vietnam continues for 7th day, Dec 24; US mil sources in Saigon says US plans a short halt in bombing for Christmas; US command for 1st time refuses to disclose information about N Vietnamese air defenses; informed US officials in Saigon say Nixon personally ordered policy of minimal disclosure; US command spokesman says secrecy is imposed to protect plan behind bombing operation and to protect lives of servicemen involved; while US command asserts that US planes bomb mil targets solely, repts from Hanoi, Hanoi news agencies and independent Western reporters and diplomats as well, tell of widespread damage to civilian facilities; Hungarian press agency repts damage to Hungarian commercial mission and the E German Embassy in Hanoi; formal protests against the bombings have been made to US by a growing number of countries, including Australia and NZ

K Avery article on mid-winter in Vermont; sketches; illus

Indiana Univ head football coach J Pont announces on Dec 23 that he has accepted similar position with Northwestern Univ