ST. LOUIS, Sep. 21--Dwight D. Eisenhower withheld a decision today on whether or not to keep Sen. Richard M. Nixon of California as his running mate.

Nixon anticipates a decision within the next 48 hours. Fighting desperately to remain on the Republican presidential ticket, Nixon today decided to give a public accounting of his personal finances.

Eisenhower's press secretary, James C. Hagerty, said: "This question obviously is too important for a quick decision." Hagerty told a news conference Eisenhower had not accepted as final an accounting of the $18,235 private expense fund which Nixon accepted from a group of prominent California citizens.

Miners Get Wage Hike

PITTSBURGH, Sept. 21--Soft coal miners today hailed their new contract, giving them a pay boost of $1.90 a day, as a "great victory."

John L. Lewis, president of the United Mine Workers, reached agreement with Northern soft coal operators yesterday, halting a strike of 170,000 workers set for tomorrow. Lewis likely will insist on, and get, the same terms from the rest of the industry for his 300,000 other members.

The agreement raises the Northern miners' pay to $18.25 a day. The operators also will pay 40 cents a ton into the miners' welfare fund, instead of 30 cents, as in the past.

A.P. News in Brief

Federal Security Administrator Oscar Ewing accused Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower yesterday of "spreading a lie by insuination" in blaming the government for extravagance. That is "typical, arogant McCarthyism," Ewing said in a statement directly challenging the Republican presidential candidate on the question of a proposed federal health insurance program.

Eisenhower in a statement in New York recently opposed the plan, partly on the ground that it would increase medical costs because of bureaucratic wastage.

Daniel Tyler, Jr., chairman of the Massachusetts Republican committee, said last night the committee has received assurance that Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower will visit the state during his campaign for the presidency.

Sabre jets fought five blazing air battles with the Red Air Force yesterday over Northwest Korea, destroying four Communist MIGs and damaging seven more.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation estimated yesterday the nation's crime toll would exceed two million offenses this year. It reported a 6.4 percent increase in crime for the first half of 1952 compared to a similar period last year.

A jobless model won the title of Miss Italy last night after her blue-blooded rival failed to show. Countess Blanca Maria Lovatelli, who won the title "Miss Rome" in an evening dress. refusedtocome here and display her charms in a bathing suit for the national prize. The award went to 19-year-old Eloisa Cianni of Florence.