The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-10-26

prOgreSS OF Germau 1uNcctAbotsOAA2s
the spokesman said.
He praised the admirable objec-
tivity" with which the American
newspapers were dealing with the
ease"
Ship Needed Repairs
A little while before the Nazi
spokesman made his statement, the
foreign office had orally informed
the American embassy that the City
of Flint had been taken to Muir
mansk because the ship was nom
navigable due to lack OF charts.
Presumably then no mention was
made of any engine trouble"
Later the foreign office delivered
a memorandum to the American
embassy asserting that the Ameri-
can crew of the City Of Flint were
safe. No mention was made Of their
whereabouts.
At the same time the foreign Of
flee told the embassy that the ship
had been captured by q German
warship because it was carrying con-
traband and the prize crew took 1t
to Murmansk because it was dam
aged"
The foreign office memorandum
said that the ship was taken to Muir
manSk because of "sea damage" Gin
German ''havarie"o and that no in
formation had reached the foreign
office that any member of its crew
had suffered injury.
What Moscow Says
Moscow, Oct. 26.-UP).-Legal
observers said today that there was
a strong likelihood that Russia would
release the American steamship
City of Flint to its German prize
crew, and permit it to leave Russia
flying the Nazi flag.
There has been no official an
nouncement as yet of the steam
ships release, after the disclosure
last night that the German prize
crew, at first informed, had been
freed.
The foreign Office advised Laur-
ence A. Steinhardt, American am
bassador, that the American crew of
the City of Flint were SAFE" No
details were given.
It was understood that the crew
were still aboard and would not be
freed until the communist govern
ment decided what disposition to
make of the ship and its cargo.
20 Ships Held BY Russia
Oslo, Norway, Oct. 26.-UP.-
Twenty foreign ships are being held
at Archangel, Russian port in the
White Sea east of Kola Bay, where
Russia Is holding the American
freighter City of Flint in Germany's
behalf, it was reported today.
The labor party organ Arbeiders-
bladet published the report in a dis
patch from Loedingen, quoting the
crew of Swedish freighter which
arrived from Archangel.
Those aboard the Swedish ship
said that their vessel was permitted
to leave .Archangel only after
Swedish authorities had seized a
Russian ship in retaliation.
Most of the ships held by Russia
are of Scandinavian registry, the
dispatch said.
1t was suggested that the ships
might have been held partly in line
with Russian attempts to secure
transport for timber. Russia I'M
availingly sought to charter a num-
ber of Scandinavian ships for this
purpose.
In connection with the City Of
Flint, the newspaper Aftenposten
here reported that the British
freighter Stonegate. whose crew the
American ship had rescued before
being captured, was sunk by the
German pocket battleship Deutsch-
land.
1t was asserted that the Deutsch-
land operated southeast Of New
foundland betu cen October 5 and IS,
and that 1t sank the 1918 ton Nor
wegian steamer Lorentz w. Hansen
Oct. IA. It was said that the Deutsch-
land put the Lorentz w. Hansen's
crew aboard the 9,959 ton Norwegian
steamship Kongsdal.