Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1939-12-21
INTERNATIONAL
NEWS REVIEW
Continued from Page u


900 men informed in Uruguay for the
duration of the war.
There were cabled conferences with
Berlin, and the upshot was that an
order went out to destroy the "Ad-
miral Graf Spec" The entire crew
was transferred to a German mer-
chant steamer-a supply ship for the
battleship-and couple of miles off
the Uruguayan coast the mighty YES
sci was dynamited by its own officers
and crew, and in the course of few
minutes was reduced to an absolutely
helpless wreck.
Reasons.
Speculation has been rife as to the
reason for this action, but it seems
generally agreed that the German
government realized that if their
battleship ventured outside, it would
be blown to pieces by the enemy,
anyhow; if it stayed at Montevideo,
it would be informed, and British as
well as other experts would have I'M
hindered access to acquainting them
selves with the secret methods of con-
Struction embodied in the Admiral
Graf Spec"
So, while the rest of the world
perceived only one out of two things
that might happen to the ship, the
Germans themselves found third,
and that disposed as thoroughly of
the vessel as if it had again been sub
jected to hostile gunfire.
During the battle on December 13,
the Germans lost SO killed, and about
60 other men were wounded; the
British casualties included u killed
and an unknown number of wounded.
Funeral services for the Germans
took place at Montevideo, and among
those in attendance were several Of
ficerS and other members of the crews
of the British cruisers; there also was
placed on the grave a large wreath
with tribute to the "brave German
men of the sea" from about 60 cap
tains and sailors of merchant vessels
which the admiral Graf Spec" had
captured recently.
War in General.
During the last week many other
ships have gone to the bottom of the
sea as the result of being hit by
torpedos and floating mines, most
of the victims being English and neu-
trail vessels.
There have been some minor bat
ties between British and German air.
planes, some of them over German,
others over English territory, but
none that affected the general situa-
ton in any manner.
Along the Siegfried and the Maginot
lines everything is as quiet as it has
been; almost from the very start
monotonously the official bulletins
issued at Berlin and Paris agree that
"the situation is unchanged" or, that
mo action took place. %
Of course, good many patrol
skirmishes are reported from time
to time, but not one has to date af-
fected the relative positions of the
German and the French armies.
Russo Finnish War.
AS matter of fact, during the past
three weeks there has been consid-
erably more bloody fighting in pro-
gress between the Russian invaders
and the defenders of Finland than
between Germans and French.
The Russians are attacking on three
fronts: Down in the southeastern cor
ner-in Karelia-where the strong
Mannerheim line has been organized;
in the central part of Finland where
the Russians are trying to divide the
country into two parts, and in the
Arctic part of Finland, near Petsamo
and the Norwegian border.
All sources of information agree
that the attacks on the Karelian and
the central Finnish fronts have been
desperate, and that nearly every at
tempt of the Russians to gain foot
hold has been repulsed by the Firms.
Near Petsamo, however, they seem
to have met with reverses, but to
what extent is not yet clearly known.
Spirit of Armies.
1utIe are IluIIleTOuS IepOIt Us W Tic
effect that the Russians are reluctant
about fighting the Firms; they are
ill-clad, poorly equipped with arms,
not well nourished, and not particu-
larly skilled in the use of weapons.
When they do use their guns, they
often miss their mark, and on many
occasions even modern means of fight
ing have proved fruitless against the
deft and old-fashioned method of the
Firms who, whenever they have
chance, engage in hand-to-hand fight
ing and use their deadly knives and
daggers.
Among the Firms, on the other
hand, the spirit is said to be excel
lent. They are fighting for their
own homes, for their countries
all that Firms have held dear for
a thousand years. Whether they will
be able to defend themselves in the
long run appears to be a matter of
the extent to which they may receive
aid from abroad.
League Help.
The League of Nations has for
mally and definitely expelled Russia