The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-11-11

Dutch Remain UnmOved
Despite Peril; Claim Nazi
Ultimatum Served
SHOOTING INCIDENT
AT VENLO PROBED
Dutch Lighthouses Black.
out; Belgium Alarmed
at Nazi Movements
BY CLIFFORD L. DAY
United Pres sStaff Correspondent

UNITED Pres sStaff Correspondent
Amsterdam, November IL.
= UP) - The war of
nerves fell with full force on
Holland today and she rushed
more men to her defenses
and stood firm. German
troops were massed on her
border. The German press
was saying that neutrals
which didn't resist Britain'S
blockade were negligent. British and
Franch experts freely predicted that
she would be invaded. They even
charted the routes the German
troops would take. And one Brit
ish newspaper reported that Ger
many had served virtual ultima
tum demanding air and naval bases
In her territory before Monday.
Dutch Remain Calm
The Dutch were we'll aware Of
their peril but were calm. They
moved up thousands Of reinforce.,
ments to the frontier in an orderly
manner. They set charges of dyna-
mite to Hood their artificial water
ways; laid tank traps and built bar
rlcades and machine gun nests.
They sent q delnarche to the Ger
man foreign Office, requesting an in
vestigation Of o border shooting in
cldent at Venlo, but emphasized
that it was not O protest.
A United Press correspondent
went to Venlo to get first-hand de-
tails OF the shooting and this Is
what he was told:
At 4:30 p. m. Thursday, two rnen.
one who spoke English and another
who spoke French, were sitting n
cafe few yards from the 'front.'
Ter. conversing quietly. An auto
mobile bearing Dutchman, re-
portedly an intelligence of1lcer, and
another man who spoke English
and was believed to have been al,
American, stopped In front OF the
cafe. At the same time a German
automobile bearing six German Sc
cret policemen crossed the frontier.
The Germans fired several shots.
Held at Gun Point
The two men left the cafe to see
what was happening outside. The
Germans held them at gun-point.
The Dutch intelligence oficer tried
to run and was shot. His body
was dragged into the German car.
The American, Briton and French.
man were forced into the car and
1t sped back into Germany.
1t was 800 yards to the nearest
Dutch frontier guard post and the
sentry did not see the shooting and
kidnapping. It was not learned
whether the two men In the cafe
had planned to meet the two others.
Natives aid the German espionage
was active there and presumably
had received tip about the Dutch
intelligence officers arrival as they
arrived at the same moment,
Cat Berlin the propaganda min
lister denied any knowledge Of ths
incident.)
Lighthouses Black Out
The latest Dutch defense meas
ures included an order to all coastal
@A6AeAAVASCo ANA IA VA lAlC E1AkkAQAk2
west coast, latitude 52.37 north, to
extinguish their lights and for
lightships to return TO port. This
cancellation Of army leaves was ex-
tended to municipal police forces,
"due to the extended guarding and
patroling services"
In spite of the methodical way IN
which the Dutch proceeded, six per-
sons were killed yesterday by two
accidental mine explosions. In Gel
derland province. near the Fem de-
Tense system, Hollands eastermost
water line. a mine which had just
been put in position by patrol en-
gineers killed q sergeant and three
privates. Another mine was ex-
ploded in Groningen province by q
grocer who touched it while trying
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