Imperial Valley press., 1939-10-24
Germans Put Prize
Crew on Freighter
With Confraband
Continued from Page u

erican ship, and belligerents flag
hoisted above it.
Information regarding where
aboutS of the City of Flint and its
crew of Al was vague, 1t was re-
ported taken to an Arctic port of
Soviet Russia. The foreign office in
Moscow promised earliest possible
data after inquiries from the AM
erican embassy. In Berlin. German
officials in all quarters claimed
they had no information on the
seizure.
Original report was carried by
the Soviet official news agency. 1t
was not known whether or not the
German cruiser reported to have
captured the American vessel failed
TO report its success because of
fear that radio messages would
reveal its whereabouts.
From Copenhagen, Denmark,
came a dispatch saying that the
City of Flint was captured by the
Nazi cruiser Emden, one of three
Nazi sea raiders rowing the Allan
tic 1t was reported taken to Kola
Bay, not far from the reported
place of refuge of the German Liner
Sremen.
When the City of Flint left New
York it was bound for Manchester.
Liverpool and Glasgow and pre-
sumably when captured still had
some OF its British cargo aboard.
In Washington Secretary of State
Hull said that probably more than
half Of the vessels cargo was con-
ditional contraband. He said the
vessel carried some so assorted
commodities and that perhaps only
a limited quantity comprised items
on Germany's absolute contraband
list
Under international law a vasSel
may be seized, as we'll as its cargo,
if more than so per cent of the
cargo is absolute contraband.
Hull said it appeared that there
was a question of force involved
since the City of Flint was taken
in hand by a belligerent. new
crew installed and a beligerent
flag raised on the vessel
In addition to the Emden, the
Oslo newspaper Aftenposten report
ed that the German pocket battle
ship Deutschland of 10000 tons was
in the Atlantic and that it had
sunk the British steamer Stonegate,
whose crew of 39 had been picked
up by the City of Flint before the
capture Of the American ship.
Other reports said the Stonegate
was torpedoed by a U-boat.
Among confused reports concern
ing the City of Flint were these:
!. The Russian official Tass
news agency announced receipt OF
a report" that the City of Flint
had arrived at Kola bay near
Murmansk in charge of a German
cruiser prize crew of 18 men and
that the ship had been detained and
its prize crew interned.
2. The United States maritime
commission at Washington an
nounced receipt of a report that
the City of Flint, on its way from
New York to British and Irish
ports, had been seized by German
naval vessel and taken to Tromsoe,
Norway, Saturday, by prize crew.
The City of Flint left TromSoe at
once for an unknown destination,
this report said
3. Tromsoe harbor authorities
advised the United Press by tele-
phone that the City of Flint, dur
ing a halt there Saturday, disem-
barked 81 men. comprising the crew
of an unidentified British freighter,
and then, flying the German Swas-
tika flag, was escorted to the three
mile limit of Norwegian territorial
waters by a Norwegian warship.
The officials said that the City
of Flint lay outside the roads at
Tromsoe for between four and six
hours. The Britons rowed ashore
in boats of the City of Flint, they
said, and nothing was seen of the
freighter's American crew
Members of the British crew we're
quoted at Tromsoe as saying that
their ship had been sunk two weeks
ago near the Bermuda islands.
Meanwhile, U. S. warship kept
close watch upon German freight
er at Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico.
The German steamship Havelland
was anchored in the harbor under
the guns of the United States war
ship Erie, which arrived officially
for a courtesy visit but reportedly
to keep watch on the Havelland
The German merchant ship ar
rived from Costa Rica with car
go Of Philippine sugar, copra and
cocoanut oil, which it will seek to
transship to some American vessel
for transportation via Panama to
Galveston and New Orleans.
The Erie, a gunboat, repeatedly
by coincidence met the Havellano
off the coast of Mexico near Oaxa-
ca.