The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-11-06
American Official In Charge of City of Flint
Continued from Page D


 Mrs. Hartman, who came here From Oslo, conferred with Gainard and the staff of the United States consulate. It was expected her re- ports to Washington would guide the ultimate disposition of the cargo and ship.
 Mrs. Hartman was received by the American consul. She refused Co see newspapermen.
 At about the same hour of her arrival, an authoritative German source in Berlin announced that a three-point demand had been made on Norway over the battered old American freighter, which Nor wegian authorities had taken away from a German prize crew and re- stored to its American crew.
 The Germans demanded that the prize crew, which Norway intern cd, be released and that the ship either be given back to Germany or held in the harbor here until some agreement could be reached, The ship rode at anchor off-shore un- der the stars and stripes, momen- tarily free to sail whenever Capt. Joseph A. Gainard, her master, wished. It was believed that he had been waiting to hear from Mrs Hartman.
 Nazi Crew Prisoners
 The German prize crew were prisoners aboard the Norwegian warship Olav Trygvason at Hauge- sund, nearby. Berlin reports said the Nazis were insistent that the prize crew be released. It was an- nounced that negotiations on the German demands were now under way and that no time limit had been set for their completion, in- ferring that they did not constitute an ultimatum.
 Norway had rejected the first German protest against the arrest of the prize crew and the release of the ship.
 Members of the City of Flint crew, in notes dropped overheard to newspaper correspondents who went alongside in motorboats, gave sketchy details of their 26-day ad- venture in German custody.
 They said that at Murmansk, the North Russian port where the Ger mans held them for five days they saw the Bremen, pride of the Ger man merchant fleet, among numer- ous other ships anchored there. The Bremen, which vanished after leav- ing New York jus tbefore the out break of war, and whose where abouts ong was mystery, had been emeared with gray paint.
 Sink, Or Be Prisoners
 They said that when they were 3lrst stopped in the Atlantic October 9 by the German pocket battleship. Deutschland, "the Germans gave us our choice of being sunk or taken prilDners and We had to take 1t, so they came aboard with pistols, dag gers, and hand grenades and rifles, but didn't use them"
 Plans for the City of Flint were still in doubt. Whether she would re- main here until some o fthe excite- ment had died down, continue to Great Britain with her cargo classi- lied by the Germans as partly con- traband, or would dispose of the cargo here and return directly to Afrerice, was expected to clarified after Mrs. Herriman conferred with Captain Joseph A. Gainard, the ships master.
 There was @ growing conviction here that the City of Flint would unload and auction her cargo here, and reutrn empty to the United States by & northern route, avoiding the zone around the British Isles and Baltic in which Americar ships are forbidden to erter by the new neutrality law.
 Nazis May Force Showdown
 On the other hand, there was belief at Oslo that the NaziS might force showdown with Norway on the case, in which event the ship might be tied up here for weeks un- til the issue is settled.
 (In Berlin, official sources consid- cred the Norwegian action, especial ly the internment of the Nazi prize crew, as particularly serious" and hinted thta 1t might cause Germany to "adopt new tactics" There was no official comment yet on Norway's rejection of the original German protests, but semi-officially, Nazis said 1t "creates an entirely new sit- uation, making the problem consid- erably more acute.")
 Britain, France Pleased
 Britain and France were pleased ct the turn of events. The Sunday Express in London said Norway stands no nonsense -- by rendering this act of friendship to America, the Norwegians have defied Ger many. They have shown they have confidence in the ultimate victory of Britain and France Norwegians have not great deal to lose any, way, if Germans turn upon them in an attempt to punish them. There is no point at which the Germans can strike them unless the British navy
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