Evening star., 1940-05-03
BY JAMES ALDRrDGE.

~ SAAAsA4]0 xAAIDkS1D0Es
SWEDISH-NORWEGIAN BOR-
DER, VIA STOCKHOLM, May 3
N.A.N.A.-By Radio) When the
Germans claimed the capture Of
Storen two days ago the correspond
ents were skeptical about the Nazi
claims. No one was in Storen,
therefore no one could confirm or
deny the German story.
There the correspondents left the
matter, except to add their Personal
opinions or the latest rumor on the
subject.
thought maybe the German
commander himself could settle the
question. So late Wednesday I de-
cided to telephone him at Roeros.
the reported location of the German
high command. From somewhere
IN Sweden" I put in a call to the
Roeros telephone exchange and got
reply In an hour. 1t was q young
woman, the local telephone operator.
who answered.
l asked her to let me speak with
the German commander. She said.
mo. the Germans are not here"
Where are they?" I asked.
I don't know. They went south
early this morning. I'll ask,
though"
Left None in Town,
In few moments, after talking
with some one (probably the wom-
an who sold sweets from the coun.
ter OF the shop that operated the
telephone connection) she returned
to the telephone and said, "They
have gone to Tronfje-the whole
pack of them. They have nobody
left in this town now"
did any Germans 20 north to
Stoeren yesterday" I asked.
Not yesterday. But some went
today" the girl said. "Just a few Of
them"
DO you know the commanders
name?" asked.
NO." the girl said. But I wish
did"
I said I would call again tomor-
row.
I called Roeros again. I got an
answer after a couple of hours. A
man answered the phone. thought
the Germans had arrived, so II
asked in German if I could speak
with the German military COM
mander.
A Norwegian Voice.
A Norwegian voice came back
with appropriate and lengthy swear
ing IN bad German. When I told
the Norwegian who I was he en-
nghtened me in good English.
Some one reported that Nor
wegian troops were in this town,
We got bombed last night, and the
few people remaining here have
fled. We are just eight students.
We came south from Trondheim and
took the town. The telephone girls
were about the last to leave. Now
the eight Of us are the only occu-
pants Of the town."
DO you know where the Germans
are?" I asked.
mo. But there aren't many
around this area. We heard some
fighting in the distance q while ago.
Maybe the British are trying to take
Stoeren."
Student Turns Questioner.
nn1Ild onf ri,
more. He fired questions at me
about how things looked from the
outside. Did the world favor Nor
way or did it favor the allies or Ger
many? Was more help coming?
And heap of other questions.
The student would not give me
his name because the Germans
might get hold of it and, talking
as he did, would not be very healthy,
ii they captured him. He cursed the
Germans and the treachery of the
Norwegian Nazis in good, round
English cuss words. And in the
middle of these TRADES his voice
suddenly ceased. We were not cut
of. I could still hear a noise at
the other end of the line.
I shouted, Hello! Hello! Are
you there?"
I repeated this, and then I heard
rattling noise-something crashed
and the phone went dead.
I tried to contact the Roeros ex-
change again, but they told me
there was no answer.
I could not tell this sooner be-
cause it might have brought ter
rible Nazi retribution to the Nor
wegians, who had been kind enough