Evening star., 1940-07-25
u. 5. Plans 10 Send
Another Cutter
To Greenland
Donish Colony, Held
Part Of This Hemisphere,
theoretically Under Nuzis
BY OLIVER MCKEE.

ny VAAvkn NxChEEs
To show the interest Of the United
States In the welfare Of the isolated
communities on the western coast
Of Greenland. now cut of from Den.
mark, their mother country, and to
give them assistance, the Coast
Guard cutter George w. Campbell
Is expected to make another trip to
Greenland this summer, 1t was
learned today. The cutter CO.
manche, q much smaller vessel, now
Is in Greenland waters.
According to administration Of
ficials, Greenland Is part Of the
Western Hemisphere, and any move
to transfer this Danish colony to q
non-American power will be op-
posed. The Havana conference Of
American foreign ministers now is
considering q proposal for the COL
lectiye trusteeship Of European pos
sessions In the New World. Dem
mark now Is under the domination
Of Germany, and there have been
reports that the Nazis are planning
to seize Iceland and use 1t as q
base for an air attack on the British
Isles. Iceland is only q couple Of
hundred miles from Greenland.
So far, no Coast Guard cutter has
been ordered to the east coast of
Greenland. Here, too, there are
scattered communities that also
have been cut of from Denmark.
The east coast is harder to reach,
| .~l kLnp~ orn fAu,ap ~
Coast Guard Preparing.
Through the increased appropria-
tions recently made available by
Congress the Coast Guard is placing
full war armament on its seagoing
cutters. In addition to 5-inch guns,
the large cutters carry smaller guns.
and machine guns, and are being
equipped with listening and other
devices that will increase their value
to the Navy in time Of war.
With national defense the keynote
Of its activities, the Coast Guard
which has recently taken over the
lighthouse service, will soon have an
enlisted strength Of about 20 900 men.
Before the President declared linn
tied emergency last September, the
Coast Guard had an enlisted
strength of about 10000. This was
than increased by $500 men, and
the transfer of the lighthouse serv.
ice brought about 5000 men under
the Coast Guard. It is now planned
to add another $500 enlisted men
to the rolls.
Ship Movements Controlled.
To assure q more effective control
during the present emergency over
departures Of vessels to foreign ports,
the Coast Guard has established an
Office Of ship movements in the
Treasury which operates "a hours
q day. Before receiving clearance
papers, every ship, both American
and foreign, must await approval
Of the ofice of ship movements. In
several instances this odice has re-
fused clearance papers.
In addition to controlling depar-
lures for foreign ports, the of1ce
supervises traf1c In all important
ilarbors. In the exercise Of this au-
thority, it devotes special attention
to ships carrying munitions and
other explosives. So far as pos
sible. such ships are segregated. In
Is ports, the Coast Guard has cap
tains Of the port In charge Of trafilc.
Through its communication net
work covering all the principal
American ports, and the cutters at
sea, the Coast Guard keeps a close
check on the location Of every for
eign vessel in American ports or
territorial waters. A list Of these
ships, with their respective locations,
is laid each day before Assistant Sec
retary CASTOR, in general charge Of
Coast Guard operations.
Headquarters of the Coast Guard
communication system Is now at
Fort Hunt, just outside Washington.
A new communications center Is now
under construction near Alexandria,
Va. This will include q research
laboratory and an operations build
ing. The new station will be opened
In November.