Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-08-05
Out Of the Night

consolidation of party posi-
tions in the ports in shipping.
The organization program l
submitted. which had been
formulated in Berlin, was
unanimously accepted. But
after the conference ended l
was due for a typical Nor
wegian surprise. l had not
noticed in the heat of argu-
ment that Ottar Lie had slip
ped out of the meeting.
/ noticed however. that my
overcoat had disappeared. II
was a good new camel s-hair
coat. Ottar Lie, the organiza-
ton head of the party had
sold il in a secondhand store.
He appeared a little while
later, a bottle OF gin under
each arm.
whats the idea, C0mrade
Lee" L demanded.
"Oh," he laughed, 81 saw
the fine coat i'm the hall and
i couldn't figure out to whom
II belonged, so ! sold 1t. Let's
have a drink. Comrade Inter-
national Representative"
REALIZES HUMOR
=, I saw the humor Of the
situation. We drank. After
the gin had gone down the
threats. Qttar Lie proposed:
"Now let's 20 out and sell
my coat. It's pretty shabby,
but it's n coat just the same"
My work in Norway began
in earnest. Christensen pro-
posed that his niece should
accompany me as secretary
and interpreter on my Nor
Wegian travels.
/, Of course, rejected his
offer. she was the usual spy
which centra committees
under investigation liked TO
place into the International
Apparat to keep them in
formed on the activitieS-and
the vulnerable Spots-of the
man from Moscow
Instead I accepted a seefe-
tary of Doctor HalvorSen's
choice, a secret party member
with a GPU commission. She
was Kitty Andersen, residing
at 20 st. Iallvard, Oslo. an
Amazon with ugly features
and an irrepressible vitality.
Between trips on Satur-
days. when no party work
could be done because the
party was drunk. she loved TO
take me out TO Oslo Fjord TO
swim among ice foes, or to
hike and ski among the
densely wooded mountains
and lakes of Nordmarken.
| was a bad hand at these
eXertions. but her sparkling
glee in the face Of my own
exhaustion was ample recon-
pense. Kitty was a graduate
of Oslo University.
She neither smoked nor
drank, was adamant in party
matters, but could surrender
herself TO emotional con-
WILSON'S over an American
Wild Western" motion pic
ture, provided the shooting on
the screen was mixed with
plenty of sentimentality.
FOUND WEAK POINTS
In the first week of my
mission / concentrated on
Oslo; in the second. l over
fatifed otir organizations in
the smaller but vital ports
south of the capital-Fredrik-
Stad, Toensberg and Sande-
ford, the latter two places
being the home bases for the
bulk OF the worlds Antarctic
whaling fleets.
The third week I gave 10
the Bergen district; the
fourth 10 Trondheim. Every
where l found the same pic
ture; fundamentally sound
rank and file. and a leadership
of semi-intellectual libertines.
l cha nged administrators
where the material for new
leadership was at hand.
The district leaders of
Fredrikstad and Bergen l
sent off 10 Berlin, ostensibly
10 report TO the Western
Secretariat, in reality TO have
them out of the way while a
reorganization of their dis
tricts took place. ] arranged
with Berlin that they should
be kept hamstrung for at
least one month; l do not
know what became of them
later.
In Oslo, l inaugurated a
new international Club and
established a permanent &C
ton committee among ship
yard workers and lockers.
In Toensberg and Sandefjord,
l laid the groundwork for