Evening star., 1946-12-23
U. 5. Navy Ship
Ordered OUT Of
Dairen by Reds
Given 20 Minutes
To Leave Port or
Take Consequences
By WiIIiom n. Newton

Representing the Combined World Press
DAIREN, Manchuria, Dec. 20
Delayed. - A United States
Navy ship pulled out of the port
of Dairen this afternoon after
receiving a verbal ultimatum
from Russian military officials to
the effect that "unless you leave
within 20 minutes we will not
be responsible for the conse-
quenceS."
Previously, the Russian military
commander in charge of the city had
refused to permit an American
businessman with full clearance
from United States authorities to
debark Also denied permission to
land were two American news
papermen, representing the COM
bined world press.
(Russian troops have occupied
Dairen since the japanese sur
render Although the Chinese
Russian treaty of 1945 called for
it's designation as free port
under Chinese administration,
Soviet forces still are in control
of the city.
I'm Washington the State De-
partment said it had received
no report of the verbal ultima
tum" and would have no i'm
mediate comment.
CThe Navy Department report
ed that a Navy vessel identified
aSLCIL 1890 Nanding Craft In.
fantry Large) left Dairen De-
cember 81 December 20, United
States time) on a return trip to
the United States base at Tsing-
tao, on the north coast OF China.
There was no other immediate
comment from the Department.
Second Courier Mission.
The vessel LC-3 1890 was on
second routine courier mission to
Dairen carrying diplomatic mail
and supplies to the United States
consulate there.
In view of the fact that the de-
tails of the first trip had been
revealed to the press, two corre-
spondents were permitted to take
passage on this trip by Rear Ad-
miral Charles NJ Cooke, jr., COM
mander of the 7th Fleet, in order
to be present in event their going
ashore would meet with the ap-
proval of local authorities. Admiral
Cooke had ruled that no photo
graphs could be made without the
consent of the local officials.
The ship arrived at Dairen De-
cember 18, and requested permls-
sion to remain in port for 48 hours.
This was accepted without COM
ment by the Soviet authorities who
met the ship at anchorage.
The ship remained in the harbor
two additional hours while United
States Consul General H. Merrill
Bennington attempted last min
ute appeal to the Soviet military
authorities to permit an American
businessman, Jesse L. Poole, At
lanta, Ga, representing the Stand
ard Vacuum Oil Co., to go ashore.
It was at this point that the Soviet
ultimatum was delivered.
Refused to See Consul.
The Soviets ordered the ship to
leave despite the fact that neither
the diplomatic courier nor the COM
manding officer of the ship were
aboard. They were at the American
consulate awaiting results of Con-
sui General Benninghoff's final ap-
peal to the Soviet commander. They
arrived on board only at the very
moment of the ships departure.
The Russian military commander
of the city, Maj. Gen. V. U. Kor-
zhanof, refused to see the American
consul general, however, and the
ultimatum was delivered to the
ship by one of his military aides.
When the consul called at the
Soviet commanders home to appeal
from the decision banning the three
Americans from Dairen, he was
left standing in the bitterly cold
street while a sentry carried his re-
quest inside After some time, he
was told that Gen. Korzhanof was
not available.
MIR. Bennington had previously
called on the Russian consul general,
S. N. Petrov, to inquire why Ameri-
can citizens were not allowed ashore.
Mr.. Petrov replied that the whole
matter was in the hands of Soviet
military authorities. He said au-
thorization for such entries must
come from Moscow.
The refusal today was the third
rebuff the American consul general