Scandinavian American. [volume], January 01, 1946, Page 5, Image 5

About Scandinavian American. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1945-1958

Image provided by: Washington State Library; Olympia, WA

                
THE SCANDINAVIAN AMERICAN.
Norway Battles Need With U.S.A. Aid
From the Arctic reaches of war
leveled Finnmark to the southern
tip of Norway an hour never
passses but what prayers of grati
tude and thanksgiving are sent
winging across the seas to Nor
way‘s generous neighbors in the
United States. A steady stream
of food, clothing, and supplies is
reaching into even the most re
mote sections of the country to
battle cold, disease, and starva
tion. Norway is grateful.
Aside from the tens of thous
ands of gift packages sent by in
dividuals throughout the United
States, the outstanding contribu
tion of the organized relief groups
is especially recognized. Of these,
American Relief for Norway fully
deserves the honor it received
when King Haakon presented its
chairman, Bishop J. A. Aasgaard,
with the highest decoration which
the Norwegian Government can
award: the Grand Cross of the
Order of Saint Olav. During his
recent visit to Norway, Bishop
Aasgaard outlined the past and
projected activities of this organ
ization, noting that nearly $4,000.-
000 have gone into the purchase
of relief supplies for Norway. Dur
ing the first years of the war
huge stores of supplies were as
sembled for distribution as soon as
a means could be found to get
them into the country. Some of:
the difficulties encountered are‘
illustrated by the 38,000 pairs or}
childrens shoes which were to be‘
distributed through the Swedish‘
relief organization. Before they}
could be shipped in to replace thei
paper and fish skin substitutes,
which in Norway were known as}
shoes. the American trade mark‘
had to be carefully removed from;
each shoe. Dried milk and food?
purchased in Sweden together with‘
nearly 1.000.000 lbs. of used cloth-f
ing from America were gotten in-;
to Norway in this way. ’
Not until liberation opened the
gates could the organization's
carefully gathered supplies begin
to meet the overwhelming need.
Today shoes and clothing from
every corner of the United States
are being joyously welcomed and
new clothing as well is being pur
chased and. shipped to Norway by
this energetic group. In New York
today, a shipment of 22,000 pairs
of men's underwear, 130.000 pairs
of men's stockings. 2000 pairs of
women's underwear, 25.000 pairs
of stockings, 8,000 childrens' coats,
3.000 pairs of shoes and countless
other goods represent an invest
ment of 3250.000 which will soon
be on its way to Norway. A pro
ject to purchase 100,000 pairs 0!
shoes from U. S. Army stocks is
now under way with a 3100.000
purchase of badly needed kitchen
esuipment to be concluded short
ly. As a member of the National
War Fund. American Relief for
Norway illustrates that particular
type of American generosity which
will never be forgotten by the
needy throughout the world.
The work of the American Red
Cross was recently reviewed by
Mr. Ralph Hain. A.R.C. director
in Norway. Gifts of sorely needed
clothing, medicines, and hospital
suppiies have been reaching Nor
way since long before the liber-t
ation. In fact. $56,000 worth of
Jeep Comes To
Spitzbergen
Reports from ice-locked Spitz
bergen high under the North Pole
describe how that beloved war
baby. the American Jeep. is fitting
into yet another peace-time role.
Brought to this Arctic outpost
during the war. the Jeep proved
so well-suited to the rugged ter
rain that the Norwegian-Spitz
bergen Coal Co. has purchased two
of the little “gadabouts” from the
American authorities for use in the
reconstruction of the mines and
facilities on the island. They w;ll‘
he used. for the most part, to
transport personnel and supplies
from the wharves on the harbor;
to the mines and storehouses fur-3
ther inland. ‘
Red Cross medicines and supplies
were smuggled into Norway be
fore the war’s end. Five hundred
thousand new garments valued at
over $1,000,000 and 15,000 individ
ual packages from i. American
school children have swelled the
contribution of the American Red
Cross to a value which cannot be
measured in money.
Two “Goodwill Ships" from the
United Nations Relief and Re
habilitation Organization, have
just arrived in Norway. Shoes,
clothing, and children’s wear val
ued at over $490,000 haVe been
given to Norway as an expression
of Allied good will. The receipt ot
this gift was unexpected good
fortune as Norway, unlike many
other members of UNRRA is
known as a “paying nation," in
other words, one of the countries
which has been able to pay for
goods received through the organ
ization. The size and generosity
of the gift. which includes all
transportation charges, has left
Norwegians speechless with grati
tude. Contents of the two ships
from the U.S.A. and Canada to-:
gether with the cargo of a third?
soon to arrive from Australia.1
will be turned over to the Nor
wegian Supply and Social Welfare
Departments for distribution.
American Labor Relief, an out
standing group supported by or
ganized labor in the United States.
long ago won the gratitude of all
of Norway. Its activities tied in
closely with the Norwegian under
ground and by the war's end,
$400,000 worth of food and supplies
had been smuggled into needy
Norway, all purchased and dis
tributed by this remarkable 0r
ganization. Latest word indicates
that 13 fully equipped American
Army ambulances have been pur
chased by American Labor reliet
as a gift to Norway, and will be
shipped in the near future.
New Scandinavian
Fur-trade Paper
The Scandinavian countries were
large»scule exporters of furs be
fore the war. In particular there
was an extensive production of fox
and nutria skins. Swedish exports
alone had a value of over 10 mil
lion kronor ($2,500,000).
With the successive resumption
of world trade, the Scandinavian
fur exporters are again looking
towards their old markets. With
the aim of spreading information
about the Scandinavian fur pro
duction, the Swedish journal
“Paistidningen” in Stockholm has
recently started an English ed
ition, called “Scandinavian Fur."
The first issue. which appeared
in November. contains several in
teresting articles.
Mr. Gustaf 'Algard. one of the
foremost authorities in the Swed
ish fur dude. says in an interview
that the Swedish fur market
seems to be better this season
than it has been for many
years. The demand in the European
countries is increasing. Scandin
avian furs are even being delivered‘
to Egypt. the Near East and South;
America. SiIVer fox seems to be‘
most in demand. and prices are:
good. At present Sweden is sold:
out of silver. platinum and whitei
face. and a flourishing export 02.\
these skins is expected when thei
new season begins. Blue fox ami‘
mink of a high quality will also}
be brought on to the market. More- i
over, Mr. Algfird points out thati
Sweden is prepared herself to im-?
port raw furs of various kinds1
without restrictions. ‘
Of skins dressed in Sweden in‘
1944, 28.563 were silver fox, white:
face. blue fox and white rnx. 1.580?
platinum fox. 31.058 mink. 20.-;
834 red fox, cross fox and others.
1,104 otter. 281 martin. 1.910 nu-‘
1113. 8.746 ermine. 382.593 squirrelfi
3.285.183 rabbit. 8.463 pony. 87.823‘
kid and 20.593 cat. 1
Russian Soldiers
Are Unwilling To
Leave B_o_rnho|m
statesmen and diplomats have
a way of using weasel words to
express what they like to say
without saying it. This holds good!
in the difficult situation that has:
developed about the Russian econ-l
pation of the Danish island ofi
Bornholm in the Baltic. It was!
both granted and appreciated thatl
a small Russian army landed on;
the islands just before the libera-1
tion in order to round up the‘
German forces. The Danes ex-‘
pected the Russian armed forces!
to leave after this task had beenl
performed, but instead the Soviet,
Union soldiers and sailors made:
themselves q u i t e comfortable. 1
True enough, since September sev-f
eral thousand troops have beeni
returned to the Russian homeland. i
but a goodly sized garrison re-n
mains on the island. i
In this connection there is in?
the minds of many Danes the sus- j
picion that the Soviet Union would f
like to use the island for a per-i
manent naval base, and there arel
rumors to the effect that the Rus- !
sians intend to locate on certain}
islands on the far north coast ofI
Norway. If such bases should de-[
velop it would mean a tight Bus-i
sian regime over all the watersi
leading to Scandinavia. Russian;
diplomats are quite mum about!
the prospect and perhaps the for-f
eign policy of Stalin has not quitei
ripened into an actual demand for}
these Nordic bases, just as the;
attitude in the Balkans and in the ‘
Mediterranean also remain unset—1
tled. The Danes are too smalll
and powerless a nation to Chill-j
lenge their great eastern neighbor;
and demand a showdown. Besidesi
«Denmark must. develop its trade
with Russia. now that Germany
for some time will be almost value
less as a customer for agricultural
or industrial outputs.
So. some time ago when prime
minister Buhl of Denmark visited
Bornholm in the interest of his
political campaign. which. by the
way he lost. he gave a brilliant
banquet to the Russian general
Jakuschof. In a speech the hon
orable Vilh. Buhl expressed his
deep regret that Denmark soon
was to lose their splendid guests.
(That is actually what the Danes
hope they are soon to lose-”but
nobody has said good-by so far).
Then Jakuschof laid it on just as
thick by praising the Danish cour
age in battling with the Germans.
and he also hopedwas long as the
Russian soldiers were still to re
main in Denmark—that their re
lationship with their hosts might
remain as splendid as before.
According to latest reports the
Russians have reinforced their
troops on Bornholm. No reason
has been given. and there is very
little anyone can do about it but
hope that the Bolsheviks may re
alize that the island belongs to
someone elseHand depart forever.
A Nation of Nations. By Louis
Adamic. New York. Harper &
Bros. 1945. Illustrated. 400 pages.
Price $3.50. Contains chapter en
titled “Americans from Sweden."
Swedish
I
Salvation Army
212 Occidental Ave.
ANTON H. OLSON.
Adjutant
MEETINGS:
Monday. Thursday.
Saturday. at 8 P. M.
SUNDAY——
4 P. M.—Gospel Service.
7:30 P. M.. Salvation
Meeting.
Everybody Welcome
Steady Employment Rise In Norway
Steadily r is in g employment
figures for the last three months
of 1945 indicate that by the endf
of the first quarter of 1946 cm-3
ployment in Norwegian manufac-f
turing industries will have reached I
its pre-war level.
While over-all employment es-i
timates show 170.900 employed in}
industry (2,100 less than in 1939) 1
the gain is uneven, and certain:
groups of industries show a de-‘l
cided employment lag due to prob- i
lems of marketing and raw mate-t
rial shortages. These include min-11
ing, electro-metallurgic. earthen-;1
International Good
Templar Congress
In Sweden In 1946
The World Lodge of the Inter
national Order of Good Templars
has accepted an invitation to hole!
its next international congress in
Sweden. This congress, the first to
be held by the Good Templars
since before the war, will take
place in Stockholm in August this
year.
Merit Award Given
For Alaska Service
Award of the Legion of Merit to
Maj. Henry B. Nelson of Vancou
ver. W’ash.. was announced recent
ly by Alaska Communications
System, Seattle.
The award. made by Col. Fred
P. Andrews. commanding officer.
was for “outstanding service per
formed in the Aleutian area from
August 27. 1942. to September 17.
1943.” Major Nelson was formerly
of Spokane.
5V—
E We Are Especially Equipped
E For Printing 0!
1 MHGHZIHES - - BOOHS
E
Ma‘flw
_ We Also be A General Line
E 0! Commercial Printing
E
«mow:
‘ PUBLICHTIOHS PRESS
MAin 3225
90 University Street, Seattle 1, Wash.
5
ware and stoneware, wood pulp.
cellulose, paper. clothing. food
processing, and sports wear indus
tries which will show a combined
employment decrease of 13,300
since 1939.
Another group of industries,
however, will show a total employ
ment increase of 14,600 over 1939
figures, including the iron and
and metal, electro-chemical and
chemical, oils and fats, lumber.
leather and rubber, textiles. and
the graphic industries. Of the above
figure employment increases in
the iron industries alone account
for 11,000.
Second Largest
Freighter Visits
Her Home Port
The ore carrier “Svealand,” of
22,730 tons dead weight and
owned by the Tirfing Company of
Gothenburg, arrived some time
ago in her home port. where she
had not been seen since April
1938.
Built'in Hamburg in 1925. and
shortly afterwards timeucharteretl
by the Bethlehem Steel Corpora
tion, the “Svealand” has been car
rying iron ore from South America
to the U. S. During the war she
also made several trips with grain
to Great Britain.
Together with her sister ship
“‘Amerikaland." which was tor
pedoed by the Germans in Feb
ruary, 1942. the “S\'ealand“ was
until quite recently the largest
freighter in the world. Last sum
mer a still bigger ore carrier. the
“Venor.” of 25000 tons. was (le
livered by an American yarl tn
the Bethlehem Steel Corporation.