Br. l-ygren Visiting Augustana Synod Dr, Antlers Nygren. president of the Lutheran “'orld Feder ation and professor of theology at the. University of Lund. Swed en, recently animal in New York on the “Drottnlngholm,” accompanied by his wife. Dr" Nygren is here to take part, in the 100th Annlversary of the founding of the Augustana Synod by Swedish pioneers, to be celebrated this summer. Sweden Sticks To Her Neutrality STOCKHOLM, Feb. 4—Swe— den struck the first Scandina vian blow against an anti-Com munist West European union today. Foreign Minister Oesten Unden said his country will stick to its traditional neutral ity and stay out of any "power bloc. ' Unden. in one of the most im portant Swedish foreign policy declarations in years. told a joint parliament session in Stmkholm: “The government is convinced that the overwhelming majority of Swedes do not wish to join any great power bloc~~be it by explicit pact or alliance, or by silent understandings on a com mon military action in case of conflict.” Tne foreign minister declared that Sweden will adhere to its pledges under the United Na tions charter instead of joining the projected widening: of tho Anglo-French alliance under thi- SO-l'lllk‘d Bevin plan. The number of new companies? incorporated in Sweden last year! was 2.347. Danish Color Film Specialist Returns John V. lions. n, the noiod color photographer and Iodun‘r. shown as he returned with Mrs. liannon aboard the Swedish American [Jan's "Drotinlngholm" I'Ii'l' spending considerable time in Don mark and Norway making pictures for the Swedilh American Line. P A l D Seattle, Wash. : a . . Permit No. 4513 W..»,‘g .‘ V 39.5% * ‘ ' _ l . Serving the Scandinavian-American Population of the Great Northwest Vol. 4, No. 2. History In The Old Stone Tower The decision of the Newport (R. 1.) Park Commission to permit a scientific excavation around the base of the old stone tower in Touro Park, something that has been urged for years by archeolo gists, has revived speculation on the origin of the ancient structure. For more than 100 years his torians have debated two theories. One is that the old stone tower was built as a windmill about the year 1675 by Benedict Arnold, Rhode Island's first governor—not the Benedict Arnold who figured a century later in American his tory. The other theory is that the tower was built as a place of wor ship by Viking adventurers who came to these shores in the thir teenth and fourteenth centuries. If the Viking theory is correct—and recent bits of evidence pieced to gether tend to support itathe c-ld tower may well be the oldest struc ture built by Europeans in the western hemisphere, a structure that was old and probably aband oned before Christopher Columbus was born. ' Previous suggestions that the site around the structure be ex cavated scientifically in a hunt for clues were rejected by the New port Park Commission on the ground that the digging might cause the relic to collapse. Arch—*- ologists have maintained, however, that a careful excavation need not endanger the tower at all and that the chances are good that some bit of evidence will be found to prove the tower's origin con clusively. SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, FEBRUARY, 1948 Hjalmar R. Holand, an histor ian who has specialized in tracing the wanderings of ”the early Norse men, published a book last year, “America, 1355-1364," which was a factor in inducing the Newport Commission to change its stand. The book was brought to the at tention of the Park Commission a few months ago by Robert R. Young, head of the Chesapeak & Ohio Railroad and a resident of Newport. Mr. Holand's conclusions are so intriguing. and his argu ments in favor of the excavation so persuasive, that the Newport Commission decided to change its previous policy and permit a sci entific search for new evidence. Oslo Expands To 27 Times Former Area OSLO. ——- On January 1. 1948. 1the total area of Oslo, Norway's capital city. was increased twenty sev‘en told by its formal amalga mation with adjoining Akcr and surrounding districts. The city now covers 113,000 acres in con trast to the 4.125 acres which con stituted Oslo-proper on the last day of the old year. That there is plenty of room for growth is indicated by some un ique statistics. Three quarters of the new capital is covered by for est. Some 350 farm houses, a to tal of 2.200 cows which may now consider themselves city residents. A total of 60 lakes now within Oslo‘s boundaries now comprise an area almost half again as large as the capital's total former spread. Total population of the enlarged city is 424,000 or approx imately 14% of the. 3,164,000 per sons living in all of Norway at the turn of the new year. It may be noted that 40,000 more women than men are now ne siding in the expanded Norwegian capital. Alvaro C. Shoemaker ls Taken By Death Alvaro C. Shoemaker. associate editor of the Scandinavian Amor lcan. died at the United States Veterans Hospital at Portland. Oregon. Tuesday morning, Febru ary 3. 1948. He was formerly an editorial writer for the Seattle Post Intelligencer and other pub~ llcations. He was born in Redford. Iowa. October 26. 1882, and left surviv ing him two daughters. Alvara Forbus Deal of Caracas. Venezue la. and Dale Fol-bus Fleury of Se attle. Washington. Death was due to cancer or the lung. In keeping with his wishes, no funeral services were held. His body has been cremated. and his ashes will be scattered over San Francisco Bay. The barb of his pen will long bc remembered. He was a mastcr of expression and analysis. His edi torials on political and economic subjccts received national rccog~ nition, and his pocms. such as “Hymn Before Battle." recently mibliahcd in the Post lntcllizcncer. have been widew acclaimed. Sweden Captures Olympic Championship 0n Points Aam- Seyffarth. Swedish winner of the 10,000 mom-r sliver-skating (went. He also placed second in tho 1.500 mvh-r mrnt. ST. MORI’I‘Z, Switzerland. Feb. 9.1The Fifth Winter Olympic Games were ended, but the dis cord of an uprecedented ice hockey row lingered on today as the athletes headed for their homes in 28 nations. Sweden won the majority of honors during the 10 days of com petition. The United States fin ished third in total points. The United States provided an unex pected heroine in Mrs. Gretchen Fraser. winner of the women's special ski slalom and second in the alpine combination ski event. France's Henri Oreiller was the star individual performer. winning two first places in downhill skiing and the alpine combined But long after these performances are for gotten. the tug-of-war over which of .two United States hockey teams should represent the U. S. A. will be remembered. The U. S. Olympic Committee hockey team came. saw and re mained just tourists in this pic turesque alpine resort. where tattered bunting flaps lazily over worn and dirty snow. . Its rival. the Amateur Hockey Association of America. was ac cepted as the U. S. entry by the Swiss Olympic Committee. Thi' AHA team played in the nine team tournament, and finished a good fourth behind Canada. szhoslovnkia. a n d Switzerland This fourth place. however. wnL never show in Olympic records. For the Internauomu Olympic Committee ruled out the AHA Avery Brundage, American 10(‘ member. said the AHA rcpt-elem: Sec. 562, P. L. & M. U. S. POSTAGE 10¢ a Copy, commercial interests in ice hockey. The IOC also decreed that the International Ice Hockey Federa tion, of which the AHA is a mem ber, shall no longer be the gov erning body of amateur ice hockey throughout the world. That was the windup after two weeks of torrid debate. Nothing like it had been known in the his tory of the mode rn (tymp- Games. founded in 1896 to pro n‘mto peace among nations. .Some said there might never again be an. Olympics. But the 10C (Continued on Page 2! llorway Village Slashes Iaxes OSLO.~~— In these days of ris ing tsxcs coupled with frenzied appeals. prunises and dis courses as to the vii-dom or tax reduction. 3 news note from the Norwegian fjord village of Vu'tdsl comes :5 an interest ing contrast to the usual story. Herc. city fathers decided tn reverse the normal process. Municipal taxes paid by Vart dill citizens who spent thc war years aboard Norwegian mor chantmen arc to be returncd as a gift from thv city, (,‘1ty fa thcrs have dccidz-d that cvcrv Vartdsl sailor who risked his lifc to transport Vital war sup plies {or the Allies Is tn be ex— tended ; gift of thanks by his fellow citizens in the form or s returned tax check.