SPANISH CIVIL WAR

Greymouth Evening Star, 27 February 1937, Page 9

SPANISH CIVIL WAR

NAVAL SUPERVISION ' ' • • TECHNICAL PROBLEMS [BBITISH OFFICIAL WIBELEBS.] (Recd. February 27, 12.30 p.m.) RUGBY, February 2'6. The Chairman’s sub-committee of the . International Non-Intervention Com-: mittee, to-day, had under considena-./ tion the technical problems of the application of the scheme for the supervision of vessels having. the . right to fly flags of the participating, coun- A tries, proceeding to Spanish ports, and agreed that the representatives of maritime countries should be asked to./ arrange for official Government experts to attend a meeting in London, on March 3, for the purpose of reaching decisions on the /questions concerned. . /■,/ According to a/communique, after considering further the. land _ ion scheme, x 3 under- , took to cqniihufiicate a request for immediate instructions therebn. The/Russian. representative ; .stated that, view'of .the fact.that it;had'now been agreed, in principle, that. : tiny Government party. to the! agree- .’ ment had the right, should they so / desire, to participate in the naval sup-/, ervision scheme, the Russian Govern-.;’.;-: ment? did not claim at present to make actual use of this right, as it was not/H interested, either politically or other- ‘ -y wise, in the presence of its naval forces in the Mediterranean Sea, or in the / Atlantic Ocean at a great distance from their own naval bases. The Portuguese representative recalled that his Government had always favoured the naval supervision scheme being entrusted to four Powers—the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy—and stated that they would not desire to participate'in the scheme,, so long'as it was confined to these four Powers.

The” representatives of the four Powers agreed to submit to their Governments the scheme for naval super- / vision by the four Powers, already prepared by the technical . advisory sub- ' / committee,'with a view to settling the technical problems involved in its / application. ® .-/-? Sir Ogilvie Forbes said that sympathy and concern was felt by- the/ Spanish Government at the accident to the Royal Oak,. :.

It is understod that the putting into force by the United Kingdom of the naval supervision plan, under discussion by the organs of the Interna-"?? tional Committee for the application qf the agreement regarding non-inter-vention in the Spanish civil war,' would require legislation. It would be j necessary to impose a legal obligation v on vessels proceeding under the.... British Flag to Spain, to conform with the procedure contemplated jn sfioh ' matters as a call at ports or. roadsteads specified in the plan, for the purpose of picking up the International Committee’s supervisors, and as submission to interrogation, by naval patrols of ,the”. Powersucting on behalf of the Committee.

Supervision is to come into operation on Saturday, therefore during next week, as soon as the scheme is finally approved by the Committee, the British Governffieht iwill .introduce the necessary legislation to provide a Parliamentary time for .its ...passage into law.

LINER STRIKES MINE.. PASSENGER’S DESCRIPTION. LONDON, February 26. A passenger on the liner Llandovey Castle, which was proceeding to Marseilles with 300 passengers, and struck a mine at Cape Greus,‘.where the Fran, frontier.'joins the coast, said: “We struck; av.floating mine at 4.45 p.m. as we were passing Cape Creus, 10 miles from the shore. Most of us were having tea. There was a sudden roar, and a high. column. of water rose up to the left side of the bows. Water immediately b.dgan ..to pour into a great hole in the ship’s side, and the bows sank until the ship tilted.. The pumps were immediately put into action and the watertight doors closed,' 1 but there was z no panic. Nobody was injured,-? The captain,-af-ter sending an SOS message, changed his course for Port Vendres, while the ship’s officers invited the passengers to the ballroom, where they danced and sang as if nothing were amiss.” When the vessel was hove to outside Port Vendres, the bows had sunk 30 feet in the water but the sea was

calm and there is no intention at present of disembarking the passengers, who were still, dancing on the brilliantly lit ship at midnight. The “Daily Mail” says the captain of the Llandovey Castle has sent out an appeal by wireless for powerful' tugs to tow the ship to Marseilles.

HOLE IN BOWS (Recd, February 27, .8 a.m.) PERPIGNAN, February 26. Tugs successfully towed the Llandovery Castle to the quays at Port Vendres. Divers found a gaping hole in the bows, about eighteen feet long. It will be impossible for the liner to proceed to Marseilles, until this hole is temporarily repaired. MALAGA’S DEFENDER. VALENCIA, February 25. Colonel Villalba, the former defender of Malaga, has been dismissed and sent to Barcelona. VOLUNTEERS’ WITHDRAWAL. PARIS, February 26. The. Government has instructed the French Ambassador in London (M. Corbin) to endeavour to secure a decision by the Non-Intervention Committee to withdraw the volunteers at present in Spain. - The Minister for Foreign Affairs (M. Delbos) says that France will take such a step if other countries do the same.

FILM-STAR EXECUTED. LISBON, February 27. It is revealed that Rosita Diaz, the Spanish film star, who appeared with Maurice Chevalier, and made films in Hollywood and Europe, was executed by Spanish insurgents, last month, after a court-martial, on a charge of spying.