Salt Lake Telegram | 1939-02-17 | Page 2 | Belgians Seize Spanish Rebels

BELGIANS SEIZE SPANISHREBELS BRUSSELS, Belgium, Feb. IT (UP) Police returned the Spanish consulate to ths republicans today after It had been "captured" by Spanish nationalist sympathisers. The BationaHata invaded the building hut night, locked up the caretaker and his wife at pistol point, and forced the secretars-Af the consulate to alga the building over to them. The nationalists ran dp their flag aver the building today. Police sur-. sur-. rounded the place and climbed to a - aecond story balcony by a fire de-'," de-'," pertmant ladder. They arrested eight notionalists and drovs them ' to the police station. Ths building was given back to the republicans. ; Franc Seizes Jewels To Feed Refugees ' PERPIONAH, France. Feb. IT W -A French court at Caret aolved today In part ths problem of how " France la going to pay for the care - ef Spanish refugees. It confiscated millions ef dollars worth f Spanish Jewels and fined a group ef Spanish officers 1400.000 franca M7,et for bringing them late France. Jewels and precious metals, weighing half ton, were part ef the treasure of Flgusres castle, where the Spanish govsrnmsnt had ' aoncentrated Its ressrvs war chest Although officers of the Lister . brigade told the court they acted under orders to bring the treasure inte France for deposit In the Spanish Span-ish consulate In Parplgnan. all but ' five of Ts Spaniards under arrest ' ware ssntsnoed to tsrms varying from one month to two years In ' nrlaaai. The technical char tea against them was evasion of customs. The story of the treasure, as placed together last Wednesday whsn the arrest were being made, was that It had bean sent to Flgue-ras Flgue-ras In nine trucks whsn Barcelona fall to the Insurgents but arrived as ths govsrnmsnt troops were withdrawing toward the French j frontier. - Lieutenant Colonel Enrique Lister, Lis-ter, commander of the famous Lister Lis-ter brigade and In charge of the withdrawal ef troops, wss reportsd - te have ordered hie men to unload ths trucks and take as much of ths . treasure a possible Into France for - deposit In the Spanish eonsulats. - Three truck were emptied and six others were driven Into Flgueraa ' castle and dynamited In an effort . to keep the fortune out of Insurgsnt hands.