Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1888-08-22
COLLISION IN MID-OCEAN.

OV11lOlVN In ulD-VOGANs
THE "THINGvALLA' AND "GEIsER" STEAM
ERs OF THE THINGvALLA LINE PLYING
BETWEEN SCANDINAVIAN PORTS AT NEW
YORK, CoLLIDE-THE GEIsER WENT DOWN
OVER ONE HUNDRED LOST.
The steamship Waieland, from Hamburg,
arrived on the 10Th inst, at New York, with
the startling intelligence that the steamers
Thingvalla and Geiser collided in mid-ocean,
and the Geiser sank. The collision occur
red on the 18th at a. m. A very heavy
sea and dense fog were experienced through
the night and early morning. 1t is said an
object could not be distinguished fifty feet
away, by reason of the fog. The Thing
valla struck the Geiser on the starboard side
amidships. The vessels quickly recoiled,
and within five minutes the Geiser sank.
The crew of the Thingvalla did all they
could to save the Geiser's crew and passeng-
ers, while still in doubt whether the Thing
valla was not dangerously disabled; but
owing to the heavy sea only thirty one were
saved. No other vessel was near at the
time.
Capt. A. Albers, of the Wielaud tells this
story:
cat ten o'clock on the morning of Au-
| gust 18th, we passed some wreckage float
| ing in the sea, and suspected that an acci-
dent had happened somewhere near u.s. A
little later we sailed through sea of oil and
sighted broken boat of the Geiser. About
| II 80 we sighted steamer to the north
ward, about eight miles of, and seeing she
had flag of distress up, we ran down to
her. 1t proved to be the Thingvalla, and
Captain Laub, of that vessel, came to us in
a small boat and begged US to take off his
passengers and those he had saved from the
Geiser. He said his own vessel was so bad
ly injured that he expected her to sink at
any moment. His forward compartment
had been completely carried away from half
way from the deck to below the water line.
We sent out three of our boats, aud the
Thingvalla lowered two of hers, and in five
hours we had transferred the saved pas
sengers and crew Of the Geiser, and also the
455 passengers of the Thingvalla. The sea
was very rough al the time, and the work
of transferring the passengers was difficult.
The immense hole in the Thingvalla's bow
was then patched up as we'll as possible,
and she started for Halifax
The chief officer of each vessel was on
deck at the time of the collision.
| Third Officer Peterson said the fog was
very dense. Through the night rain had
| fallen at Intervals. The first they knew of
the Geiser's approach was when she appear
ed on the starboard side, right upon them.
Both vessels tried to sheer off, being head
on. The Geiser was struck opposite the
engine-room amidships. The Geiser, being
heavily loaded, was very low in the water,
so that the Thingvalla carried away her
own compartment. The upper part of her
bow ran over the decks of the Geiser. The
Gelser's deck houses were carried away, and
had in md fhA
occupants killed. He first heard bell ring
in the Geiser's engine-room, but could not
| tell what the order was. officer Peterson was
on deck at the time. He then heard the
bell ring again, this time to back, and the
steamer had just begun to reverse, when the
ThiDgvalia struck. The Geiser's whistle
was blowing at the time. Second Officer
Forgenson jumped for the Thingvalla when
they struck, and was hauled on her deck by
some OF the Thingvalla's crew. One of the
Geiser's passengers was picked up with a
broken leg.
DR.. Aage Wern, of Copenhagen, young
dentist, made the following statement:
"Our voyage was uneventful until early
Tuesday morning. There was dense fog
prev ailing. l could hear our steam whistle
blowing, but heard no other signals; 1t was
exactly 4:3O o'clock when there was a ter
rife crash. AS l reached the deck the
Thingvalla drew out of the rent she had
made in the Geiser's side. Capt. Laub, of
the Thiugvalla, was in his berth when the
accident occurred. He was one of the first
to reach the deck. First Officer Peterson
aud Third Officer Jorgensen were on the
Thingvalla's bridge at the time. after
ward learned that Capt. Muller, of the
| Geiser, had gone to bed and left First Of
fieer Brown in command of the vessel.
Brown was lost. Life boats were promptly
| launched from the Thingvalla, and the work
of rescue began.
'Out of the 100 passengers aud the crew
on the Geiser only 81 were saved. Some of
| them had reached their boats, but most of
| them were picked up from improvised RATS,
| chicken cnops, camp-stools and anything
else that would float. The survivors had to
hurry, as the Geiser went down stern first
about light minutes after the crash. Among
the saved passengers there is only one wo-
man. She is Mrs. Hida Lind, of Cincin-
natl. Her two little children, who were go
ing to Sweden with her, were lost. Mr..
Lind was not with his family. Among those
of the Geiser's Crew who were saved were
Surgeon Dirchs and Second Officer Jorgen-
sen. There. were fourteen cabin and six
Storage passengers and seventeen of the
Geiser's crew saved.
"Out of the most wonderful escapes was
that of Assistant Engineer Boerthelsen, of
the Geiser. His arm was broken two weeks
ago, and he was in his berth when the
Thingvalla crashed into the room. His
trunk was cut away within six inches of his
face. He managed to climb aboard the
Thingvalla as she drew back. He was not
SO much as touched by the water. The
ThingVallas crew did all they could to
rescue the unfortunates, and obeyed orders
promptly. The Thingvalla's upper deck
was not injured, but her bows were broken
in from point ten feet-feet below the deck.
The rent WAS about 81 feet in length. and
ran back above and below the water line to
the collision bulkhead. Had it not been for
that bukhead the Thingvalla would have
gone down like shot,"
The papers belonging to the Geiser were
lost, but copies were obtained. Thirty-one
were saved and one hundred and five were
lost, including officers and crew of the ship
in both counts.
The Chicago office of the Thingvalla Com
pany, which is only second in Importance
to that in New York, sold about fifty tick
cts for passage on the i'll fated Geser to
pooplo fcom all parts of the Northwest.
The Geiser was one of the finest vessels
of the Thingvalla line. She was built at
Copenhagen in 1881, and she was valued at
about $500, 600 She registered l, 993, net
and 1851 gross tonnage. She was entirely
Of iron and had six water tight bulkheads
and was rated as 100 A in Lloyd's register.
Her engines we're of the compound order
With cylinders 80 and 70 inches in diameter.
Her piston stroke was AZ inches. She had
three decks and three masts. Her length
was 312 feet, beam 30 feet and depth of
hold 80 feet. She had most elaborate
saloon, panelled in hard woods, and a few
years ago her second cabin and steerage
apartments were overloaded and rcfitted.
The second cabin was almost as good as the
saloon. She was capable of carrying 200
passengers, and had over that number on
her last trip to New York. The vessel was
fitted with two liferafts and six lifeboats.
She carried, her captain says, nearly seven
hundred patent life preservers, and there
was enough for three apiece to each pas
senger on board this trip. Had the passen
gers who got out in time had presence of
mind enough to take the preservers more
would have been saved.
The cargo of the Geiser consisted of 751
tubs of lard, 225 barrels of beef 1,429 sacks
of flour, 2S9 bales of leather and rs tubs of
| L E. ~