St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-08-17

Wreckage nOatlnS In the sea, and SuS-
pected that
AN ACCIDENT HAD HAPPENED
somewhere near us. A little later we
sailed through sea of Oil, and sighted
a broken boat of the Gelser. About
$50 we sighted steamer to the north
ward, about eight miles off, and, seeing
that she had flag of distress ND, we
ran down to her. 1t proved to be the
ThinSvalla, and Capt. Lamb, of that
vessel, came to us in small boas and
begged us to take off his passengers
and those he had saved from the Geiser.
He said his own vessel was so badly in-
| jured he
EXPECTED HER TO SINK
| at any moment. His forward compart-
ment had been completely carried away
from half way from the deck to below
the water line. We sent out three of
our boats. and the Thingvalla lowered
TWO OF hers, and in five hours we had
transferred the saved passengers
and crew of the Geiser, and
also the 455 passengers of
the Thingvalla. The sea was very
rough at the time, and the work Of
| transferring the passengers was very
| difficult. The immense hole in the
Thingvalla's bow was then patched up
| as well as possible and she started for
Halifax. The collision, so far as known,
| was
CAUSED BY THE Fog"
The chief officer of each vessel was
| on deck at the time of the collision. The
| third officer, Peterson, told much the
same story of the occurrence. He said
the fog was very dense. ''Through the
| night rain had fallen at intervals. The
| first we knew of the Geiser's approach
was when she appeared on the starboard
| side, right upon US. Both vessels tried
to sheer off, being head on.
THE GEISER WAS STRUCK
! opposite the engine rooms, amidships.
| The Geiser being heavily loaded, was
very low in the water, so that the
ThinSvalla carried away her own COM
partment. The upper part of her bow
ran over the decks of the Geiser. The
Gelser's deck houses were carried away,
and the state rooms were smashd in and
THE OCCUPANTS KILLED.
He 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 commenced to re-
verse when the Thingvalla struck. The
Gelser's whistle was blowing at the
time. Second Officer Jorgensen
JUMPED FOR THE THINGvALIA
when they struck, and was hauled on
the Thingvalla's deck by some of the
latter's crew. One of the Geiser's
passengers was pic ked up with broken
leg.
Second Officer Jorgensen gave a
graphic description of the collision. He
said:
II was asleep in my bunk when I
heard shock and Immediately went
on deck. Taking in the situation at a
glance, I ordered all hands on deck.
Then swung myself off on the bow of
the Thingvalla, and
SCRAMBLED TO HER DECK.
The doomed craft sank gracefully,
stern first, with her bow in the air.
Most everybody was sound asleep when
she began to fill. l could hear groans
and heartrending screams coming from
below. Those who reached the deck
made frantic efforts to cut down the
boats, but they were too excited to be
successful. They finally grabbed up
different pieces of wood and jumped
over the side of the vessel.
AnderS Wilse,a civil engineer of Min
neapolis, one of the passengers on the
Geiser, said: "About 4 o'clock Tuesday
morning was awakened by slight
shock, and thinking we had struck
shouted:
SHE IS SINKING
found we had been struck on the
starboard side, about midships. There
were at that time four or FIVE men work.
ing at the boats. [ had on cork Jacket
and felt comparatively safe, so l called
to the people down stairs and then
watched the boat sink from the bow.
AS she went down | stuck to her,
and was carried down several hun
dred feet, 1 believe. Soon 1 felt myself
shooting up through the water, impelled
by my cork jacket. was
ON TOP OF THE WATER
for perhaps half an hour. climbed on
down and was finally picked up.''
DR.. Aage Wern, of Copen hagen,
a young dentist who is on his way to
Philadelphia to complete his studies,
was among the Thingvalla's passengers.
He made the following statement to
reporter: ''The Thingvalla left
Stettin Aug. l with fifty cabin and
400 steerage passengers. Our voyage
was uneventful until early Tuesday
morning. l had left MY berth, ard,
looking out, saw that there was dense
fog prevailing. l could hear our steam
whistle blowing, but heard no other
signals. 1t was exactly 4:30 o'clock
when / was
HURLED TO THE FLOOR
of my stateroom. There was terrific
crash. and knew instinctively that a
collision had occurred. / ran to the
deck and found that we had run into
the steamship Geiser. As L reached
the deck the Tbingvalla drew out of the
rent she had made in the Geiser's
side. Capt. Lamb, of the Thing
valla, was in his berth when the
accident occurred. He was one
of the first to reach the deck. First
Officer Petersen and Third Officer Jor-
gensen were on the Thingvallas bridge
at the time. afterward learned that
Capt. Moller, of the Geiser,
HAD GONE TO BED
and lett First Officer Brown i'm COM
mand of the vessel. Brown was lost.
life hOatS were DrOmDtiy launched frnur