Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1888-08-18

lived to tell the tale. "when I first
felt the shock, he said, al tumbled out
OF my berth and ran forward, where /
got cork belt and put It on. Then /
went on deck. The vessel was filing.
and before ] knew what had happened
the Geiser went down. could hear ter
rible roar OF water. and felt myself being
sucked down until / thought we would
never stop. 1t seemed as though / was
under water for ten minutes, but it
couldn't have been that long, OF course.
Still, j was 80 nearly gone that ten
seconds moro would have finished me.
The cork belt brought me to the surface
and swan around until ! WAS picked
up. When tho Geiser went down she
seemed TO rise up in the air until her bow
was clear out Of water"
John Tenwild, OF Hudson, Wis, saved
himself with q piece OF board six feet
long and two feet wide. GAS soon rs We
were struck 7 got on deck and found the
vessel sinking" said he. al just took
the chances and jumped overheard. Al
ter padding for awhile / found piece
of board, and held myself up with 1t I'M
til the Thingvalla took me on board. "
"What effort wns made 10 save the
women on board ?" ssked the reporter.
"My God, man I" exclaimed Ten
wild, There WIS 40 time 70 do any
thing. Everybody thought Of himself.
A mother had not time 10 save her chill
dren. An effort to cave the women
Well, it seemed TO me that Do sooner
w0s the vessel struck than she was down.
The whole thing seemed 10 be over IN
less than a minute. She went down
with roar. Nearly everybody was
drowned before they were awakened"
ESCAPED THROUGH THE BREACH.
Peter Jorgensen, tho second mate Of
the Geiser, told O startling story. II
was OF watch and sleeping soundly," be
said, "when the shock awoRe me. /
opened my eyes and saw the bow Of the
Thingvalla come crushing through the
starbosrd side Of my room. At the same
instant the water poured in, and my first
thought was TO escape drowning. 1t was
pitch dark, and ! could feel the pres
ence Of the intruding vessel more than
1 could make it out by actual sight.
Instinctiyely l sought to reach the deck,
and, cropping around in the dark, l man
aged so find the door of my room, butlt
was held fast. The water was gaining
upon me, and it seemed "a though l
must he drowned like rat ~ hole. i
became almost frantic. In wildly grasp
ing Ia every direction for something my
hands came in contact with a chain, and
by quick smvey | concluded IT belong
cd 70 another vessel, and it then be-
came clear 10 my mind that We
had been il n collision. All Of
this rushed through my brain III
a moment | held on to the chain and
saw that it led TO the other vessel l
chung harder TO it, and WIS drawn
through the breach in the Goiser 10y the
reireating Thingvalla. Then | climbed
up the chain and reached the deck OF
the Thingyalla, and 50 escaped.
81 heard no cries OF distress, although
there may have been such cries without
my hearing them. ] cannot account FOR
the accident, for, rs | said, l vas of
duty and asleep"
One of the Geiser's crew (who was
taken away by the companys agents be-
fore his name could be ascertsined said {:
when l got on deck the vessel was
sinking | sprang for mast and began
climbing e. hut had not got very lar up
when it occurred TO me that We we're in
deep water. j started to descend. On
looking down discovered that there Was
not time TO reach the deck and jump
overheard and swim beyond reach Of
the suction. 80 | went up the mast
again, and. reaching a yard, ran
out to the end Of it and jumped. / hest
tated for moment, because 1t was so
dark that | could not see any objects,
aud | was afraid of striking something
that would disable me. First l swan
against the side of vessel which l sup
posed 20 ne the other one, but found 1t
was Che Geiser, and made haste to get
away from her as quickly as possible. i
had not a second TO spare, for when she
went down was still close enough to
feel the pressure of the water closing
over her. After swimming around for
what seemed like an hour was picked
up"