New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1888-08-29

borg, who was on board the Thing aala. en-
route to Galveston, Texas with his sister. /
IL was just about daylight, and all, with
the exception OF myself and 8 few friends,
were asleep; when, all of q sudden, ne heard
q scuming of feet on deck, and then a crush
ing noise Thenfor a moment all was still.
In second all The passengers were out of
their berths and all rushing for the compan-
ion-way. The screaming and the din was
deafening, particularly from the lower deck,
where the people with families were located.
After considerable difficulty i reached the
was. and just here I wish to state
most emphatically that no whistles
were blown on the Thingv ALA before
the collision. / went to the front of the
vessel and saw gap of about twelve
feet. On the left side, the plates were rolled
up, and on the top of them lay part of the
corpse of man. and the whole stem was
covered with blood and fragments of flesh,
which was soon washed off by the waves.
The captain then ordered every one on deck,
and, after an examination, the passengers
were told there was no danger and they be-
came quiet. The women on the occasion
behaved splendidly On the right side the
the bow ofour ship go clean into the state
room of an officer of the Geiser who climbed
up by the chains ATTACHED to the anchor
During this hme,there was a terrible rain
storm, which was more the cause of the ex-
IRENE darkness than any fog. The Geiser
began to sink rapidly, and in eight or ten
minutes passed down out of sight. There
was no effort made on our ship to lower the
boats, but 1T was SO very dark that we could
not see whether it was human beings or not
tn at were floating around the ship, but a
mans voice screamed out in the midst of
THE EXCITEMENT
Il TN
ing was something awful. It was fully
twenty minutes before the boats were low
cred. We all stood on the deck looking at
the people being saved, but powerless to do
anything ourselves. | saw three boats of
the Geiser one turned upside down, another
smashed in the storm, and the third had two
men who We're holding up a woman between
them who seemed to be dead Several had
hfe-preserYers on, but were swallowed up in
the whirlpool when the Geiser went down.
Some came again to the surface and were
picked up. A number of us procured life
preseryers and stood ready to cast them out,
but | must say | wondered that so few were
seen after the ships sinking. A great num-
Der must have been drowned in their berths.
In about an hour and half the boats re-
turned, and the saved were hoisted on board
by ropes and partly by the aid of a rope lad
der, which had been lowered over the side.
When they were not on deck, they were each
made to sit down, and they were given
glass of brandy apiece. They seemed for the
most part to be in good spirits, except one
man, who was covered with blood, and the
doctor sent him to the hospital. s'The boats
were sent away again, but they only
found dead woman. The emigrants
were well treated by the people on the Thing
valla. The passengers and crew then went
to work to shift the cargo from the stem to
the stern, as well as the chain, anchors, etc.,
on the Thingvalla. This had good effect
on the passengers, and they got cheerful and
hopeful, as all we had to fear was storm,
as the shattered bulkhead had been backed
with planks and hogsheads and could stand
a little shock. We were making about two
knots per hour, when at noon we saw the
Wieland. After some talk between captains
we were taken on board the Wieland being
only allowed to take a small valise each.
It's my first experience of voyage across
the Atlantic. and I think it will last me my
life time"
A ST. PAUL SURVIVOR.
NEW YORK, Special Telegram, Aug. IL
Peter j ohannsen ofSt Paul, railroad hand,
was another of the survivors who was on his
way to visit in Sweden. He was in one of the
life boats cutting it loose when the Geiser
gave its final lurch and went under
81 must have been sucked twenty-five feet
beneath the surface, he said ssand when
came up again struck the under side of the
life boat which was bottom up, 1t stunned
me so nearly drowned before / could get out
There were two others on the kneel and they
helped me out | hung on with them till aid
came from the Thingvalla. The only things
was able to save was a shirt and a pair of
pants. Itwas a terrible sight to see the peo-
pie going down all around, and not able to
give them any assistance"