Morning journal and courier., 1888-08-17
News by Telegraph
FROM ALL QUARTERS.
ANOTHER OCEAN HORROR.
The Steamer Geyser Sunk
In A Fog.
ONE HUNDRED AND NINETEEN
Drowned And Only Thirty
Five Saved.
A WILD PANIC PREVAILS.
Story Of The Disaster Told
By Survivors.
HORRORS OF THE DEEP.

The steamer Geyser, bound From New
/ York For Copenhagen, COllides
with a sister Ship and One Hundred
and Nineteen Persons Are Drowned
| Only Thfrty-FIve Are Saved-A Thick
/ Fog Prevailed at the Time-The Sur.
/ vIvors Rescued just in Time by tine
/ steamer Wieland.
NEW YORK, Aug. 16.-The steamer We
land, which arrived today from Hamburg,
| reports that on August IA while thirty miles
| south OF Sable Island at noon she saw the
Danish steamer Thingvallia, Copenhagen for
New York, with signals of distress. The
Thingvallia had collided on the 18th at q.
m. with the steamer Geyser of the same line,
from New York August IA for Copenhagen.
The steamer Geyser sank in about five min
utes. Fourteen passengers and seventeen of
the crew, among them Captain Noller, are
| saved. Seventy-two passengers and thirty
two of the crew were lost. The steamer VIE
land brought 400 passengers fran the Thing
| valla and those saved from the Geyer to New
| York. The steamer Thingvalla will endeavor
| to reach Halifax, N. s.
starboard side anidships, between the coal
bunkers and engine room, and tore big hole
in her side. The Thingvalla had her bow
stove. A heavy sea and dense fog were ex-
perienced through the night and eerly morn
ing of August A. It is said tbs. u object
could not be distinguished fifty feet away by
reason of the fog Stories differed as to
| where the liabilities rested, if not due wholly
| to the fog and heavy sea. The boats quickly
recoiled and within five minutes the GeYser
sank The crew of the Thingvalla did all
| they could to save the Geyser's crew and
passengers while still in doubt whether the
| Thingvalla was crippled. No other vessel was
near at the time. The Wieland was 100
miles away. At 11:30 o'clock on the morn
ing of August IA, the Wieland was sighted.
Signs of distress were made by the Thing
| valla and transfer of the passengers began.
The sea was then very heavy, but no mishaps
occurred in the transfer of the passengers.
| The Geyser's passengers who were saved are
as follows:
Cabin-Mrs. HiIda Lind, New York; stor-
age, Johanna Larsen and Alfred Anderson,
New York; Christopher Eliassen, Chicago;
Peter Johansen, st. Paul, Mimi; Johann G..
Johansen, Montclair, Mich; Paul Paulsen,
| Fromwood, Mich; Andrew Wise, Minneapo-
lis; John Linneld, Hudson, Wis; Fred l..
Hansen, Perth Amboy; John Anderson,
Paul, Minnesota; Lauritz Romerdhl,
Lansing, Mich; Johnan Ulguist. List of
crew saved: Captain Carl W. Mailer, Second
Officer Peter julius ForRensen, Third Officer
Peterson, Physician Peter Dirk; officers boy,
Louis Dormonviele de LaCour; Engineers
Hans Bartelsen and Niels Peter II. Gabriel
sen, Mate Franz Oscar Petersen, Lampman
Fritz Hahn, Seaman Andrews Grierson, Head
Fireman W. Anderson, Firemen Fred Peter
y. Trusker, Hans G. D. Johansen, Niels P. j.
Nielsen, Carl Johansen. The officers of the
company were unable tonight to give list
of the lost.
Captain A. Albers of the Wieland tells this
story:
At 10 O'Clock on the morning of August Ia
we passed some wreckage floating in the sea
and suspected that an accident had happened
somewhere near us: A little later we sailed
4 Az 81 oil II foa hra1
boat of the Geyser. About 11:30 We sighted
| a steamer to the northward about eight miles
off and seeing she had flag of distress up we
ran down to her. 1t proved to be the Thing
| vallia and Captain Lamb of that vessel came
to us in small boat and begged Us to take
the Geyser. He said his own vessel was 30
badly injured that he expected her
| to sink at any moment. His forward
| compartment had been completely car
ried away from half way from the deck
| to below the water line. We sent out thres
| of our boats and the Thingvalls lowered two
of hers and in FIVE hours we had transferred
the saved passengers and crew of the Geyser
| 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 Thing
valla's bow was then patched up es well q.
| possible and she started for Halifax. The
collision SO far as Is known YVES caused by the
fog"
The chief officer of each vessel was on deck
at the time of the collision. First Officer
Petersen of the Thingvalla tells this story o.
the disaster:
s'The fog was very dense. Through tbs
night rain had fallen at intervals. The frs
we knew of the Geyser's approach was wher
she appeared on the starboard side tight up
on as. Both vessels tried to shear of, being
head-on. The Geyser Yves struck Opposite
Il AAN nTfn
Geyssr being heavily loaded tn,
, Thingvalla carried away her owe
water tight comparsm Thu
upper parts of her bow ran over the deck o
the Geyser. The Geyser's deck houses wer'
| carried away and the staterooms smashed
and the occupants killed. He irss hear
bell ring in the Geyser's engine room, bu
could not tell what the order was. Office
Peterson was on deck at the time. He tnel
heard the bell ring again, this time to back
and the steamer had just commenced to re
| verse when the Thingvalla struck. Tn
Geyser's whistle was blowing at the time
The second officer jumped for the Thingvall
and was hauled aboard by some of the latter
crew. One of the Geyser's passengers We
picked up with a broken leg"
As soon as the Wieland a1-ived in tn
lower bay Captain Mallows left the steame
| on q revenue cutter. He went to the ofdc
of the agents of the company where he wa
| closeted few moments with the agents. H
only left word that the accident YVES due t
weather and went away without stating hi
destination. The rescued crew of the Geyse
| were taken to the Hotel Denmark on the al
rival of the Wieland.
DIR. Aoge Verne of Copenhagen, passen
ger on the Thingvalla, makes this state
| ment:
A PASSENGERS NARRATIVES.
sour voyage was uneventful until earl
Tuesday morning. had left my berth an
looking out saw there was dense fog prs
vailing. could hear our steam whistle blew
ing, but heard no other signals. 1t was 81
aotly 4:30 o'clock when was hurled to th
floor of my stateroom. There was terrih
crash and I knew instinctively that collisio
had occurred. AS I reached the deck th
Thingvalla drew out of the rent she made
the Geyser's side. Captain Lamb of ii
Thingvalla was in his berth when the ace
dent occurred. He was one OF ii
first TO reach the deck. First Omcs
Petessn and Third Officer Jeorgense
were on the Thingvalla'e bridge At the tim
J afterward learned that Captain Mosller {
ne Gsyser, had gone to bed and left q
hrst officer In command This was Il
: officer who was lost. Life boats wei
promptly launched from the Thingyalla an
the work of rescue began. Out or l5O pa
sengers and the crew on the Geyser only
were saved. Some of them had reached q
boats, but most of them were picked up frol
improyised RATS, chickencoops, camp stoo
and anything that would float. The suryi
ors had to hurry, as the Geyser went dow
stern first about eight minutes after Il
crash.
Among the saved passengers there is on
one woman, Mrs. Hilda Lind of Cincinnati
Her two little children, who were going
Sweden, are lost. Mr.. Lind was not WI
his family. One of the most wonderful {
cspes from the Geyser was that of Assista
Engineer Boerthelsen of the Geyser. 3
arm was broken two weeks ago and he "
in his berth when the Thingvalla cras he'd
= to the Toom Els bunk was cut away with
six inches of his face. He managed to elm
aboard the Thingvalla as she drew back al
he was not so much as touched by the wats
The Thingvalla's crew did all they could
rescue the unfortunates and obeyed orde
, promptly. The Thingvalla's upper deck "
not injured, but her bows were broken fre
a point ten feet below the deck. The de
was about twenty feet in length and ran be
above and below the water line to the coll
i'm buIkhead Had IL not been for that bu1