St. Paul daily globe., 1888-08-18
POWERLEss TO GIVE AID.
Jansen Gastborg's Graphic Ac
count of the CataStrOnhe.

NEW YORK, Aug. 17.-The following
graphic account was given by young
druggist named Jansen GaStborg, who
was passenger on board the Thingvalla
en- route to Galveston, Tex, with his
sister:
''1t was just about daylight. and all,
with the exception of myself and few
friends, were asleep, when, all of a sud-
den, we heard scuffiing of feet on
deck. and then crushing noise. Then
for 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
DIN WAS DEAFENING,
particularly from the lower deck, where
the people with families were located.
After considerable difficulty / got on
deck and rushed to see what the dam
age was, and just here l wish to state
most emphatically that no whistles were
blown on the Thingvalla before the col
lision. l went to the front of the vessel
and saw gap about twelve feet on the
left side. The plates were rolled up,
and Oh the top of them lay part of the
corpse of a man, and the whole stem
was covered with blood and frag-
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 became quiet. The
women on the occasion behaved splen-
didly. On the right side the plates were
broken off completely, and | saw the
bow of our ship go clean into the state
room of an officer of the Geiser, who
climbed up by the chain attached to the
anchor. During this time there was
A TERRIBLE RAIN STORM
which was more the cause of the ex-
treme darkness than any fog. The
Geiser began to sink rapidly and in
eight or ten minutes passed down out
of sight. There was an effort made Oh
our ship to lower the boats, but it was
so very dark that we could not see
whether it was human beings or not
that were floating around the ships. A
mans voice screamed out in the midst
of the excitement that he was bitten by
a shark. The screaming was something
awful. 1t was fully twenty minutes
before the boats were lowered. We
all stood on deck looking
at the people being saved
but pOwerless to do anything ourselves.
l saw three boats of the Geiser, one
| in the stern, and the third had two men,
who were holding up woman, who
seemed to be dead. Several had life
preservers 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
| got life preServerS and stood ready to
cast them out, but must say Won
| dered that so few were seen after the
! ships sinking. A great number must
| have been
DROWNED IN THEIR BERTHS.
In about an hour and half the boats
| returned, and the saved were hoisted on
board by ropes and partly by the aid of
rope ladder, which had been lowered
over the side. When they were got 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. The
boats were sent away again, but they
only found dead woman. The emf
grants were well treated by the people
on the Thingvalla. 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. Thi:
had good effect on the passengers, ant
THEY GOT CHEERFUL
and hopeful, as all we had to fear wa.