Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-04-13
THE DERELICT DENMARK
She is Seen in Mid-0cean in
a Sinking State.
wATRRLoGGED AND ABANDONED.
No Tidings Received of the Fate OF
Her Crew and Numerous
Passengers.
tAssociated Press Dispatches to the HERALD

steamer Denmark from Copenhagen. for
New York, watsrlogged and abandoned
in mid-ocean. She was formerly
Belgian steamer, under the name of
the Jan Breydel, of 2,260 tons.
New York, April 12.-News of the
abandonment in mid-ocean OF the
steamer Denmark, was received here by
cable to the Maritime Exchange. She is
said to have had $50 passengers on board,
mostly Scandinavians. Funch, Edye &
Co., agents of the company here, say
they place no reliance in the dispatch,
but have cabled agents in London and
Copenhagen for further information.
New YORK, April 1.-THE greatest
excitement prevails in shipping circles
over the loss of the Denmark. The Thing
valla Line is probably the largest immi-
grant carrying line that plies between
this port and Europe. The Denmark
had on board, when she left Christian
sand for New York, on the Goth of
March, $50 passengers, presumably all
immigrants. Including the vessels
captain, K. M. Knudsen, the crew num-
bered forty men.
ANAlOUb INJURIES.
The Office of the agents of the steamer,
Funch, Edye & Co., No. 27 South Will
liam street, has been thronged all the
morning by people anxiously inquiring
for later news of the vessel. Edge, of
the firm, does not credit the report. He
has cabled his London agents and sought
by wire for further particulars from the
Copenhagen branch of the firm.
The news spread rapidly down town,
and among the first callers at the office
was Morris Slower, a young farmer from
somewhere in Massachusetts, who got
here last night to await the arrival of the
steamer, on which his brother and sweet
heart had taken passage. His grief was
uncomfortable when Edge said no con-
Trajectory dispatch had been received at
noon. The Denmark was formerly a
freight steamer, Jan Rydel, of the White
Gross Line. Last fall Funch, Eyde &
Co., who are also agents of the latter
line, had the vessel put in condition for
the passenger traffic, rechristened
her the Denmark, ,-and transferred her to
the Thingvalls feet. This was the ves-
sells first trip from the other side under
her new colors.
HER CREW AND PASSENGERS.
The New York agent of the Thingvalla
Line this afternoon said: "We have a
csblegram to the effect that the Denmark
left Christiansand March 26th on her
first voyage under the new flag and
name. She had been completely over
hauled, and it was thought by all that
she was the best of our feet. There were
on board at the time of departure at least
710 people. Of these 6l0 were passen-
gers. To manage and look after the
comfort of this large number there must
have been at least sixty in the crew, and
probably the mum Der may have reached
100 or perhaps 125. There are, there
fore, to be accounted for the lives of
z10 to 775 people. The Denmark was
commanded by Captain Knudsen, an
old seaman, we'll known for courage
and presence of mind. He is not the
man to abandon ship to the mercies of
the waves, when there is one chance in
q thousand of getting her into port. She
may have been disabled, but we are very
nearly certain she has not been aban-
doned. Even if the Denmark had been
abandoned, she had sufficient means to
accommodate all the passengers on board
if not all the crew. There were a great
A0nOCi Va lAO- -UOdtby CAuuSu lOE blio pas
senger list, and several new RATS of the
latest pattern and improvement, which
could have accommodated the crew and
officers and some of the passengers, if
there was not enough room in the life
boats for them"
FURTHER PARTICULARS.
Further particulars of the sighting of
the Denmark by the City of Chester
have been slowly arriving since noon.
The Denmark was rapidly sinking when
the Chester saw her. The Chester
sighted her from a distance and was
struck by the apparent absence of any
life on board. She drew near, inves-
tigated, made sure no one was on board,
and lay to several hours. The stern of
the Denmark was on a level with the
sea. The bow was far out of the water
in the air. There was no visible signs of
a collision and no wreckage. The boats
were all gone from the davits. Nothing
indicating haste or panic was notice.
able. Funch, Edge & Company expect
the passenger list by the steamship
-Aller, due tomorrow.
The Elder arrived this morning, and
reached the dock this afternoon. She
did not see anything of the Denmark.
No answers to cables sent by Messrs
Funch, Edge & Co. had been received at
2 O'Clock this afternoon.
The excitement is very intense, and
the agents are losing hope. The steam
ship Iceland, of the Thingvalla Line,
which left Copenhagen four days later
than the Denmark, is due tonight, and
will probably bring some intelligence of
the disaster.
THE PASSENGERS PROBABLY SAFE.
New York, April 1.-THE following
has been received by the Associated
Press from the representative of the
Thingvalla Line: GAS some of the COM
ments ON the reported loss of the Danish
steamer Denmark express apprehension
that this disaster may have been accom-
panied by heavy loss of life, we beg
leave to state, for the benefit of all per-
sons who have interests on board the i'll
fated boat, our belief to the contrary.
When sighted by the City OF
Chester, on Monday last, the decks
aft and the sails were in pieces,
but the vessel was floating, and although
the reporting steamer expressed the be-
lief that she would shortly founder, this
did not occur during all the time that
elapsed from the hour she was first
sighted until lost sight Of. The Dem
mark was floating directly in the track of
ssteamers and we believe
the passengers and crew were taken off
some time, possibly as far back as q
couple of days before the City of Chester
sighted the wreck, since the Der.
Iaff hNSa ia nj and