The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1889-04-13
The Steamers Boats Had All Disappeared, but
There Was Nothing to Indicate that There
Had Been Panic or Confusion.
There We're Six Hundred and Fifty Pas
sengers on the Unfortunate Ship,
And Crew Numbering from 100 to 125, and
the New York Agents of the Company Think
They May Be Safe on Board Another Vessel.

NEW YORK. April 12.-The Inman-line
steamer City of Chester, Captain Bond,
from New York, April 2. for Liverpool. ar
rived at Queenstown to-day. She reports
that on April 8, in latitude 46 degrees
north. longitude 81 degrees west, she passed
the Danish steamer Danmark. from Chris
tiansand. Copenhagen, ETC., for New York.
The Danmark had been abandoned by her
crew. Her stern was level with the sea,
and her bow stood high out of the water.
She was apparently sinking.
The greatest excitement prevails in ship
ping circles over the loss of the Danmark.
The Thingvalla line is probably the largest
carrying immigrant line that plies between
this port and Europe. The Danmark had
on board, when she left Christiansand for
New York, on the Goth of March. $50 pas
sengers presumably all emigrants. In
Guiding the vessels captain, r. NJ.
Knudsen, the crew numbered forty
men. The office Of the agents of
the steamer, Funch. Edye e. Co., No. 81
South William street, has been thronged
with people all the morning. anxiously in
curing for later news of the vessel. MIR.
Edge, of the firm, does not credit the re-
port. He has cabled his London agents and
sought by wire for further particulars from
the Copenhagen branch of the firm. The
news spread rapidly downtown, and among
the first callers at the Office of Funch. Edge
& Co. was Morris Stovey, young farmer
in Massachusetts,. who arrived here last
night to await the arrival of the steamer,
upon which his brother and sweetheart,
Maria Null had taken passage. His grief
was uncomfortable when Mr. Edge said
that no satisfactory dispatch had been re-
ceived at noon.
The Danmark was formerly the freight
steamer Jan Brydel, of the White Cross
line Last fall Messrs. Funch, Edge & Co..
the vessel put in condition for passenger
traffic, rechristened her Danmark, and
transferred her to the Thingvalla feet.
This was the vessels first trip from the
other side under her new colors. The re-
ported disaster vividly recalls the collision
of the steamship Thingvalla, of the same
line, last summer, by which many lives
wore lost.
The New York agent of the Thingvalla
line this afternoon said: 1--WE have here a
cable dispatch to the effect that the Dan
mark left Christiansand on March 26, on
her first voyage under her new flag and
name. She had been completely over
hauled, and it was thought by all that she
board of her at the time of her departure
| at least 10 people. Of these $50 were pas
sengers. To manage and 70 look after the
comfort of this large number of passengers
there must have been at least sixty in the
| crew, and probably the number may have
reached 100, or perhaps 125. There are.
therefore, to be accounted for the lives of
from 710 to 775 people. The Danmark is
commanded by Captain Knudsen, an old
seaman, we'll known for his courage and
| presence of mind, and he is not the man to
abandon ship to the mercies of the waves
| when there is one chance even in thou
sand of getting her into port. And we do
| not believe that he has abandoned her.
She may have been disabled, but we are
very nearly certain that she has not
been abandoned. We have taken steps to
discover if there is truth in the story. At
1890 o'clock this morning we sent off two
cables. One was to the Lloyds, in London,
asking for further particulars of the
abandonment, if such were to be had, and
also for the name of the ship that says she
sighted the Danmark in such condition.
The second of the two cables was to the
home Office in Copenhagen, also asking for
particulars and for advice, and for the
names of those $50 people who sailed on the
Danmark. The position in which the Dan
mark is said to have been sighted aban-
doned is one in which she might very easily
have been at the time, April 8. She had at
that time been out from Christiansand
thirteen days. lido not think it at all improb-
able that some fearful calamity might have
befallen her, but please allow Us to state to
the numbers of friends of the Danmark's
passengers that we do not believe she has
been abandoned. No incoming steamship
to this port reports seeing any life-boats
or RATS that might have belonged
to the Danmark. Even if the Dan.
mark has been abandoned, she
had sufficient means to accommodate all
the passengers on board, if not all the
crew. There were a great number of life
boats--encugh for the great passenger list
and several new life-rafts of the latest
pattern and Improvements, which could
have accommodated the crew and officers
and some of the passengers if there were
not enough room in the life-boats fol
them.D
Further particulars of the sighting of the
abandoned steamship by the Inman line
1T. mss,S, "