The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1892-02-10
ALATTER.DAY VIKING.
His Trip of Thousand Miles in a
Chicago Rowboat.

A young Swedish journalist whose
name is C. G. Uddgren, has rowed in
a small boat all the way from Gothen-
burg to Calais, and hopes to complete
his Journey to London when the
weather moderates, says the Pau Ndtt
Gazette. He is u tinelybuilt, fair
haired, brawny man on the sunny side
of SO and halls from Vixen. or
Bohuslan, the center of the old vikings
country. With some of the viking s
blood in his veins. the adventurous
young Swede determined to row from
Gothenburg to London, a distance of
over l, 900 miles. The following ac-
count which NJ. Uddgren gave of his
trip to one of our representatives will
be of interest to others outside the
confined circle of ''boating men,"
Ever since was boy of 6, said
the young man, Il have been accus-
toned to rowing in small boats in
rough seas, and while l was still lad
| rowed some 200 miles along the
Swedish coast When / suggested the
trip l have now almost accomplished
the idea was eagerly taken up by some
sportsmen in Gothenburg, who offered
to find money for my expenses. but
when the project had been published
in the papers and the date determined
upon for my departure they withdrew,
saying the responsibility was too
great. But had been training ever
since April 1, rowing daily more and
more hours, and had set my heart on
the voyage. So | started all the same
July 4 from Gothenburg. My boat is
Is feet long and feet 9 inches wide.
1t is an ordinary rowing-boat, but
covered with canvas, like a canoe. The
sculls are fastened to the rollocks so
that they can't slip. She was made by
| Chicago firm. who sent her TO the
Stockholm exhibition.
s'When l started / had neither suf-
ficent clothing nor food. | had left
my watch at home and had no COM
pass. and had only 15 shillings in my
| pocket. All the coast from four miles
south of Gothenburg was quite new to
me- and / had terrible time. Night
after night had to sleep in my boat,
very cold, and wet, and hungry. One
night l was the guest of fisherman,
another of farmer, third of a count
in his castle. Every body offered me
| shelter and gave me the run of the
larder. Why, my voyage from Copen'
hagen to Kiel, which nearly took q
month, only cost me II shillings!
STAYED five days at Kiel and then, ac-
companied for some distance by mem
bers of the Kiel Rowing club. which
had housed and entertained me, made
my way through the Elder canal tc
Tonning. Now, I had had tremendous
waves in the Cattegat, but had not had
| hitherto to reckon with heavy tide:
| and strong currents. To avoid coming
to grief on the banks at the mouth o.
| the river Elbe had to go right out
to sea, and had very dangerous tril
| to Cuxhaven. Thence to Amsterdam
along the coast, I had the hardest worl
in all my journey, the sea was so rough
and the winds so strong. Besides
the Schleswig-Holstein people were
not SO hospitable as the Danish. and
had often great difficulty in getting F.;
bed After my illness l was afraid tt
risk sleeping out in wet things. Ant
my clothes were always wet with rain
or with the waves that constantly brok
over the Guy. often threatening t.
swamp her, In the Zuyder Zee l hat
once to row for thirty-three hours at
stretch. I nearly went out of my minC
several times. and the great exertion
continued day after day now and agaiI
thoroughly prostrated me and mad'
me faint.
The voyage to Amsterdam ha'
taken three months. Iwent to Leyden
and thence by Rotterdam, Antwerp
Ghent. and Bruges to Nieuport by tn
canals 1t took me more than mont
to get through Holland. but two an
half days sufficed for Belgium.
rowed from Nieuport to Dunkirk o
canals. and then out on the sea agai
to Calais, which l reached Oct. 81
For the last few days the weather ha
been very cold, and my legs got be
numbed in very few hours. l haC
once to take shelter in lightship be
cause of this. had to be lifted out
You know have no means of keepin,
my legs dry, and l only wear shor
wooden trousers to match my two jer
seys and cap. want to row all TIL
way to London, round the Forelands
and up the Thames. l made one un
successful start from Calais, but | di
not get away early enough, and th
tides proved too much for me-"