The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1893-08-01
H VIKING sHIP.


Captain Andersen Tells of It's GeaesIs aud
How 1t Came to America.
Captain Magnus Andersen, in u speech
before the De Sancto.C laro Society, on
the occasion of the reunion OF the St
Clair family in Chicago, gave the fol-
lowing interesting history OF tho Viking
ship which he brought to the Worlds
Fair:
~ got the idea Of bringingthis Viking
ship TO America while in New York in
1880 from an editorial in the New York
Herald. l spoke to my wife about it.
She thought 1t q good idea. l talked OF
it TO my friends in Norway when ]
went back. Everyone thought it q good
idea, but where would the money come
from to build the ship? 1 wrote letters
to influential men all over Norway ask
ing for money for the ships building,
and for committee to do the business.
There was enormous enthusiasm about
the project, aud from the 4th Of
May, when | sent tho letters, to the
9th We had ninety.one answers by
telegram from all parts OF Nor
way, representing a capital Of S70,000,-
600. So It seemed that We might so
ahead and build u ship. We started
our subscription on May II, our Lib.
erty day corresponding to your Fourth
OF July, and it seemed We would very
| soon have money enough for every pur.
pose. Then came suddenly an opposi-
ton, which was personal to mo as an
editor; the conservative press opposed
tho project Then all at Ice tho ON
mittees wanted to give it up, the mon
eyed men wanted to give it up, the
newspapers went against II, and 1t
looked as II it would fail. Ialso thought
/ would give 1t up, and asked my wife,
but she said: No, never; the ship must
be built; the ship must 90 to America.
And SO / kept on with it. The people
were all, like my wife, saying tho ship
must be built. The i1ea would not be
put down. A peoples subscription
was started which soon had $4,000 sub
scribers to it, men, women aud children,
working people, gave their little mites
SO lovingly, from their hearts, for the
viking ship to go to America.
"And when the ship was builded
came the question who would sail her,
l did not want to sail the ship, but
when / found there WINS 30 much oppo'
sition to her, l thought l had more in
terest in her safeComing than l had in
my newspaper, and Norway wouldn't
have been a happy place for mo ii the
peoples little viking boat went wrong.
/ didn't want to ask my wife to let me
60, but she came and said to me l must
90, and it was settled. 1t wasa woman
who sent tho first Viking across, and Q
woman sent the last as we'll!
"As regards the ship, she is an exact
reproduction Of the old ship dug out al
Gokstad, neal Sandefjord, whore legend
said q king was buried with all his
treasure in his ship, in tho ninth cen.
tury-time Of tho coming OF the Morse
men to America; and this old ship may
have been the very one which made
that voyage-no mau knows OF that
but our little boat is built exactly like
that one, and 1t comes from the hear
Of old and new Norway to greet Ameri'
can hearts. The boat Is built of every
thing Norwegian except its keel; vi
had in Norway no piece Of oak biz
enough for her and wo had to send II
America for it. Then the mast hal
bit OF history to tell. There was only
one tree to be found in Norway
big enough in all ways for tho mast. II
stood in a garden and was very dear t.
its owner, as having stood there FOL
three hundred years, giving shade tc
his fathers and grandiathors. Mover
theless he said: III 1t is wanted fol
the Viking We must lot 1t GO But thu
wife said: If the treo goes u lucl
will 90 with it. And the husband said
well, then, lot 1t go, tho Viking canno
have too much luck So the tree came
TO bring tho Viking sails to America
and tho Viking came, not to demon
strate anything else so much rs on
love for America, and our wish to prov,
that Norsomen to-day do not fear u
sail the sea in open boats the Sumo u
Loft Ericsson did u thousand yeart
agop