The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1903-05-01
THE KING OF cEtAao N
Tow Joroon Jorsonsen liked =. hoy,
al Purple.

81 ~ PFC
Probably very few have over heard
)f a king Of lcelandg Nevertheless
there was such a one. and. what "a
more he reigned, like Napoleon, by
right Of force. Jorgen Jorgenssn was
his name and although to Americans
his may appear like a mouthfut OF
dignity they may be assured that IN
Denmark and Norway the combinauo-H
IS as common as that OF Johnny s.
here
Jorgensen was a typical descendan
Of the old villings-a mariner who
knew no religion or race. Even tha
land of his nativity was in doubt. al
though presumably he was a Scandina
Wan. He hired himself out to Il
highest bidder, and In those streur
days Of the beginning Of the 19ss
fury, when Great Britain was s#k6
in a death grapple with Napoleo
there was plenty of work for a sma
individual like Jorgen. The BIRTHS
admiralty gave him command of a
privatter, and when England, In 1907,
sent a fleet to Copenhagen and cap
tured the entire Danish navy Jorgen
was sent to Iceland
When Jorgen arrived off Reykavlk,
in the summer of 1907, he foun2 the.
good old citizens loyal to King IS.
eric VI, as they had been to hisf.
ecessors on The Danish throne f0i
more than five centuries. But Jorgen
was not dismayed by this. He prompt
ly took possession, not in the name Of
King George but in the name OF his
Gracious Majesty Jorgen l. Of Iceland.
At first the simple Icelanders, who
still lived In the sixteenth century
style, being completely cut off from all
intercourse with the outside worA BY
the ocean, thought the man was q =
while a few, more advanced, consid
cred it an excellent joke. Alas it
was neither a case of insanity nor hi
larious wit Jorgen was too shrewd to
be crazy and too self-conscious to be
humorous. He was in dead earnest.
The first thing he did, very sensibly,
was - seize on the treasury and Sc
cure control Of the revenue producing
government properties. This doRe he
organized a royal guard" Of 6rty
men to uphold his authority. H6Salso
granted a constitution" and as he
paid his guard handsomely and didn't
impose extra taxes, the good old Ice
landers thought everything was all
right
Il ,v,-r,s+ +t,o,,ob OF ,c,,vco ,yo,,
couldn't expect a king to remain cap
tain of a privateer, so Jorgen had re,
signed that post and the vessel h
sailed away. In the meantime tSe
Danes had had time to wake w hey
had built two new warships an one
/ Of these was sent to Iceland to ascer-
/ tain what had become of it.
One morning as King Jorgen l.,
/ dressed in ermine and with crown
on his head, was dispensing justice in
the city hall of Reykavik, the tidings
suddenly spread through the town
that a warship flying the DapRebrog,
the Danish national flag, wasy sailing
into the harbor
At once the good old Icelanders,
who, we suspect, were not as simple
as was thought, left the city hall and
began to denounce the king in no UNI
measured terms. AS fer that astute
individual he saw his "kingship days
were Ger" and that is he fell in q the
hands of the Danes his prison days
would begin, if, indeed he would not
lose his precious head.
So Jorgen, after hastily composing
a proclamationfin which he addressed
the Icelanders as his loyal subjects"
and promised to return at the head
of q force that would sweep away for
ever the tyrant Danes" decaf2ped He
was lucky enough to board az british
schooner, claiming to be a subject Of
the king of England. He arrived in
London, where his story of the mon
archy of Iceland created considerable
amusement and no little incredulity.
This eccentric adventurer then
found his way to Australia, after
which the world lost every trace Of
him. Perhaps-who knows ?-he was
more fortunate in establishing
Grchy in Polynesia than in Ice
New York Sun.