The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1904-08-26

'0LVex R0IM!.AxcE
AND ADVENTURE.
SIX DAYS IL NORGE's BOAT

steamer Norge. which
1oR struck on Rock.l Reef on
June % last, and went down with more
than 600 OF her passengers and crew
The three men, August Tornberg. Carl
Johansen and Wilhelm Pouisen. had
nothing but the clothes on their backs
when they boarded the Cedric at Liver
| pool. but many hours had not pa ssed
/ before a purse was made up by their
J fellow yoyagers.
! TOrnberg and Poulscn are married
| and left large families in Sweden Jo-
I hansen. a lad Of nineteen. Is a Dane,
who left home to join his elder sister In
| Chicago Poulsen was permitted 20
land, and went 10 relative in Perth
Amboy. The other two men will be
cared FOR At the Swedish Home. near
the Battery, until they secure transpor-
tation 10 the West
The three men were the centre Of a
bluc-eycd, tow headed crowd Of Scan.
dinavians when the Sun reporter
reached Ellis Island. They were tell
ing again the story Of the wreck.
TOrnberg was on the lower deck Of
the Norge talking 10 a sailor when the
ship rasped lightly against q reef. A
heavy mist hung over the sea But
few hundred feet ahead. rising high
above the water, could be seen the
great lonely shaft Of ROckall In anoth-
or moment there was a terrific crash,
and TOrnberg fell on deck half stunned
He could hear the sound Of water rush
ing into the gaping hole in the bow and
then came the cry Man the boats.
The ship is sinking
Immediately the Storage was in a
panic. Tornberg regained his feet as
The first bOat-the one that was dashed
against the side by "A giant wave-was
being lOwycd He lifted little girl
into this boat only TO see her swallowed
up by wave a second later. He
turned 10 assist in the lowering Of
second boat when a sea broke over the
deck and he was washed of with a
hundred others
Tornbcrg, although a strong swim
mcr, was nearly exhausted when Third
Mate Bassc aud another Of the crew
pulled him into lifcboat TOrnberg
jumped overheard again a moment
later ana helped rescue Pou,sen and
Johansen, who were clinging to a piece
of timber. In the course OF fifteen
minutes hrce sailors and seven pas
scngers, all men. were hauled out OF
the water, making seventeen in the
boat. The last man rescued was so
weighted down by the gold sewed in
his money belt that he could not swim
more than just enough to keep his head
above the surface.
, The boat had all IL would hold. and
Bassc ordered those who were strong
enough to lend n hand and row out of
the zone Of danger. They had not
made hundred yards when the Norge
pitched forward and disappeared A
boat aud hundreds of living ana dead
who were near the wreck vanished in
the vortex.
BaSse's boat had aboard kcg of
water and bag of ships biscuit II
had not gone far when second boat
with twenty eight men. four women
and two children aboard came along
with absolutely no provisions. BlsSe,
confident that he would reach st. Kill
da, 100 miles away, in forty eight hours
at the latest. gave them two-thirds of
his supply. For two days these two
boats and third that joined them on
the first night were in company. The
men rowcd in relays two hours nt IA
timc. About midnight on June 80 the
wind rose TO gale and the boats
drfted apart
Nv this time all OF the water and all
Of the biscuits in the boat BaSSc com
mauded was gone and the men were
tired and sick Their hands were Gov
cred with bistcrS and Basse and his
four sailors had no little difficulty in
keeping them at the oars. The man
with the gold they could do nothing
with. He was sick and lay in the bot
tom OF the boat alternately praying
aud Offering the gold for a piece of
bread.
After about ten hours the gale gave
way to i cold rain. They caught some
water in the bottom of the boat and
got little relief. but salt water soon
spoiled the fresh
ON the fourth day the men could not
work more than an hour at time at
the oars. and ON the fifth day not more
than half an hour.
They had now been three full days
without food or drink. aud most of
them suffered So that they cared little
whether they reached land or not. But
BaSSc had left 4 bluc-cyed wife and
twoyear.old son in Denmark and
meant to see them again. When man
threw down his oar and said he could
work NO longer BaSSe would ask him
II h. had family. II he hadn't Bassc
tried on him the photograph of his own
boy or. if necessary. punched his head.
On the morning OF the sixth day
BaSSc tore up number OF life prcScrv-
crS and contrivcd a crazy sail 10y piec-
ing the coverings together Late that
afternoon this clumsy sail was sighted
/ 10y one of the crew OF the Scotch fish
/ Ing smack Rattray Bay and in another
/ hour the seventeen men had been taken
/ aboard the smack.
/ inc rescued could not make ne res
Cucrs understand much about what
I had happened. The smack got To Abcr-
deem on July q. The boat with which
BaSsc shared his provisions was picked
un 10y the British steamer Cervona. and