The Penn's Grove record., 1904-07-08
OCEAN STEAMSHIP LOST
The Norge, of the Scandinavian
Line, Sinks at Sea.
OVER SIX HUNDRED DROWNED

Liner Strikes a Rock Ledge in the North
Sea on the Hebrides and Goes Down
in Few Minutes - Three Boat Loads
Only Are Saved-Four Others Said
to Have Left Ship.
Grimsby, England.-A lone pile of
granite, rising sheer out of the Atlantic
290 miles from the Scottish mainland,
is now a monument to almost $50 dead.
Bodies wash against the rocks or lie i'll
the ocean bed at its base. Near by,
completely hidden in the water. is the
Scandinavian-American liner Norge,
which was carrying nearly 800 Danes,
~Norwegians. Swedes and Films to join
relatives or friends in America. Of
these only 1913 were saved, so far as
is known.
There were on the Norge 703 passen-
gers and a crew of seventy-one men
when she sailed from Copenhagen-774
souls in all. Of these twenty-six were
brought to this port by the trawler
Sylvia. Seventy more were picked up
by the German steamer Energie and
thirty-two by the British steamer Ger
vona, both of which put in at Storno-
way, Scotland.
Captain Gundel is among the surviv-
Ors. He went down with his ship, but
came up again and was saved.
No tragedy of the sea has had more
appalling consequences and lone has
occurred in q shorter time.
Those of the passengers who were
standing at the time the steamer
struck the rocks were thrown against
the ~bulkheads or on the decks. and had
not recovered their feet when a stem
torian voice gave the terrifying order:
"All hands on deck! Hurry, or you
may sink!!"
immediately there was a rush for the
narrow companiOnways, and men,
women and children pushed and strug-
gled and made every other effort to
reach the deck where the boats swung
from the davits.
Those who reached the deck saw the
nose of the Norge pinned directly
against the rock. 1t remained there
only a few minutes. for Captain Gun
dell. commanding, who had Immediate
ly gone to the bridge, gave the order
to the engine roOm TO reverse the ell
gines. Some men of the engineer
force had relatives among the passen-
gers, and after seeing them safely to
the boats they heroically returned to
their stations below.
Slowly the ship backed off, and as
h gained way it was found that
water was pouring into her hold. This
announcement, called out in Scandina-
viGn and presaging death, added to
the supreme fright and agony. The
passengers who were piled in the boats
were the fortunate ones who were to
escape, while the u~nfortunates, who
saw death near, clustered in the vicin-
ity, seething, struggling masses, some
on their knees, praying, surrounded by
children, others supplicating aid from
any one and shrieking for permission
to enter the boats, elbowing, fighting
their way to the places from which the
boats were being lowered.
The sound of grinding ceased, and
the bow of the Norge yawned as the
steamer returned to deep water. The
sea rushed %hungrily into the huge rents
made by the rocks in the iron hull.
Swiftly the vessel began to sink by the
bows.
Only twelve minutes elapsed from
the time the ship struck until she sank:
Three boats, it is known, successfully
reached the sea. The passengers fran
tically pulled away from the doomed
ship, passing by poor wretches who
were still af1oat, and who vainly
begged to be taken on board, while
from the ship came long, despairing
cries.
The women in the boat which reached
Erimsby hid their eyes, but the men
who were sitting facing the Norge say
they saw the Captain still on the
bridge. and the passengers on deck in
attitudes of resignation. While they
looked the tge plunged forward, her
stern shot p in the air and she dis
appeared. The swimmers in the vicin-
ity of the ship were drawn into the
vortex. around which they swirled like
chips i nj the me- 'Strom.
A jacket was ed to an oar, which
was in turn fastened in the bow of the
boat, and a sailor, a Dane, took charge
put to work keeping her afioat, as a
holC tuu DecH slONc III HcI DOW Wueu IL
was lowered from the ship.
So d?Zed were the survivors of the
Norge who were safely brought to
Grimsl,y that it was difficult to obtain
a connected story of the disaster.
Twenty-siX persons in all reached
here. nineteen men, six women and one
child, a girl six years old. Every one
has relatives in America. They say
the great majority of those who went
down also were on their way to join
relatives or friends located principally
in the Northwestern States.