The Saint Paul globe., 1904-07-05

the Norge went down. There was no
trace of the ship, but swashing in the
water back of the rocks were the bod
les of more than hundred men, Wo-
men and little children
Brave Danish Sailor
Karl Mathieson. the Danish sailor
who assumed command of the boat
brought to Grimsby, joined the Norge
at Copenhagen just before she sailed
for New York. He said he knew noth4
ing about the ships arrangement in
case OF collision or fire. He had never
Deen instructed in fire drill and did
not understand what 1t meant. He was
oh geek when the vessel struck, but
ne did not know until he heard the
captain shouting the order to man the
ooats that the damage was great.
MathieSon said: .
1 worked with the third mate and
followed him to the different boats:
Inc hrst we attempted to lower fouled
her tackle. keeping her stern fixed
while her bows fell and shot the ocs
cupantS into the water heavy sea
washed the boat against the shipss
Sioe We went to another a crowd of
shr1eking women and children follow
Ing. The launching operations were
not conducted simultaneously, the of
hcers and crew going from one to an
other. Had men been set at work at
each boat more would have been saved.
Some of the crew were worse than the
passengers and but for the officers
would have put off in the boats them
selves They were driven back and
threatened with death unless they
obeyed orders The captain never left
the bridge, but he shouted so many
orders that the crew did not know
what to do. Therefore / stuck to the
third mate. Together we jumped into
a small boat just before the vessel
went down, but we did not think so
many We're left behind as appeared
on the water when the Norge sank.
Those remaining on beard were chiefly
women and children. saw only two
other boats afloat,s one big life boat
easily carrying sixty persons, and the
other a smaller boat carrying possibly
forty. No other boats got away,
though there We're eight on board
Survivors Are Dazed
So dazed We're the survivors of the
Norge who were safely brought to
Grimsby that it was difficult to obtain
a connected story of the disaster.
Twenty-sK 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
were on their way to join relatives or
friends located principally in the north..
western states.
Katrina Sillander, whose husband
lives in Chicago, said:
Everything was quiet and most of
the passengers were sleeping I had
left my berth and was dressing my
baby. When the ship struck the first
time l did not know what it meant,
but when it struck again 1 realized
it's meaning. | seized my child by the
hair and ran up the companion way.
/ threw the baby into the bottom of
the boat and then jumped in myself.
Some of the women on board had
seven or eight children each, from
whom they became separated, and the
cries of these mothers calling for their
missing children were heartrending.
The life belts were almost useless, for
the strings would not hold. When the
boat left the ship there were many
passengers standing on the decks beg
ging with hands outStretehed. Many,
too, threw themselves into the water
This is only sample of the stories
told by the survivors. Each one has q
terrible narrative of his or her experi-
ences, all narrowing.
Daring Deeds Shine Out
Many deeds of heroism shine brightly
through the pail of the catastrophe.
That of Jams Peter Jansen, who had
relatives in Brooklyn, N. Y, is told
with admiration by the survivors He
was one of the engineers of the Norge.
When the ship struck he learned the
extent of the disaster and went below
to where his relatives were and told
them and those near by to go at once
to the upper deck. He accompanied
them to the boats and saw them safely
on board. He was urged to join them,
but said he must return to the engine
room, and, shouting a farewell, ran to
his post of duty, where he died
Some of the male Da SSaOperS with.
out thought of SELF, placed women
and children in the boats, preferring t.
remain behind rather than take advan.
tage of their strength
The mate of the Norge. who left the
ship in the boat which arrived here,
seeing that it was oyererowded, leaped
into the water for the purpose of SWIM
ming to a second boat not far away.
He had gone only a short distance
when, weighted by his clothes, his
strength gave out and he sank.
The crew of the Norge appear Ia
have behaved well after the first panic,
when. it is said, the officers were COM
PEELED to drive them back from the
boats. But there apparently was mo-
discipline, the orders which the cap
tain shouted from the bridge being
misinterpreted or unheard. So far as
the survivors here remember, there
was no systematic distribution of the
pcoplS 10 the DOdLS, which were not
adequately manned. No attempt was
made by any of the survivors to save
property. There was no time to make
preparations.
All Knew RockaII Reef
Rockall reef is known to every sailcr
on the North Atlantic and is marked
plainly on the charts. A strong cur
rent sweeps in it's direction, and it is
presumed that the current drew the
Norge to her grave that heavy mist
prevented the lookouts from seeing the
danger and that there was no thought
of Rockaf1 reef until the ship struck
and the captain called out that they
had struck the terror of northern nayi-
cation.
Those Survivors wishing to continue
their journey to America will be sent
forward via Liverpool tonight while
those who refuse to go further, to-
gether with the sailor Mathieson, have
left Grimsby by steamer direct for
ESbjerg, Denmark. All the men were
provided with new clothing before their
departure.
Were Coming to Minnesota
The destinations of some of the sur
yivors were as follows:
Peder Nielsen, a natura1ized Ameri-
can, was going to his homestead Ia
South Dakota; Paul Petersen Hgelset
and Ole Petersen HgelSet hrntherc ax1