The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-07-05
AWAKE! HORROR
SHOOK THE WAVE
Dashing Against Walls of Granite, the Norge Re-
bounded, Filled and Went Down With
Shreking Hundreds

remember clearly what happened, say
| that the shrieks and SobS died away
and that the quiet was only broken by
| the curses of some men, whose fear
| found vent in blasphemy
Suddenly one man threw himself
overheard and another followed his
example. Still another jumped into
the water and soon round the ship
hundreds of persons were struggling
in teh sea, having preferred death in
the open than to being submerged
with the ship. Others determined to
stand by the snip. hoping against hope
that she would remain afloat.
The Ship Goes Down.
Three boats, it is known, success
fully reached the sea. The passengers
frantically pulled away from the
doomed ship, passing by poor wretches
who weer still afloat and who vainly
begged to be taken on board, while
from the ship came long, despairing
.c,ies.
The women in the boat which
reached Grimsby hid their eyes, but
the men who were sitting facing the
Norge say they saw the captain still
OH the bridge and the passengers on
deck in attitudes of resignation. While
they looked the Norge plunged for
ward, her stern shot up in the air and
she disappeared. The swimmers in
the vicinity of the ship were drawn in
to the vortex, around which they
swirled like chips in the maelstrom
But twelve minutes elapsed from the
time the ship struck until she sank.
fine Scotch mist, which was falling
at the time, shut out the other sur
vivors from the view of those who
were brought to Grimsby. The latter,
so soon as their boat was clear of the
scene of the wreck, devoted them
selves to the thoughts of
their own safety. A jacket was tied
tc an oar, which was in turn fastened
in the bow of the boat and a sailor, a
Dane, took charge of the boat.
Men and women were put to work
keeping the boat afloat as a hole had
been stove in her bow when it was
lowered from the ship. An examina-
tion of the water cask showed that
it did not contain a drop of water
There were some biscuits, however
and these were eaten by the ship
wrecked people during the twenty
four hours from the time the ship
struck, at Z a. m., June %, until they
were picked up by the Grimsb,,
trawler Sylvia.
The Story of the Dare.
Karl Mathieson, the Danish sailor
who assumed command of the boat
brought to Grimsby, only joined the
Norge at Copenhagen just before she
sailed for New ork. He said he knew
nothing about the ships arrangement
in case of collision or fire. He had
never been instructed in fire drill, and
did not understand what it meant.
he was on deck when the vessel
struck but he did not know until
he heard the captain shouting the or
der to man the boats that the dam
age was great. Mathieson said to the
representative of the Associated
Press:
Il worked with the third mate and
followed him to the different boats
The first we attempted to lower four
her tackle, keeping her stern fixed
while her bows fell and shot the oc-
cupantS into the water. A heavy sea
washed the boat against the ships
side. We went to another, a crowd
of shrieking women and children. The
launching operations were conducted
simultaneously, the officers and crew
going from one to another. 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 themselves. These
were put back and threatened with
death unless they obeyed orders. The
captain never left the bridge but he
shouter so many orders that the crew
did not know what to do. Together
with the third mate we jumped into
a small boat just before the vessel
went down but we did not think so
many were left behind as appeared
on the water when the Norge sank.
Those remaining on board Wer"
chiefly chiefly women and children. l
COS DF .,csfl-
ed carrying sixty persons, and the
other a smaller boat carrying forty.
No other boats got away, though there
were eight o bord.