Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-03-10
SWIMMING FOR DEAR LIFE
sixteen-Yesr-OId Passenger of the
Jarchmont swan Ashore
with the News.

OF all the tales told by the survivors
Of the Larchmont disaster, none was so
forceful as that Of Fred Hiergesell, the
16-year-old son Of Edward II. Hiergesell Of
Richmond Hill, Brooklyn, reports the New
York World. This lad, after getting safely
away from the Larchmont, was thrown
into the water by the capsizing OF the boat
in which he had launched with FIVE others,
and Of that number he alone reached shore.
His youthful vigor and swimming powers
enabled him to make his way through the
icy waters to the shores of Block Island.
There he FASTENED to the nearest place Of
refuge, which happened to be the North
Light Station, and this first knowledge of
the disaster given to the savers stationed
there brought about the hasty response for
help which was accorded the victims Of the
wreck
Young Hiergesell was on board by rea-
son of the fact that he had been visiting
relatives in Boston, and was on his way to
Brooklyn. He told his story Of the disaster
and it's aftermath in the following boyish
manner:
II had a stateroom near the smokestack
and had only been in It a short time when
I heard terrible crash thought II was
right in the room at first, and It gave me
quite a scare. rushed out of the door and
heard all the racket, saw the steam all
around, and knew in a minute that some
thing was wrong. AS II happene6-and II
was lucky for me, tool hadn't undressed,
and so all had to do was TO grab up what
few things 1 had. 1 heard the people shout
ing for help to be saved, and saw the Of
ficers and crew running about. At first
did not know what had better do. Fin
ally however got out on deck and it was
about this time that the boat began to tip
over on it's side
II got right into the crowd that was
pushing about on the deck and tried to
get into one or two of the boats which
were pushed OFF 1 followed the captain
to one OF the boats, but I could not get
into It, and was pushed back by the crowd
that was pulling and hauling near the cap
tain's boat. A couple of men said some
thing about going to the other end of the
boat, so I got right after them, and UP at
the end we found a small boat that was
tied to the steamer I helped them to cut 1t
away and Just as the Ave others and myself
had piled into 1t the ship gave an extra
shift OF lurch, and as It sank into the water
1t sort of sucked us right up to IT, 1t
looked for a minute as though we were
going to be swallowed right up. but the
boat soon righted itself so It seemed. and
then, with the rush of the waves we lost
sight Of everything
IT don't know how long we drifted about
but that's about all we did for hours It
seemed We hadn't any oars, and with the
cold and excitement Of the whole thing It
looked bad for a time. We talked as best
we could, and I recall that most of the
others in the boat said they couldn't swim.
Many times the way the waves whirled
about the boat made It look bad for u.s.
and then finally the boat did kick over
No. h. 7
panions in the boat. I remember holding
on to the boat for a minute or 50, and then
my hands got so cold that 1 had to slide
right into the water. Then my good for
tune in having put on a dry ife-preserver
before leaving the ship saved met I am a
good swimmer, and so after 1 had got over
the first chill of the icy water, with what
swimming l could do and the help Of the
life-preserver, I began to feel that l still
had chance either to land somewhere
or be picked up. The work of swimming
soon warmed up my body, and after a
time didn't mind It at all. though, OF
course, I felt rather scared and lonesome
there in the deep sea all by myself and
not knowing where was
IT think I must have been swimming
about for ten minutes or so; perhaps II was
more when I felt that l could touch bot
tom Was I glad? Well, / tell you there
wasn't a happier boy In the world than I
at Just that minute. I rushed right out of
the water, and you can bet It seemed good
to me TO be on land again. didn't know
where was, Of course, but walked along
until saw light. It was the life-saving
station at the north end of Block Island,
I learned after had walked in on them.
at also turned out that I was the first
one to reach land and the first to give the
warning to the life-savers. There isn't
much more TO IT, except that they cared
for me, and I have been treated fine since
was pretty cold and my hands were about
frozen, but besides that don't feel very
! much used up"