New-York tribune., 1908-01-04
FIGHT OCEAN FOR LIFE.
IN OPEN BOAT EIGHT DAYS
Seuen Surrirors of Norwegian Bark
Tell of Terrible Suffering.

Norwegian bark CIermanlc. on winch thes 49,
shipped arrived here yesterday on the BRUSH
steamer Hotam Newton which picked them up
about four hundred miles off the Irish coast Oh
December II. The tale of suffering told ny the
men and the description of their CONDITION "nen
dragged to the deck of the steamer as reidteu
by Captain Anderson OF the Newton, have haroy
a parallel in the record Of disasters reported
this port.
The Germanic left Weymouth \. S. on NoVenl-
Der %, with a cargo of wood pulp for Fleetwooo'
England She encountered heavy gales from All
points of the compass. and noon on December >
flied with water. She had been leaking oadly
for FIVE days, and the crew had been constantly
at the pumps. The pulp cargo, which was III
bales became soaked and literally burst the otfh
TO bits as it sweed in the hold. The crew worked
for 100 hours in a seethng chemical toInent up 10
their waists and on December ., at noon, wnen
the seams opened and let in tons of water for
ward the Germanic poked her nose under ana
sank.
Her master. Captain Julius Johanssen, a sturdy
Norwegian sailorman. ffty-four years Old stayed
by the bark to last. deaf to the appeals Of his
/ men to leap into the AS the Germanic
pitched stem down into a conlber he hung to the
mizzen boom and down with her lie hao
been in several wrecks. according TO the SURVIVORS,
and had acted in the same fashion before
The skipper and crew of the Germanic knew that
il a hopeless task trying to save the bark out
they stayed by her hoping that some passing
! steamer would pick them up Captain Johansseh
/ had stout nfeboats and had them in READINESS
when the crucial moment came All the snip
/ pa apers. his logbook compass and fifty POUNDS OF
biscuits were stored in the larger boat The sec
+ ond mate put lantern and a of petroleum IN
each boat and several bundles of oakum TO be used
for a flare when they We're compelled to cast OH
from the Germanic
Albert Lundholm an able seaman who went with
the other six survivors yesterday to the Norwegian
Sailors Home, in Brooklyn, told the story of the
! eight day fight for life in the little 1S-footer
! We did all we could Captain Johanssen,
he said he would not listen to our shouts Tor
him TO get into the boat Look out for yourselves,
he said. and that Prince'-a large Newfound'
land dog-and the kitties get away safely III look
| out for myself
/ Seven men got away in the first boat and pulled
clear Of the bark There were eight of US ready
! for the second boat. and had to move quickly
TO get clear before the Germanic went down The
second mate and l jumped and were hauled IN py
those in the boat.
prince the captain's dog was the first creature
| to get in when the boat was lowered. He whined
| and barked the captain, as If begging him TO
| join us. but the skipper never moved from MS
| position by the mizzen boom. AS l saw the stern
| go down the skipper was hanging to the boom. He
| came TO the surface made few feeble strokes to
| a life buoy caught it. Then he plunged his
head under the water. We picked up his body
about five minutes later and his face was black.
think he must have been dealt death blow on
| the head by the mizzen boom as the Germanc was
! pounded under
i we hauled his body into boat and worked
over it for three hours and then decided that life
had gone out of it and cast it into the sea.
Prince. the dog. made much trouble after We
threw over the captains body that decided to
get rid of him
He was a heavy dog, and we had all the weight
we could carry. We knew if threw him over
/ board the poor dog would try follow the boat
and none of fellows could see the poor brute
suffer. Lord knows there enovg gin of it en-
dured already by all hands. We had in
our boat. and killed Prince with one blow.
We killed the captains cats also and threw them
! over the side. boat, which smaller than
| the other Hfeboat. was overcrowded. so we trans
ferred Axe Gronlof, a Finnish sailor
4 thought we had suffered about all that human
beings could endure when the Ger
| manic. but when took to the lifeboats real
! suffering began. We knew position which
latitude 4732 north and longitude 40.17 west. and
we headed with lego mutton sail before terrific
westerly gale in the direction of the Irish coast
l hailed the in the other boat midnight, and
| that is the last of them. They may have
| been picked up by another steamer. If they
are likely dead, for none of could have
lived much longer than eight days.
We hoped to get into the track of the transat-
/ lantic steamers, and courage arose when We
saw steamer bearing down upon December
15 I think it tramp We flashed fare
I light and | am she us for she put about
/ hut changed her course finally and left us.
We went before the gale at the rate Of hun
! dred miles A day. and when tl7--Fotam Newton
( picked us IN we had sailed Sn1 miles and were
/ about 400 miles off the Irish coast
We sighted the Newton about midnight on the
I 18th and an hour later our light We
/ poured petroleum bundle of oakum and waved
/ it frantically until that she was coming
for us.
The night before we saw the Newton we pitched
for nearly twelve hours in gale that was kicking
| up combers forty feet high. Had such a sea been
! running when taken aboard we would
have been dashed to pieces against the of the
steamer. Fortunately. the night of December II
! was bright moonlight and the gale had blown
itself
Il thought there wasn't a shout left in the bows
because we could hardly do more than groan from
| the pain Of the salt bois that broke out all
| over bodies We seldom spoke to each other
except respond to order and then it was in
a hoarse whisper We had no fresh water and as
the seas broke over us the cold salt water got to
! our boiIs and made them ache
Il don't know how ever got alongside
the Newton. for every of numb in the
| arms and legs. It awful task to wiring ont
the salt water from our clothes. Captain Anderson
of the Newton brought up pretty close and shouted
| TO come alongside. The threw out a
Jacobs ladder and made it fast the nfeboat.
| We tried to pull ourselves up to the deck. but our
| numb hands would not grip the ropes and the crew
of the Newton had TO down the ladder and
help the deck"
Captain Anderson of the Hotham Newton said he
! never in such a sick helpless condi-
ton. He said that each man got safely on deck
! he fell PROSTATE. and the last one was hauled
aboard the seven rose together to their knees and
| Thanked God for saving them. The sailors were
accorded every and nursed back to strength
/ during the seventeen days they aboard the
| Newton and able walk ashore yesterday
! The rescued men of the Germanic Johann
| Svendsen. mate; Johann Jorgensen. steward: Fred
erick Hansen carpenter; Anton Christensen and
Albert LundholIl Sailors Julius Johanssen. sixteen