Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1915-11-24
WALNER ARRIVES SAFELY
AT BERGEN, NORWAY
Bergensfjord's Course Was Changed
and Lights Covered in Order to
Avoid Annoyance From
BIockadino Ship9.

7lockading Ships.
On Board S. s. Bergensfjord on the
North Sea, Oct. Is. 1915.
Willmar Tribune:
The 18th day of October when we
boarded the steamer was a wearisome
day to us. At p. M, the water at
the stern end Of the ship began to
churn into whirling eddies. I tuned
my Tyre and sang:
"Farval du land Diet kara
vi hoppas dig IA aterse,-
vi hallas dig ara
Gud lycklig resa oss nu &C."
It is as pleasant on board as it is
possible to have it. My wife and I
have a compartment to ourselves. A
porter takes care Of the room and a
waitress brings our meals to us if we
do not wish to 60 to the dining-room.
It is some distance to 60. We live in
Lake Lillian and eat at Svea. The food
I is excellent, and we feel as if we
were at ''kalas" every day. There is
some difference between Bergensfjord
and the English boats. But probably
l must be careful what I say for
| value highly my shock of hair, my
blue eyes and my teeth, which sit
| none too fast. While we are in the
chapter about England, let me say
that the talk on board is not about
Germany, her torpedoes and mines,
| but whether or not our officers can
fool the English so that they do not
take us. "Tr0sta oss da" if we fall into
their hands. It seems that there are
places to hide even on the ocean. Be
assured of that our captain does not
rest on laurels won but keeps a good
lookout over Johnnie Bulls preserves.
! Last night we had a fine concert in
the second class dining room. There
is good band which plays several
times a day in different parts of the
ship. One does not hear much Eng
lish on board. It seems that all glory
in using the old heroic language of
the North. There are not many of the
passengers of whom it would be ap.
propriate to sing "silyer Threads
Among the Cold" and there are not
Der of passengers is 33S-46 first
class; a second class and 24S third
class. When l awoke in the morning
of Oct. Is I noted down the impress.
sions I had of our improvised home
as follows:
"Nu arc vi pa baten
Som heter Bergensfjord.
Med den vi ar belaten
vi ha Diet godt ombord.
Han vredgad vagor pl0jer
han fruktar Ell for dem
pa vagen han Ell dr0jer
Som bar till gammalt hem;
Ombord ar Diet So trefligt
Som m0jligt ar att IA,
Dess manskap ar beskedligt,
Musk vi "a ocksa.
Pa maten vi Ell klagar
ty den So praktig ar
Och kockar som den lagar
Nog ha de stort besv8r."
Later, changed my tune, as fol
lows:
"Nu baten han gungar pa b6ljor bla
Och ljuden man h0r Dir babe 81 och sa. :
And I'll leave it to those afflicted
with sea sickness to complete the
rhyme. -r
Everybody was happy today because
it was supposed to be our last day
on board. But, comfort us, at six o.
clock p. M, a note flew up: 1--WE can
not land until tomorrow evening"
The news went through the ship like
wild1re. A telegram from Bergen
gave notice that several English cruis
ers were off Bergen. We were only
six hours from Bergen. The course
of the ship was changed and the en-
gines were given full speed. i hunt
ed up my compass and concluded
that the course had been changed t,
Stavanger. All windows and por
holes were darkened. This mornin,
at daybreak our ship whistled for ,
pilot. We are now at ,Stavanger. Hur
rah! Hurrah! Hurrah! for the Ber
gensfjord. We sail now along tn,
coast up to Bergen. We are told tina
the train is awaiting our arrival.
MATS WAIVER