Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 October 1897 — Norse Sailor Proves a Hero. [ARTICLE]

Norse Sailor Proves a Hero.

The wrecking of the schooner Hueneme off Unalaska Island discovered a real hero in the person of Charles Neilson, a Norse sailor. Amid a dense fog in a southeast gale which threw sea spray over the topmasts the vessel struck a hidden rock. The deckhouses were swept away, and Capt. Peterson and his men clung to the rigging. It seemed that every sea would dash them to death, when the captain appealed: “Who will venture ashore?” ; “I will!” Neilson shouted, and with the lifeline about his waist he struck out for shore. It was some time before he was heard from, and the men on the wreck were bewailing his fate, when a shout told them of Neilson’s safety. To the lifeline a hawser was tied, and in due time Neilson pulled his nine shipwrecked companions ashore. — Chicago Record.