CAPT. OLIVER OBERG

(1842 • 1900)

DOWN TO HIS DEATH

Oliver Oberg of This City Loses Life While Aboard Barge Sage

HAD LIVED HERE MANY YEARS

News of Accident which Happened Near Detroit,

Received Here Today Meagre Details as Yet

An old proverb says that life was but a fleeting shadow. When some terrible catastrophe puts an end to human existence in some sudden and unexpected manner this truth is brought home to each and every one. Particularly is this the case when he who is taken from earthly scenes is one whose life from childhood is known to a whole community. Never was the above statement more clearly exemplified than in the terrible news that was received at a home on North Main street this noon announcing that the steamer H.W. Sage in tow of the steamer Queen of the West had been engulfed in the St. Clair river and that she had carried down with her in the dark waters the body of Oliver Oberg. The cause of the frightful accident was a collision and the consequent sinking of the Sage have not as yet reached the city but it is said that Oberg was the only one of the crew to lose his life. At the time of the accident he was in the forecastle and was carried down to his death without warning and without any opportunity of escape.

The Sage was on her way here with a cargo of coal for the C. Reiss company and was expected to arrive Wednesday. She has been running here all season and when last in port extensive repairs were made upon her.

Mr. Oberg has lived in Manitowoc for many years. As a youth he was engaged in business with his father here and after the death of the latter went sailing. Deceased was about fifty-six years of age and was well known in marine circles. He built and owned the schooner Burt Barnes some years ago but sold her and three or four months back he shipped as wheelsman of the barge Sage.

His sorrowing wife survives him as do also two children. Mrs. Theodore Upham, who resides near the city, and George, a sailor on the schooner Felicitous.

The remains will be sent here for burial.

Manitowoc Daily Herald, Wis., Monday, July 30, 1900, Page 1

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The remains of Oliver Oberg, the unfortunate sailor who lost his life in the Sage disaster were brought here this noon. The funeral was held at Evergreen cemetery this afternoon at four o'clock, the body having been kept in the vault in the meantime. Rev. Thorsen of St. Paul's Lutheran church officiated.

Manitowoc Daily Herald, Wis., Thursday, August 02, 1900, Page 1

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Sailor on Barge Sage Tells of His Terrible Tussle With Death

A TERRIBLE STORY TOLD

Oberg's Dying Cries Heard When No Aid Was Possible-Horrible Details

Edward Haines, a sailor on the ill-fated barge Sage, on which Oliver Oberg was carried down, tells the following story of the accident, the death of Oberg, and of his own escape from the sinking craft:

"I was awakened by an awful crushing sensation. I remember the most terrible grinding and crashing, then there was a roar, and I forgot it all. I guess I was knocked senseless. I was sleeeping in the bunk on the starboard side, and the collision smashed it all to pieces. Strange to say, Oberg was on the other side and was not harmed a bit by the accident. His bunk was not touched, but he died, I lived.

"When I revived the Chicago had backed out of the hole and left an opening twice as large as the head of a barrel, with the water gushing in. The boat had listed away over, and from a bunker on deck, containing several tons of coal for running the donkey engine there, came crashing upon me and all about me great chunks of coal, mingled with dust and dirt. My right arm had served as a guard for my body, and all the force of the collision and the jamming of the timbers came on it. The bone was broken, the shoulder was dislocated and all down my right side I was crushed. When I tried to move, I could not. My feet were fast under the coal and timbers. But I worked myself free. With all my strength I struggled to get out of the forecastle. Not through the ladder way to the hatch, for all escape there was shut off by broken timbers, but right out of the hole made by the Chicago I plunged. My head and body got out. Something held my legs. It was that terrible weight of coal crushing it. A sailor tried to help me. He failed. I could not be budged. The Sage listed further over, and the movement seemed to free me, but it was long hard work for my rescuers, and when they did get me free, the water was rippling around my neck.

"Suddenly a series of horrified cries came from the almost filled forecastle. Oberg had been awakened, but the hole where I had escaped was then far under water. The hatchway was blocked. There were not six inches of air between the ceiling of the forecastle and the rising surface of the water, and the poor fellow standing on the edge of his bunk and his deathbed held his mouth and nose above the water and screamed in agony. It was horrible. Nothing could be done for him. "Cut open the deck," someone cried, but the Sage was sinking and no man could cut through the heavy timbers in time. Poor Oberg's cries became fainter and fainter, and at last, when the water reached the ceiling and drove out all air, silence came. We knew the poor man was dead, but what could we do?"

John Kilderhouse, of Buffalo, who owns the sunken craft, has inspected her and will probably take immediate steps to recover the vessel and cargo.

Manitowoc Daily Herald, Wis., August 3, 1900 p. 2

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