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The third section of the Hanson Norway to America
trip journal entry continues this week. The family arrived at
Liverpool and with some free time before their ship departed they
did some sightseeing. We continue from Ludvig Hanson’s journal
entry:
“Liverpool was a preferred port at the time that
Kari and Hans left Norway,
because that port had a long standing
transatlantic packet service where boats sailed at regular
schedules, regardless of whether the cabins were occupied – unlike
other ships that waited in port until they had a full load of
cargo.
“Ludvig continued…”We all liked Liverpool. The
food was good. We had soup and meat for dinner, and cake and
coffee. We even got tea, but no one like tea. There were good
beds, and everything was kept very clean. A group from Russia
were not so clean, but they were put in a room to themselves, so
we didn’t have to sleep where they were. I noticed that the best
rooms and beds were assigned to Scandinavians. They apparently
had a reputation for cleanliness and better behavior than others.
“We stayed in Liverpool 3 days. We went around the
town and saw the great ship docks, with ships from all over the
world, coming and going.
“Each day we went to the museum. Entrance was free,
but we gave a little to the man who showed us around. There were
innumerable things to see there, from Egyptian mummies from
Pharaoh’s time, to modern statues, all in Adam and Eve’s clothes!
There were Roman coins, 2 and 3 thousand years old, and much more.
So, one lovely day, we said ‘Farewell’ to all these
good things and went on board “‘Parisian,’ the newest and best
ship of the Alan Line. We were assigned to different cabins.
Father, Mother, and other older people had bunks. With several
other younger ones, I was given a hammock. There were hung up at
night, and taken down in the morning, as they were hung in the
dining room. Everything was well organized. Boys and girls were
not allowed to sleep in the same room, but they can be sly, so
they are hard to control.
“On the first day at sea the shoemaker from Valdres
had to go up on deck and play for the others to dance, and they
danced every day of the trip across the Atlantic. Oh, what good
dancers they were, these boys and girls from Valdres and
Hallingdal. When they began, all the passengers came to watch.
They dance Springar, Halling, Reinlander, and Polka. Those on the
upper deck threw money down to them, when one of the boys did an
exceptionally good mid-air somersault.” (from “Here Come the
Norwegians” written by Carol Hanson Schwinkendorf) continued next
week.
RCHS Footnotes
This past week Minnesota Public Radio requested
several Roseau Hockey photographs. I had remembered seeing a
photograph of hockey practices on the river. After not being able
to locate it I assume it was in the Roseau Times-Region photograph
and not in our collection. If anyone has a copy of this photograph
please bring it in to the county museum so we can scan it on the
computer. Several photographs were submitted and will be on the
site soon, visit www.mpr.org to see these. A Youth Hockey Week
photograph of a coach and several young boys has been placed on
their website. If anyone can identify these young people and
their coach please call the museum.
Military History forms are available at the museum,
veteran service organization, and the Greenbush Library. Return
them to the museum when you have filled them out.
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