Lögberg-Heimskringla - 27.11.1987, Page 7

CENTENNIAL YEAR/ALDARAFMÆLISÁR, FÖSTUDAGUR 27. NÓVEMBER 1987-7
One hundred years in America
Continued from Page 5
There they were helped by Franch,
an agent for the Allan Line who
changed all their money for cheques
on a Bank in Quebec and also English
tickets for their trip. While they were
in the Port of Greenwich, they saw
the ship, The Great Eastern, which
lay at anchor on the river Clyde and
was used for a hotel. This ship was
the biggest that had been built at that
time. After this short stop, their ship
headed out to the open sea.
Crossing the ocean was a fairly
good journey although sometimes
they were travelling into a head wind
which made waves so big they
splashed upon the deck. Part of the
way the ship rocked so much they
became seasick and could not sleep.
The Grecian which travelled about
General meeting
12 miles an hour was faster than the
Camoens which had travelled to
Scotland at eight miles an hour. One
child died on this trip and was
thrown overboard and two children
were born before they got to Quebec.
It was noon on September lOth when
Labrador came into sight and at one
o'clock they saw Newfoundland. On
the llth of September they sailed
past the island of Anticosti in the St.
Lawrence. On that day a doctor exa-
mined everyone. Those that did not
have a clear scar from a small pox
vaccination were vaccinated. At 8
a.m. on the 13th of September, a doc-
tor came on board from the island of
Orlean and he examined everyone to
see if there were any sick people on
board. He took 23 Icelandic im-
migrants out tjq this Island. At 12
Reforestation society
At a general meeting of the Socie-
ty during September of this year held
at Stykkisholmi, it was unanimously
agreed that the forestry laws be
reviewed, in conjunction with over-
all government policy. The funds
made available couldcbfe- directed
towards new projects and directed to
forestation accordfng to forestaytion
laws. The meeting ended with the
election of directors.
Other motions passed included
recommendations to parliament
regarding a bill governing forest pro-
tection, forestation, with grants for
protection and upgrading of existing
wooded areas carried out by forest
associations and individuals. That the
Forestry Association be given the
authority to dispense these funds, in
conjunction with government fore-
stry authorities and that definite
guidelines be provided.
Evidence seems to support the the-
ory that there were considerable
forest areas in Iceland, at the time of
settlement in Iceland.
The desire to plant and create
forest areas has long been erdream of
the nation. Through intensive care
and at considerable cost wooded
areas have been created but the cli-
matic conditions do not seem to be
conducive to forest growth. This
question of forestation has wide
spread support through voluntary or-
ganizations and individual donations.
Great effort has been put into this
concept and probably will continue
as long as treed areas are lacking in
the Icelandic terrain, or rather scar-
city of trees is a dominant feature.
In visiting Iceland this concern for
forestation is quickly evident.
Icelanders treat their garden trees
with tender care much as we would
a flower garden.
The Icelandic National League has
supported forestation in Iceland
through accepting public donations
on their behalf, which have become
embarrassingly low.
At a meeting in the Winnipeg
Icelandic Community to which peo-
ple had been invited to listen to a nar-
ration on Foréstation in Iceland, ren-
dered by a lady who had recently
visited Iceland during the earlier
days, when a visit was a rare thing,
partaken in by the odd individual and
never by the majority. Her impres-
sions had been so motivated that it
was decided to bring Western
Icelanders up to date on the concerns
and efforts of people in Iceland
towards the cultivation of trees.
Sitting in the audience were her
husband and a family friend cupped
his ear, while the husband
whispered, "Do you hear her?'', the
whispered reply was, "I do not hear
a darn thing." Their voices attuned
to their hearing capabilities carried
throughout the room, and the wife in
the middle of an enthusiastic disser-
tation on the subject of Forestation in
Iceland, was thrown off balance and
assailed the culprits in no uncertain
terms after the meeting.
The report on the meeting was
translated from the Morgunblad. The
general comments are those of the
writer.
Obituaries
Inga Lynn Haywood, Nov. 3, 1987,
aged 37 of Thompson, Man.
Inga Christina Smedstad Tillenius,
Oct. 30, 1987 aged 100 of Oakview
Place, Winnipeg
Randy K. Frederickson, Oct. 5,
1987 aged 28, of Winnipeg.
Dyrunn Osborne (nee Anderson)
Oct. 14, 1987 aged 57, of Hnausa,
Man.
Gudrun (Runie) Gladys Benson
Oct. 19, 1987 aged 92, of Betel Home,
Selkirk, Man.
noon, the 19th of September they
came to Quebec, Canada, 10 days af-
ter leaving Glasgow.
In Quebec they met Baldwin L.
Baldwinson, an interpreter from
Winnipeg. He helped them get their
cheques cashed. In Quebec they
marked brass tags and tied them to
their belongings for identification.
They left Quebec at 8:30 that night
on a train and reached Ottawa at
noon on the 14th. Some people were
left in Ottawa because they did not
have enough money to buy a ticket
to go further. They left at 1:15 for
western Canada. These train cars
were much different to the trains in
Scotland.
They had to board themselves on
this trip and would have been short
of food had Mr. Baldwinson not
stored some supplies which íie
meterred out to them on the train. On
the 15th, two small children died on
the train and theey were just left at
the next station for other people to
bury. At 8:15 on the 17th, seven days
from Quebec, they came to Winni-
peg. The day after, the people they
had left in Ottawa arrived. The
Governor of Canada had bought their
tickets as they wanted these people
to live imthe west. While they wait-
ed in the Immigration House, some
people came in and were looking for
workers, etc.
Along with them was a man named
Fríman Bjarnason Anderson. He
asked everyone where they were go-
ing. The ones going to the States had
to give him their name and also the
name of the person or relative that
they were going to. He separated
them from the rest as they had to
wait for the train to go south. This
man was the editor of the Icelandic
paper called "Heimskringla
A man named Bæring Hallgrímson
came into the building and invited
Ásgeir Jóhannes Lindal and his
brother Jónatan, wife and children to
Minnist
BETEL
í erfðaskrám yðar
come home with him. He kept them
two nights and fed them until the
train went south.
On the 19th of September at ten in
the morning they left by train and
came to Gretna at 2:15 and to Neche
at 3:15 in the afternoon. They had to
change trains there as the train
turned around and went back to
Winnipg.
At noon on the 20th of September
they left and arrived at St. Thomas at
1:30. That was the end of the line so
they had to find transportation from
there. At 7:30 they got a ridejin a
wagon with a Norwegian and start-
ed for Mountain, North Dakota but
he lost his way. After dark he found
a vacant house where they stayed the
night. Next day he drove them to
Mountain where some people stayed
but the Lindals continued to Gardar
where their brother Jakob lived.
They arrived at 1:30, September 21,
11 weeks from the day they left Mid-
hópi to catch a ship to America.
Jónatan and Ingibjörg had their
first home in Jónatan's sister ínga and
Thorsteinn Hallgrímson's yard, just
north of Gardar, North Dakota. Later
they moved onto their own farm nöt'
too far away. This farm was not too
productive and had a lot of stones. In
1899they homeSteáded in the 1-6 dis-
tricf of Morden, Manitoba where
they farmed the rest of their lives.
Here they had found good land and
lived comfortably and happily.
MESSUBOÐ
Fyrsta Lúterska
Kirkja
Pastor John V. Arvidson
Pastor Ingthor I. Isfeld
10:30 a.m. The Service followed
by Sunday School & Coffee hour.
__________________________(
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