More Fire Pictures.....The Life Story of Harold Hansen (excerpts about his trip to Norway) (Hansen)

   I found a curious collection of images among the last of the fire pictures.  Some had writing on the back which gave a few clues to a story.  They were all the same size (approximately 3"x 5") and looked like they had been taken out of a photo album. I dug through my files and found a gem..a transcript of "The Life Story of Harold Hansen", compiled from his own writings and audio cassettes that he recorded in 1991.  Claire Hansen Clark had added this to her genealogy research on Family Tree Maker in 2011. What gave me a real start was finding this picture..

On the back was written "Panama Canal-Train crossing long bridge". As I was reading through the transcript I came to the part where my Grandfather, Harold Hansen, talked about using his Brownie postcard camera to take a picture of the Panama RR with a train crossing on Gotham Lake.  Bingo!  I knew these pictures were from his trip to Norway in 1930.  Following is a section from his Life Story telling of his wonderful and unique adventures when he was a young man.  Enjoy! 

(Harold graduated from High School in 1928)....
  "Following graduation, I went to work with the forestry service at Lewis Mill.  I was part of a crew to construct a phone line on Babbitt Peak to Sardine Peak.  We had to brush out cottonwood trees and haul the poles up the hill. We were above the timber line where the wind blew fiercely.  I was the flunky on the job.  I had to get all the cement, water, lumber.  I was cook also.  After taking the supplies to the work site, I came back and prepared meals while the other fellows worked.  The nearest town was Truckee or Loyalton, where we went once a month for provisions.  We also went to forest fires. We used a rake/hoe to make fire breaks.

  After that fire season, I was ready to study to be a forester.  So, I enrolled in Sacramento City College.  There I took courses with that in mind.  One of those classes was botany.  That's where I met Louise. As I was doing pretty well in the class, the instructor asked me to help another student.  It turned out to be Louise.  Soon we became friends as well and I spent a lot of time with her. 

  I had tried out for the men's glee club, a quartet, and that all took my time.  We performed at the Alhambra Theater, Lions, etc around Sacramento. Soon I was too busy and my studies started to slip.  I decided to take a leave of absence and go to Norway, my father's homeland.  This was the fall of 1930, I was soon to be 21 years old. 

  My Dad's brother-in-law, Harald P. Klemmetsen had a shipping firm out of Norway.  So, Dad wrote to him to see if it was possible for me to get on a ship of his sometime.  Well, Uncle Harald wired that he had a ship coming up the Pacific and that I was to get ready to be on it.  That was so exciting and there was much to do.  I had to get a passport and clothes and get packed.  I got white tables (? possibly pants) to wait on tables and blue jeans and shirts for other work.  then my folks drove me to San Francisco to wait for the ship. 

  Before the ship could take on cargo and passengers, it had to be cleaned out and fumigated.  I worked for a week living on ship before it was ready.  My quarters were in the aft below deck.  I was going to be a real good sailor, so I bought tobacco, and stuff like Popeye.  So, I got my things settled then went out on the deck to watch as the ship left San Francisco Bay the Pacific.  I was told that if I stood on the deck and looked up at the mast that I wouldn't get seasick.  That seemed to work for me.  But, I forgot to close the porthole in my quarters and in came seawater.  What a mess!

  I was assigned to the galley squad for the passengers and crew.  Since this was a Swedish ship, they sure like potatoes.  Before long we stopped at San Diego for cargo and passengers.  One was a Dane who had a tropical fever, so he was put with me.  He rubbed something on his chest, drank some wine and went to sleep. 

  Next, we stopped at Acapulco, San Salvador, Costa Rica, and finally we got to Panama.  I thought that I had earned days off and I was all ready to go on deck and take photographs with my Brownie postcard camera.  But crews from the canal came on board to guide the ship through and we had to feed them.  But I did get some pictures of the Panama RR with a train crossing on Gotham Lake.  The Battleship New Mexico was making its way to the Pacific.  Finally we go to Cristobal on the Atlantic side. 

  Out in the Atlantic we went to the Azores then to England.  We put in on the North end of the English Island.  We had some time off in Edinburgh.  I went to church there and walked around the streets to see the buildings, heard bag players, saw changing of the guard at the castle.  It was the 4th of July.  We were at that port 3 days.
  

"Here I am on the Balboa. Take a look at my nice white pants. This was taken just outside of Hull
in the outer harbor.  You can see the land in the extreme back ground"

"This is the American Memmorial (sp.) to the Scottish soldiers in Edinburgh.
I also snapped Edinburgh castle and Scott's Monument but no luck." 

  Then we sailed to Gothenburg, Sweden.  It had taken us 21 days for the voyage.  My aunt and uncle met me and Uncle took me to the fore deck to the captain's cabin to toast my arrival.  The steward had to serve me!

To be continued.....