Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1854-11-09
price Two cents.
G5p 9ailp sppp.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER ., 1854.


| Sir John Franklin was born in 1886, and
would accordingly have been So years Of age,
had he survived to the present time. His ma
tive place was Spilsby, a small town in Lin
colnshire, in the vicinity of the North Sea.
From his earliest years, he betrayed a certain
boldness of disposition and love of adventure.
His father endeavorel to cure him Of his sea-
faring propensites. by permitting him to try
the experiment of voyage to Lisbon in
trading vessel. But this only produced the
opposite effect. He was confirmed in his taste
for the ocean, and would not be satisfied until
he had procured the consent of his father to
his entering the navy.
He obtained midshipman's warrant in his
l4th year. His first service was in the frigate
Polypheme, where he was distinguished for his
youthful courage and energy. He was in the
battle of Copenhagen in l60l, and two years
after accompanied has elative, Capt. Flinders,
on voyage of discovery to the South Sea,
during which ne was shipwrecked on the coast
of New Holland. At subsequent period, he
was in the Bellerophon at the battle Of Trafal-
gar. In 1914 he was Lieutenant in the
Bedford, which brought the allied monarchs
to England. He was concerned in the attack
on New Orleans, where he gained great credit
by his bravery and skill. In 1918, he COM
manded the brig Trent, IN the Polar Expedi-
ton under Captain Buchan. After the fail
ure of the search for the Northwest passage by
Captain Ross, he received the commission in
1919, to undertake an expedition, by land from
Hudson's Bay to the mouth of the Copper
Mine River, in conjunction with Richardson
and Back to CO. operate with Capt. Parry,
who was to visit the region by water.
On this expedition, he followed the coast as
far as Cape Turnagain, 6S deg. 80 min. north
latitude, and after incredible hardships hav-
ing been once rescued from death by the In
dams, he returned to England in 1922. He
was promoted to the rank of Post Captain,
and three years after undertook second ex-
petition to the Polar Sea, visiting the coast
between Mackenzie River and the Copper
Mine River. By the middle of August, 1927,
he hadreached the seventeenth degree of lati-
tude, and the one hundred and tiftieth degree
of longitude, but was compelled to return by
the early setting III of extreme cold weather.
In recognition of his merits on this expedition,
he received the order of knighthood from
George the Fourth. In 1880 he commanded
ship of the line in the Mediterranean, and
afterward was appointed Governor of Van Die
mems Land, from which post he was recalled,
iu March, 1913.
Returning to England, in the spring of 1915,
he was entrusted with the command Of the ia
tai expedition in which his life has fallen a
sacrifice The two vessels, Erebus and Ter
ror, in which the younger Ross had accom-
plished his expedition to the South Pole, were
selected for the voyage, and two distinguished
officers, Captain Crozier and Fitz James, were
appointed as his companions. The Expedition
sailed on the 10Th of May, 1915, arrived at the
Whale Fish Islands on the 4th of July, and
was seen for the last time, in Melville Bay, on
the 26th of that month. 1t was not until the
return of Capt. Ross, 1S49 who had been in
search of the missing nayigators, that general
| anxiety was felt for their safety.
| In 1851, an expedition was fitted out by
| Lady Franklin, and another by the British
Government, to seek the lost vessels. Abous
the same time, our townsman, Mr.. Henry
Grinnell, despatched the two ships Advance
and Rescue for the same purpose. The I'M
| successful result of these expeditions is well
! known. During the past year, large fleet
was sent out by the British Government, to
make renewed search for Sir John Franklin.
Mr.. Grinnell also despatched the Advance,
under the command of DR.. Kane, on similar
Grand But all in vain. Before the an
nouneement of the recent intelligence, no fur
ther hope was cherished that the lives of the
brave explorers had been preserved. Their
names were some time since stricken from the
admiralty list, and orders issued for the recall
of the expeditions.-N. T. Tribune.