The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-09-18

complicate the question and lead to more
bloodshed and devastation on the island.
Prolonged negotiations and red tape diplo-
macy can accomplish nothing. Prompt and
decisive action by General Grants admins
tration is the only solution of the difficulty.
THE FATE OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.
From the NJ Y. Times
waif from the sea brings us once more
tidings of the Inflated expedition which
started to discover northwest passage, under
the leadership of Sir John Franklin. But if
the paper which has lately been washed ashore
answers to the description given of it in our
dispatches, it contains little if any informa-
tion in addition to that which was obtained
from the record discovered by Captain Nc
Clintock in 1859. From that Sir John Frank
lin was known to have died in June, 18t7.
1t takes us back nearly quarter of a CEN
tury to recall the preparations which were
made for Franklin's last expedition. At that
time very few doubted that he would be sue
cessful The two vessels chosen for the work
the Erebus and the Terror, were provided
with every appliance which foresight and q
long experience of Arctic voyages could sug-
gest. On the 10th of May, 1916, the little
party set forth on their adventures, and two
months afterwards a whaler saw the ships
moored to an iceberg in Bafin's Bay From
this time the vessels and every man they con-
tanned were lost to the world. We have long
known, and the paper Just cast ashore
confirms the fact, that Sir John Frank
lin had already been dead years and
years when expeditions were sent out
in the hope of rescuing him. But
what became of the crew, 1873 in number
1t is very evident that they did not perish
with the commander The thought that they
were still wandering about in vast and lonely
regions, watching morning and night for some
loophole of escape from their fearful cap
tivity induced men Of all countries to assist
in fitting out fresh exploring expeditions.
Franklin had been ordered to return to Eng
land in 1847. We now know that before aid
could have reached him he was dead. He
must then have been in his sixty-first year at
his death, and was probably little fitted to
survive the hardships and pri-
vations which evidently fell upon
the party. Why the ships were deserted
we do not yet fully know, but we may easily
conjecture the truth. They probably be-
came locked in the ice, or were crushed as
the huge foes accumulated round them. The
crews went out upon the frozen sea in the
hope of tindiNg some succor. Year after year
vague traces of them were heard of. Now a
settlement of Esquinaux would relate that
they had seen a company white men travel
ing together, Zone of them with a telescope
| slung over his shoulders. Then the man
| with the telescope was no more seen, and the
| survivors gradually dwindled down, until the
| melancholy band seem to have given up all
heart, and laid themselves down to die.
The American expeditions under DR.. Kane
| and DR.. Rae were those which did most to
clear up the mysteries surrounding the fate of
| poor Franklin and his crew. One day they
found the corpses of thirty-fve persons and
a quantity of articles belonging to them OF
to their friends. What fate theirs had
been They tried to live by shooting wild
fowl, but all their efforts seem to have failed,
and there were signs about which led to the
belief that the unhappy men had been driven
to the dread resort of cannibalism When
ever white man strayed away from his COM
panions, or halted behind from fatigue or
sickness, he was set upon by the Esquimaux
and despatched. After DR.. Kane's expedi-
ton, the idea that any of Franlllins party
survived was abandoned, and Lady Franklin
herself gave up the long and hopeless search
in despair.
OF all the expeditions which ever sailed for
these gloomy Arctic seas-the grave of so
many gallant hearts-the one led by Dr. Kane
resulted in the most useful discoveries, from
a scientific point Of view. He settled many
undiscovered problems, and, we might have
thought, did away with the necessity for
future undertakings Of the same character.
But both here and in England the old fever
for Arctic exploration occasionally breaks
forth again. Dr. Hayes on this side,
and Captain Sherard Osborne on the
other, would gladly undertake to make fresh
researches in a region where our race coulC
never hope to bring the enormous forces
of nature into subsection. DR.. Hayes is
indeed, actually on his way to the ice
fields at this moment, although not bound
on an enterprise of unusual magnitude
We should be sorry to discourage any
thing which tended to keep the desire for ad
venture and discovery alive in the minds Of
our people. Sailors, espe eCially, ought to have
tinge of this craving in their nature. Bu
if we could properly discourage any enter
prise of the kind, it would surely be of al
Arctic expedition that we should ask Ct
bono? The northwest passage does any
one believe that it could ever be useful t.
man? 1t would be almost as reasonable fo
} us to set to work again trying to discover tht
philosophers stone, or the elicjr 0jtU Thes
are among the memorable ''crazes" of man
kind. BY all means let us cherish in ou
navy a spirit of courage and daring. Blu
, the time has gone by when nations OF Gov
ernments will consent to help men to throw
} away their lives in the pursuit of phantoms.
A DODGER WHO IS NOT VERY ARTFUL
From the NJ y. San.
The Hon. Asa Packer, candidate of tn
Pennsylvania Democracy for Governor, AM
Pennsylvania's candidate for President il
1872, has had an opportunity through one o
the Suns omnipresent reporters to spread III
political opinions before the world. The eX
hibition filed three Of our ample columns
This ponderous document is remarkable Il
, | In11lo Int