The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1873-09-30
TIE LOST POLARIS-

RuddingtOn's Wen Reach Dundee
--StOry of The Mntiny, Ship
yyrecN.a Long Winter On the Ece
El0es. and Final Rescue 10y q
VhaleE.
LONDON, September I9-The steamer
Arctic brought to Dundee ten members
of the Polaris expedition, whose names
are as follows: Capt. Buddington, Sail
ing Master; DR.. Email Bessell, Chief Of
the Scientific Corps; H. c. Chester, first
mate; W. Morton, second mate; b. Schu-
mann, chief engineer; A. H. Oiell, sec
ond engineer; W. F. Campbell, fireman;
Herman Simmons, seaman; Henry Hob
by, seaman; N. Hayes, seaman. All are
in excellent health. Three others wegeI
transferred by the Ravenscraig TO &e
whaler Intrepid, which is expected to ar
rive at Dundee in two or three weeks
Their names are R. W. D Bryan, as
tronomel and chaplain; j. B. Mauch,
seaman j. w. Booth, fireman.
DUNDEE, SCOTLAND, Sept I9-The
whaling steamer Arctic, Capt Adams,
has arrived at this port from Davis
Straits, having on board the men of the
Polaris expedition, who were picked mp
by the whaler Ravenscraig on the 20th
of July. The men are all well and show
no marks of emacialion such as might
have been expected after their terrible
experience. The following narrative of
incidents that occurred after the separa.
ton of the crew is gathered from con-
versation with several Of the party:
The Polaris had been leaking badly
before the 18th of October, 1872, and
her situation ultimately became so alar-
ming that it was deemed advisable to
make preparations to abandon her The
determination to leave the ship was ar
rived at on the 18th of October,at which
time they were in latitude 10. Some of
the crew remained aboard, while Others
landed on the ice, and they began to get
out the stores with the intention of TAX
ing out everything they could need for a
long sojourn in those frozen regions
Between 10 and II o'clock at night while
this work was proceeding, very severe
gale sprang up, and snow began to fall
heavily, with a strong but variable wind.
Operations, however, continued, and af
ter untiring efforts the boats were got
out upon the ice, and large supply of
provisions taken out
Suddenly the hawsers by which the
ship was made fast to the ice gave way,
one swapping, the other tearing its an
chor from its lodgment in the ice. This
was about midnight. The anchor in
starting tore off large piece from the
| foe with three men upon it, and as the
Polaris drove past them they cried out
in an agony of terror: "What are we to
do?" Cspt Buddington shouted back
that he could do nothing for them. They
had boats and provisions, and must shift
for themselves as best they could 81 NoTE
l-fhcse three men, Sergeant afsyes and
two Others were saved with the Tyson
party A few minutes later sthosaen
the Poaris saw boat launched apd
manned by three men, making for the
place where their comrades were station,
ed. In short time the storm and dark
ness shut out every object from their
view.
| The feeling of the men can be imag
lined, as with half Of the crew left to
perish, as they supposed, in desert of
ice and snow, 1.-The ship drifted away help
less until at last she brought up at Life.
| boat Cove.
The prospect was now gloomy enough,
There seemed to be little prospect of
their remaining in the Polaris. She still
leaked fearfully land in her damaged con-
dition Buddington had no hope of get
ting any further south with her. 1t was
therefore determined to beach her, but
the question was,how that could be done
The wind being favorable, an opening in
the pack was finally discovered, and the
ship was bored through under the can
vas. Everything apparently favored the
work, but though the saip was only few
miles from shore it took twelve hours to
Get close in. \ ~
The next consideration was how to
provide for the shelter of the men on
shore. All the timbers from between
were torn out.provisions were deposited
on the ice, the coal was removed, and
everything useful was secured. The
walls of house were then built of
heavy planks jointed to exclude the wind,
and the roof was made of sails. In such
home the long winter was passed
Some help was received from three Es-
quimaux, who discovered the wrecked
ship, and agreed, for few paltry pres
ents, to convey provisions over the ice
from the vessel. They gave still more
valuable aid by supplying skins for clio
thing, of which the crew were greatly in
need, for many of their clothes were
worn out ,and many more were lost when
the vessel broke away on the night Of
the 18TH The EsquimauX had plenty,
and though they were tilthy-smelling gar
ments the castaways gladly adopted the
full Esquimaux costume of fur trowsers,
coats, hats and boots.
Through the long, dreary winter the
men kept up their spirits remarkably
well The snow fell heavily, but it serv-
ed to protect their frail babitation and
make it more comfortable. Their ar
rangements were so complete that no
visit to the ship was necessary before
January 9th, when they went for a
supply of wood. Fresh water was OBJ
tanned in abundance by collecting pieces
of icebergs and melting them.
Toward the end Of winter Chester
suggested some means should be agreed
upon to extricate the party from their
perilous position. The provisions were
gradually diminishing, and the fuel, OF
which only six tons had been obtained
from the ship, was nearly exhausted -
The Polaris was still available for ma
terials, and it was now proposed to build
two coats. A survey by Chester show
ed that the lining of the cabin could be
used, and this was accordingly stripped
off Du,inu tho SnrinU months with