Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1873-06-05
The Fate of Capt. Hall.


1t is worthy Of note that DIR. I. I.
Hayes, himself IN Arctic explorer,
should have surmised mutiny, murder,
treachery of some kind as soon as he
learned of the return of several of Capt.
Halls associates, and the announcement
OF Capt. Halls death. The later state
ments made by those who have reached
New York confirm DR.. Hayes suspicion
to some extent, and leave the impression
that the whole story has not yet been
told. The instincts of DIR. Hayes as an
explorer, and the experience he has had
IN Arctic expeditions, must have given
him some mysterious sort of intelligence,
not exadily defined, by which he arrived
at conclusions not warranted by the first
statement of the survivors, but partially
confirmed by the later accounts. There
is now little doubt that the party which
was rescued by the Tigris was deliber-
ately abandoned by the Polaris, Capt.
Halls vessel, at the instance of Bud
d1ngtOn, the man in command. From
the description of the situation, it is
hardly possible that the rescued party
could have been cut off so suddenly from
the ship without ever again getting
sight of her, if there had been any dis
position on the part'o of her commander
to find the men who had been left on the
ice. Nor can it be regarded as purely
fortuitous that the deserted party should
have been so well supplied with pro-
visions. The presumption that Tyson
and his companions were deserted is
strengthened also by the vague accounts
of d~issensions and troubles among the
crew that are now reported. There is
little doubt that every one of the sur
vivors could give a more intelligent and
satisfactory account of these troubles
than any that has yet been presented,
and it is o than likely that such an
account will be forthcoming sooner OF
later. Hans Christian and Esquimaux
Joe have already told more than they at
first intended to tell. According to the
story of the latter, Capt. Hall evidently
died believing that he had been poisoned;
and he was not the sort of man who
would naturally labor under a delusion.
1t seems that others shared this con-
v%iction, for, after Halls death, there was
unusual cir~cumspection about eating
and drinking, and there were whispered
queries as to the taste and condition of
the food and drink that were passed
around. Tyson says that "the Ger
mans" ruled the ship after Capt. Halls
death, and that the vessel was managed
without system or discipline. Whoever
"the Germans" were, these statements
indicate that there was mutiny on board,
probably conspiracy, and perhaps muir
der.
This information is mournful at once
from a scientific and moral point of view.
If Capt. Hall had not been brought to
his death by treachery or abuse, it is
every way probable that his expedition
would have had more important results
than any of it's predecessors. 1t seems
that he had already passed beyond what
Kane had taken to be the Open Polar
sea that he had penetrated more than
200 miles nearer the object of his search
than any other explorer, and that he had
reached q latitude where the weather
had become milder and more endurable.
1t is impossible to conceive that a man
of Halls ambition, pluck, and endurance
would have consented to turn back at
this point. The ship was in reasonably
good condition, the supplies were plenty,
and the prospect Of discovering an I'M
frozen ocean had never before been SO
promising.
The conduct which is attributed to
Buddington, and those of the expedition
who remained in the Polaris, surpasses
in infamy anything of recent occurrence,
if these men were really guilty of desert
ing their fellows to what they must have
believed to be certain death. -CHicaqO
Tribune,