New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1873-10-09
The pOIaris Expedition

dated September 10, supplies copious details
ia relation 20 the Polaris expedition. The
Dispatch iuns thus This afternoon the
whaling vessel Arctic, Captain Adams, ar
ryed from the Davis Straits whale fishing.
having on beard the following members OF
tie crew o. the Polaris: Capt = o. Bud
a.ngtou, sailing and ice master; DIR. Emi,
Bcsscl> II. {. Chester, first mate; William
Martin. second mate Emil Schumann. chief
engineer: y. Odeii, seco"d engineer; ".
!. Campbell. fireman y. J. Coffin. carmen
ter; II. Icmmcn>, seaman; Henry Hobby,
seaman; and Noah HAYES, seaman. All
the men are well, and none of them exhibit
features Of cmaciation or decrep;tudc. The
GLOWING narratives of the incidents which
occurred after the abandonment Of The Po-
ar. has been furnished BY several Of the
crew Prior 70 the 18th of October last the
,a.n had been leaking good deal aud ulii-
uatt!y >hc got into such a condition that !:
Wa deemed alysabl. IL consider rs to her
.f..u.l ,rsH.It On tn" 18th az October II
~. determine t. leave the ship. she being
tl.l - 4,,ult -. With this view "A mum
lr, a., u.su proceeded II the ice, while the
Other, renamed on board, the Object bein.,
- take ryr-yth.ng ashore which would be
u.r.,I!, j.. y.rw OF "a long sojuurn in the Polar
regions. bile the work OF taking every
thing 'ul o.. The ship was proceeding, and
.tlAlt.H J.. st44' l. - 'its, y very severe
-.,c -I.:tu. Up. snow fell heavily, and the
and. besides being strong, was exceedingly
variable. The operations were however con
laGcl with unremiiting Effort; the boats
were a.! son; un The zee, ayd 4 great quantity
81 Provisions were taken out. suddenly the
Aaw-crs hy which the ship WAS made fast 10
de ;,c-iIocs gave way. aud one Of them
snapped a>i;n!cr, and the other pulled the
anchor, which was lodged in the ice, from its
place. II was now about midnight BY the
Starting Of the anchor large piece OF the
Toe wa, removed from its position. On it
we've three men, and rs the rolaris was
driven past them they cried in their agony,
what are we to do: ~ The captain re-
piled that he could do nothing for them, that
ihry lal boats and provisions and they must
30 the hr-, they cp.ild. In lew moments
those "H lie ship saw The boat launched and
manned t.y The three men, who made for the
lace where their comrades were stationed
soon every object was lost 10 view. and
une-haii the crew were left to live or die
among the deserts 81 SNOW. The ship drilted
away aud ultimately reached Iifeboat Cove.
The pros cct of remaining in the ship was
byno means encouraging. She leaked badly,
and the probability OF letting south in her
was considered out Of the question. 1t WAS
therefore determined 10 beach her; but how
this was TO be accomplished occasOned some
doubts i'll the minds of all. The wind was
favorable, and an opening in the pack hay
ing been discovered, the ship was bored
through it under canvas and stean, Appar-
emily everything favored the desired result,
but although the ship was only few miles
from the shore, the operation Of getting her
put in as close as possible was only COM
plete after twelve hours work. The next
thing which came to bc considered was how
shelter was to be provided on Shore All
the tmbcrs from between decks we're torn
from their places, the provisions were dcpus-
tied on the ice, the Goals were removed. and
everything which was useful secured With
the heavy blanks the walls Of the house
were constructed, and they were so jointed
as to prevent the entrance of winds as much
as possible, and The roof was made out of
two sails. In such primitive home it be-
came imperative 10 pass the winter, perhaps
comiortiess. As II was, il would have been
more so but for the assistance of a party of
Esquimaux. Three of that Tribe discovered
the whereabouts of the ship, and in exchange
Tor ratry pre- CE:S agreed to convey over the
Ice the provisions which had been saved from
the vessel: At they even gave more eff.
Gent aid. The poor navgatcrs were not
very well of for clothing; much of what they
had was worn out, and they had lost n good
dea! AT the time when the whole crew were
dIIduelllB iOI the abanuDilnCNt. lIc ESqul-
nlaux had lots of skin clothing; and although
The smell OF il was not very pleasant, il was
quite dl5regarded in consequence of the ne
cesstics Of the situation. Ii was rather an
amusing sight TO witness all the men moving
about III their fur trousers, coats, boots, and
hats, but there were few onlookcrs every
body was cheerful, and time did not hang so
heavily a. might be supposed. The winter
was long and dreary enough, and although
snow fell very heavily the crew had no par
ocular objections TO it, as il sustained the
walls of their frail habitation, and made it
much more comfortable So complete were
the arrangements that il was not till the 11th
OF January that a visit to the ship had to be
made for the purpose of procuring wood
There WAS no difficulty in procuring fresh
water; a few pieces of IL berg were collected,
and on heat being applied to it the water
was speedily obtained. Toward the close of
The winter the first mate, Mr.. Chester, sug-
sestcd that some means should be employed
with the view OF eXtricating all from the per-
Ilou, position in which they were placed.
Time WAS rolling on, the provisions were
gradually but surely becoming exhausted,
and the fuel, OF which there had only been
some six tons when they left the ship, was
almost used up. The idea Of building two
boats was thought of. The P0laris was still
available for ANYTHING which might be wanted
IN the shape of timber, and accordingly an
examination of her was made, III order to
ascertain where suitable material might be
got for bodybuilding. Mr.. Chester, on a
survey, AT once conceived the idea that the
thin lining OF the cabin might be made very
serviceabe. After ii was stripped down a
new difficulty presented itself The wood
was all pierced with nails, and how the boat
alter il was built was 10 be made watcr-tght
VAS the next question 10 solve. Mr.. Ches-
Ter, according to the statements of all the
crew, was apparently able to cope " Il all
emergencies. With the assistance ol the
carpenter the planks were put together in
such a manner that the difficulties, which AT
hrst appeared insurmountable, were almos,
completely overcome. 1u the cold spring
months, when tho Thermometer was below
zero % degrees, frequently in the midst Of
binding DRIFT, the construction Of the boats
proceeded. The situation was one exceed.
!ngly trying and we'll calculated TO daunt the
strongest hearts. Still lie depended upon
the effort and il could not be relaxed. DAY
alter day a decided advance was made, anl
at the close oil the month Of June the part,
were ready 10 depart aud make a determine d
attempt 10 push southwark. When every.
Thing was maturcl symptoms Of scurvy ap.
peared. Happily, however, they turned ou
~ DC OF Il trivial character, but all cnncu!re,
IN saying that but for plentiful supply o
walrus liver ahtainpi thrnuyh tho E.rui