Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1880-08-11
Letters From the Arctic.

Letters From the Arctic.
San Francisco Chronicle, Aug. IL
James A. Doyle, chief engineer Of
the revenue cutter Richard Rush, is
in receipt of the following letter from
Captain G. L. Hooper, written on board
the Thomas Carwin, at St. Michael's,
and bearing date of July s. via Ouna-
laska
I'VE left here on the night of the
I'D of June, and made a short cruise
on the Arctic, going as far north as
latitude sixty-nine. We communi-
Gated with the natives on each side
without getting any tidings of the
missing ships, and then went north on
the Arctic side, until we came to the
ice pack, which we followed clear
around to the American side, but
saw nothing. Finding that we
could not get further north until
the ice breaks up more, we came back
here to coal up and clean our boiler.
etc. This is the first time we have had
fires hauled since we left San Fran
cisco, The vessel works frst-rate.
She makes six and a half knots on
three and a half tons of coal. l prefer
her to any other vessel in the service
for this cruise. On our way up, on
account of the ice, we went to the
westward from here, passing along the
side Of the st. Lawrence island. We
examined the settlements along and
found the natives all dead, as reported.
AS near as | can find out, between
four and five hundred have starved in
two years. We have had several
walrus hunts and some polar bear
hunts. have killed three
bears and a large number
Of walrus. Everything goes as quietly
on board as could be asked. We start
again in a day or two. We stop at
Kotzebue Sound and from there 60 as
far north as we can get. | hope to
reace Herald Island by the first of
August. The whalers all think the
missing whalers and the jeanette are
gone and will never be heard from
again, but it won't do to say that until
we are sure. Twill try and know their
fate before going out Of the Arctic
this fall. | hope to see you about the
middle Of October or even after.
The following letter was also re-
ceived by Mr.. Doyle, written by Cap
tain Hooper at Norton Sound, June
10:
l wrote you from 0unalaska and
told you we would start on the 8th to
this place, which we did at 2 D. M,
arriving at Seal islands on the 8th, and
after stopping a few hours came on to
this place. We met the ice on the
18th, but as it was blowing hard from
the southwest we did not think it ad-
visable to try it, so we came on to the
north side of Nounivak and remained
there until the 10Th, when the gale
abated and we entered the ice. We
worked our way north, close in shore,
as fast as we could until we came in
sight of Cape Romanzoff, where we
found the ice solid, not broken up.
We lay drifting helplessly in the
pack for three days, at times in some
danger of losing our rudder. We a r
ried away our wheel chains and the
screw steering gear, and came near
losing the rudder. We secured an
oak plank on the rudder heel to keep
it from unshipping; shifted coal for
ward until we could get at the wood
lock and split it out; rugged a pair of
shoes of a couple Of boat slingbacks;
cut a place out Of the apron the size Of
the rudder casing, so the head could
go forward, and she was all right. We
can take it in on deck at three min
utes' notice, and after a little practice
can do it in two minutes. l have no
fear of losing it now. She got several
pretty hard nips in the ice--one lifted
her bodily up two or three feet
but she stood it all right. The past
winter has been an uncommonly Sc
we're one and the spring very late.
The ice in the sound only broke I'M
yesterday, so the natives tell us. We
are sixteen miles from the settlement.
If we don't get there tomorrow | will
send our mail on shore by the natives
and go on and try to get into the
straits. Behring sea seemed to be
filled with ice. A northeast gale
broke the ice on the 18th and started
it off shore, but soon tackled it into
northwest and drove it all back. We
went at anchor close in under Cane
RomanzOff and made fast to a piece of
ice aground in FIVE and a half fathoms
and about thirty feet high, which kept
us from being driven in shore by the
drift ice. Old Wayson growls around.
shaking his head and saying, Poor
little shipl' The machinery stands
it irst-rate. Our copper is all off and
the ice breaker considerably hent, but
still good.