Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1881-12-28
The Missing jeanette.

On the Doth, the State department
at Washington received the following
dispatch from st. Petersburg, Russia:
The Jeanette was crushed in the Ice June
IL I'm latitude -, longitude l57. The crew
embarked in three boats and were separated
bv wind and fog. No. 3 with eleven men,
the engineer, Melville, commanding reached
the mouth Of the Lena September 10 Sub
sequeutly No. !, with Capt. belong, Dr. Am
bier and twelve men, reached Lena in pitt
able condition. Prompt assistance was sent.
so. . was not heard from.
The following from the Detroit Free
Press will give a short account Of the
Jeannette's history as far as known:
The Jeanette left San Francisco on her
exploring expedition July 8, 1879, nearly
two wears and a half ago. She was fitted out
bv James Gordon Bennett Of the New York
Herald She was Of 400 tons burden, sup
piled with everything which experience had
taught was desirable IN voyages Of the nature
I Of the one upon which she was engaged, and
was proyisioned for three years. She had o
/ crew Of thirty-two men, and was commanded
/ By Lieutenant George w. belong, L. s. y,
/ with Licutenants Chip, L. s. " and Dan
. T. =
/ ting officers respectively Besides there
were Dr. Amber, surgeon Chief Engineer
Melville, ice-pilot Dunbar Mr.. Newcomb,
collector Of specimens, Mr.. Collins, mcicoro-
! logist and correspondent, and the crew. She
reached Oondaska August 2, and Herald.Is
/ land September 3, 1879, since which time nc
direct advices have been received from her
Last year the United States revenue cutter
Corwin made an unsuccessful search for the
Jeanette. The Corwin left San Francisco
Nav %, 1880. and returned October IL Of tho
same year. She penetrated to within three
miles Of Herald Island August 3, and Sep
tember IL was within twenty-five miles o
Wrangell Land. 1t was expected that In,
Jeanette would winter somewhere in the vi
cinity Of Wrangell Land but the Corwii
could neither get there nor further 10 tn
! east. and returned without any trace of tn
missing vessel.
How, far east or north the Jeanette wa
able TO get is not told in the dispatches Sh
was i'm latitude II degrees north and long
, itude 157 degrees east when the ice crushe
} the vessel and compelled the crew to take L
J the boats. II is probable that this localit
, represents the limit Of her journeyings- to
{ ward the Atlantic, but she may have pent
trated some distance further to the nortl
e One dispatch saws that the crew are safe, bu
, that from Charge d'Afaires Hoffman, at s.
{ Petersburg, shows that one Of the three boat
in which the men put out when the Jeanett
E was abandoned is missing. The two boat
which reached the Lena had together twent
2 five officers and men, and as the full compile
{ ment was forty, some fifteen were in the boz
[ No. .. from which no tidings have been r,
, ceived. For three months the men were j
!. the open boats, and their suflerings -wor
most intense. Considering the deplorabl
: condition in which the men in boats No.
4 and No 3 were when they reached land Ga
3 probability is that the occupants Of boat NJ
3 have persisted. There is n chance th'
thev have made some other point in salct,
but rs all were together when City mile
from land, the presumption IS that, If sai'
tbev would have landed not far distant froi
their fellow-survivors, and would have bee
= discovered and succored about the same iim'
4 That there is no news from them is, there
= fore suggestive of terrible fate.