Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1882-07-08
The Vicfints OF tie JcaRno;le. Ern{bitI0n
--CoIa nldHdcr he Longs Note Book
4 Pathetic Record

--Comm,Gmdcr De Longs Note BOOK
4 Pathetic Record.
Washington, June 2G.--The Secretary Of
the Navy has received 4 communication
from Engineer Melville giving an account
of The finding Of the bodies of Commander
De Long and his party IN the Lena Delta.
Il is the same narrative that WAS published
in the press dispatches Of June -, with Tie
entries in Commander De Long notebook
added. The iFst Of these entries was made
October /. 1881. and is as follows: One
hundred and eleventh day, and q new month.
Called al hands a. soon as the cook an
nounced boiling water. and at @. 40 Lad our
brCakias,--half pound of dec- meat and
tea The doctor resumed The cutting sway
Of poor Frickson's toes this morning. No
doubt Il viii have 70 continue Till balf his
feet ere eo~e.or death cnsues or we 20 to a
settlement Only ore tie lei' now
On October / touching instance Of the
devotion of AleXy 70 his commander Is no
ted. The p-eyiois night Na7 terribly cold,
and algxy wrapped his soalsNin around De
Long and kept him warm with the heat OF
his own body. De Long gratefully puts the
incident on record. IN the morning Erlck-
son 'yas anclrsci0gs. Hc vHs la.hct TO a
Slcd ana ihe Journey rcs;ucI. y. large hat
was found and ;or the h-st time il many
day. I.y were allie omakcthcmseiyes COM
Portable. IN tre evening each Ouc had a-haN
POUND ofGpg meat ard acupof tea. L-lck-
sln died Thursday, Ociohtfj g.. ThcEronnd
was $50 aAgi frozen tlat ii. Surviving com
panYUs could rot Jig grave Tor him, 80
they sewcd the body in the flaps OF tent
dropped 10 in theriycrand fired three vo!icys
from their rifles On this day De Long wrote
in his notebook: "Nhat in Gods name Is 20
become Of Us? Fourteen pounds Of dog meat
eft and twenty-five miles TO a possible set
tlement.'
On the mex. day hemadc the following en-
'"Frday, CctobcrG-ll7th day breakfast
consisting ofthc last lali-Pound of dog meat
and tea. The last grain Of ten was put iii the
kettle. and We are now about 10 undertake q
Journey OF twenty-five miles with some old
tea leaves and two quarts Of alcohol. How
ever. trust in God, and believe that lie
who has ted rs thus far VIII not suffer US to
die of want now"
Ancntry made October shows that alco-
hol Is Of great value in the absence Of food.
Commander De Long writes:
Saturday, October Stalled all hands
AT $40; breakfast, half-ounce of alcoholand
Il pint OF hot water. Alcohol proves ofgrcat
advantage; keeps oG craving for food, pre-
venting rnawing az L'mach, and has kept
up the strength ofthc men as given, three
ounce per DAY, in accordance wth d. Am
blc-'s experiments"
On Sunday, Octolcr9, Noros and Nindcr-
manwsrc sent ahead 10 look lor help, and,
rs has been stated before, thcy fell in with
Danlnhowcr's patty ai,l ge!erescucd. IEe
brief catr..- made iy De Long Jitcr tbs sim
ply record the .cggc .,!yc sage ois.ow star
vation.
"Thurs.laY. t9-Wiilow tea. NJ news
from NIndtrmGn Ncarein tto hands Of
God. and unloss Heleienfs wcare lost. We
comet nose araiu-. thc aind, and staying
here means -targAt;0n. Afternoon went O.
head for q mile. Aitcr crossing anothcrriy-
or. or bend of the biz one, missed Lee
Went down in q hole in bank and cawped
sent back for Lee. lie bad lain down and
was waiting % die. All united in wing
Lord PRAYER and creed. After rsuprc- -trOng
gale Of wind. Ho-Eiblc night.
The bill of afc for Friday, October j..
WAS Cereal kfa-t, willow tea; dinner, onc-Alh
SPOONFUL -.~cc, oil and tiiiow tea Alexy
,hota ptarmigan. and there wa s01p in the
evcring The breakfast on Saturday morn
inc was "wi'ov tca and two old boots"
Now and then tlczy, who wa, the hunter
i0r the party. shot ptarnigan, from which
soup was made, bat on October 10 be broke
down On the following day DR.. Amber
baptized him. and hc died about His
body was laid on the ice IN the river and
covered with slabs Of ice Knock and lee
next succumbcd to starvation and were laId
up. Prayers were read for the sick. Knock
was found dead II midnight October q, q
be lay between Or. Amber and De Long.
Lee died about noon Of the sauo fey. DE
Long makes this pathetic entry: Too weak
70 garry the bodies OfLee and Knock ont on
the ice. The Doctor, Collins and myselfcar-
ried them around the conner out Of sight.
Then MY eye closed up"
IversOn died on Friday, October ..
Dressler died on Saturday night October y.
The following. is the last entry in the book.
SUNDAY Oct. -, l40th day.-Boyd and
Gartz died during the night II. Collins
diving"
DE Long, Surgeon Amber and All sam.
the cook, were still alive when this record
was made, but they mist have died soon AZ
terwards
4 good Likeness: An Austrian man start