Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-04-27

pounus Vi coal per gay was ai0Weu LOT neatiDg
the cabin, twenty-5 pounds for the forecastle
and ninety pounds for ships galley for cooking
purposes. We lived on canned goods, with bear
and seal twice week, pork and beans and salt
beef once week, ne rum or spirits except on
festive occasions two or three times . year. The
discipline OF the ship was excellent, and during
the whole 81 months in the pack there was
bat one punishment given. and that was for pro-
family. The crew were well quartered in berths
and were comparatively happy: bad navigation
class an d theatricals. The health OF all was ex-
cellent, and there was special medical eXamin-
alton the first Of every month.
PUMPING FOR KIGHTEEN MONTHS.
The middle Of January brought tremendous
pressureA and the foes caused the vessel both
lateral and longitudinal strains, the men render
ing every assistance though standing In ice
water, and the temperature at AZ degrees below
zero. The vessels bows leaked badly, though it
was not till the 18th June, 1881. that it was
found the forefoot had been twistedto stapboard.
Night and day Carpenter Sweetman and Ninder-
man worked to build q bulkhead forward of the
fofemast, which partially confined the water.
A pump was rugged up by means OF the Baxter
boiler, and the ship was pumped for nearly Is
months A windmill pump for summer was
constructed. but owing to the light winds was
not serviceable.
THE COOLEST WEATHER
was in February, 1880, being So degrees below
zero. At this time the ship was about 50 miles
from the place where it had entered, drifting to
and from the 1SOth meridian. Wrangel Land
began to be seen as insular, and disconnected
with Greenland.
On May 8, $780, the ship was impelled by south
east winds to the northwest. AS Mr. Collins
had predicted. these winds prevailed till the
middle of June, and then reversed their course.
carrying the vessel back over the same track she
tr9vQrSpd OH
August was much milder, it was damp and
misty. more disagreeable than the winter Birds
became plentiful and some were shot, Never
theless the ship was
FIRMLY IMBEDDED IN THE ICE
and no force could have liberated her. Mr..
Chip put his electrical proficiency to good &C
count. and made over 1000 observations Of the
disturbances of the galvanometer during displays
of the aurora borealis The more brilliant the
aurora the greater the disturbance Of the needle.
The telephones were troublesome to manage.
owing to the breaking OF the wires connecting
the ship with the land. The eciipses of Jupi-
ter's satellites were well observed, and results
for chrOnOmeter errors were very good far bet
ter than those by lunar observations
About fifteen days of July were very pleasant,
and the weather, when above 40 Fahrenheit, was
called warm, but soon became raw and disagree
able. Game was successfully pursued during
the first year, both for the table and sealskin
jackets for the men, but afterwards little was
done in that line. The seals were mostly
small, or about forty pounds each when
dressed. Meat distasteful. Walrus scarce.
the water being too deep. Six only We're
taken. which were made into walrus saul
sages by the Chinese cook, and the Otfal fed the
dogs. Fifteen bears We're captured. One huge
and ferocions fellow that had invaded the ship
one night was shot in the heart by Mr.. Dunbar.
A few foxes were seen. generally in the wake Of
the bears A she bear and two cubs neared the
ship at one time. but finally escaped.
Had the ship held together it is believed she
would have drifted out between Sptzbergen
and Bear Island into waters connected with the
Atlantic. Lieut. Danenhower thinks that if the
Jeanette had entered the pack 200 miles fur
ther to the east she could have worked up near
Prince Patrick's Land, where the water is very
deep. The depth of the sea traversed by the
Jeanette was not over sixty fathOms at the
greatest, nor less than seventeen at the least.
No evidence of a current was obtained and the
region east-northeast of Wrangel Land may be
regarded as the Arctic dOldrums," or sea OF
calms So much for the first years story.