The Evening critic., 1882-11-14
MELvIILE,s ACCOUNT


MELvILLE's ACCOUNT
OF the Retreat From the Jeanucttc
stu Bcing Heard by the Board of
Inquiry-Furthcr Details to he
Given Tomorrow.
The Jeanette Board OF Inquiry got to work
promptly this morning, and Engineer Mol
vile took up his story of yesterday. lie re-
lated at length the Intellectual efforts OF their
party to Induce natives TO pilot thcm 10 Bulun.
Pushing out from the landing whore thoy first
met tho natives, they worked up the bay until
progress wns found to be impossible. They
landed and camped and all hands
Passed u Terrible Night.
They started back tho next day to Cape
Balkia, and reaching point near whero they
thought tho huts were, dlsembarked, built n
nre and had tea. They reached the huts
shortly after, and found four natives, who as.
sisted them with food and In making the camp
gear safe Tho next morning the hoad man Of
the village was made TO understand that the
party wished to go on TO Bulun, and he agreed
10 pilot them. They sot out, and on the second
night some deserted huts were reached, In
which IN the og, gsrty somped; ,o, .r..o,
Arrii, when tho pilot said he was unable
physically, TO go further. young man OF
Arrli was then detailed to pllo, the party to
noon OF September 20. This was the first
inhabitated village the party had seen. 1t
of he noun,e,ns m bordesnr az tba Ian@ n Rya T
proper. Most of
Tho Party were Then Prostitution,
and could hardly walk.
After good meal and sleep they set out
again, tho party having been increased by
several native pilots. Thoy went to the east
ward, and about o'clock their boats shoalcd.
The no:lv.s appeared afraid OF the Ice and
seemed TO believe II their boats were frozen In
II would be impossible to go across country.
They then returned to the village, and
crawled ashore. When they won't up 70 tho
huts
witness Told Danenhower
to sec that the natives did not inJure tho boats
IN hauling the boats away. This was septcm.
ber 81, 1881.
Tho witness was then asked what was tho
particular overt act for which Collins had
been suspended In March, 1880.
witness did not know, having been In tho
cabin at the time.
member OF the board suggested that this
could be probably shown by another witness.
The Judge.Adyocate thought so, too, and
changed his method.
The witness then, In response to questions,
said that the men were In fairly good spirits
| whom they retreated from tho Jeanette, but
| possibly more serious and inclined to closer
cempanionship &C for the purpose OF consulting
with ench other.
Although Collins had boon ordered to do no
more work on the trip, the witness was Of tho
| opinion that
Collins was Able TO Work.
There was an equal,diylsion of labor among
the men, and all seemed satisfied In the way
| they were assigned of to different boats.
Pending question as TO whether, in retreat
| Ing, they had selected the best boats available
Tor all purposes, the court took recess.
After Recess.
In answering tho former question the wilt
ness said In effect that the boats selected were
| tho best they had, as to tho facility for trans
portatlon over the Ice and sea worthness. Tho
| second cutter was considered the best In every
respect. The crews were apportloncd Off to
| the several capacities of tho boats, the second
| cutter carrying the lightest crow. Taking the
| whole thing Into consideration, from the time
| OF the wreck and subsequent perilous trip,
| there
| lection of Boats.
| witness fitted The weather cloths to his own
| boat, and presumed that Chlpp fitted his own
| boat. NIndermann filled the first cutter. AS
to the alleged controversy between Danen.
| hover and Ncwcomb before reaching Bennett
| Island, the witness said he knew nothing OK
| cept that II was the talk OF the camp. Now
| comb was under the command OF witness.
Danenhower aided both In making and
| launching the drag during tho gallo of septem.
Der ~. Danenhower maneuvered their boat
| then In heaving to. Witness considered
| DanenhOWer's Management of the
BOnt all Right.
| The witness could think OF nothing further
relating TO the retreat that he desired to state
| The court then proceeded to examine tho
TO Commodore Temple: Tho route to Lena
| River, II was understood, before the ship was
crushed was not changed 1t was to be by way
i
| expressing himself on that point, but II was
| changed after the retreat began more to the
| westward and at right angles. This change
| was announced to witness by De Long. He
| was sure that their original Intentions were to
| reach tho Lena River by way Of the Now
| Siberian Islands, thon so up the Lena River,
| through Russia and then home.
The BOnts Were Not Too Heavily
| Loaded,
| as witness understood 1t, and their march
could not have been facilitated had their loads
| been fighter, as the principal part of the bur-
| dens was provisions, and they could not have
| pulled through with less food open water
was reached as quickly as possible, as far as
| any member OF the party Knew The ten days
delay when the sleds were lost 1t was impos-
sible TO avoid.
| Mr.. Collins Case.
Tho witness did not believe that Mr.. Collins
had been restored to duty after his suspen-
sion, when the retreat began over the Ice In
answer to q question as to whether the Scr
vices OF the parties suspended after the retreat
were not needed, the witness said there was
no doubt but that tho services OF every man
was required. Collins remained suspended
from the time they deserted the ship until the
boats parted. Witness understood that whom
ever Collins worked he worked on his own vo-
lition.
Here the room was cleared, and tho Board
went into executive session.
| After the secret session closed, the witness
stated that after the parting OF the boats Lieu
tenant Danenhower never Expressed desire
nor unwillingness to take charge OF tho boat
From September ~, 1881, to September ~,
1881, Lieutenant Danonhower was able TO
perform some duties, but not ALL
The court here adjourned.
| Tomorrow tho witness will be interrogated
as to the efforts made to rescue lost monlbers
of the party. 1t Will, according to Mr.. Mel
| ville's statement to-day, bo u long and ex.
tremely interesting narrative.
Mr. william FInnimer,
| lat rf I 1ta baa taIya