News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1882-05-18
AWAY UP NORTH.
The Voyage of the Jeannette-Dan.
enhower's Narrative.

The Voyage of the eJeannette-Dan,
enhower's Narrative.
From his conversation with Lieuten-
ant Danenhower the Herald correspond
ent has written out the narrative of the
Jeannette's first yearin the ice. 1t is a
story of absorbing Interest, graphic in
t. simplicity and filbd with the varied
picturesque detail Df incidents that
crowd upon the memory OF one who SO
many months later Bndeavors to recall
the daily life of an .ventfnl time; how
they lived from day to day how from
hour to hour they sood ready to take
their chance In a Desperate final fight
with the elements What they thought;
what they saw and sid: the confidence
that grew in ore aaesIer by standing
shoulder to shoulder ia moments OF i'm
minent peril the attempt in the face Of
ever present death to extract knowledge
for scientific uses from observation of
the phenomena of nature the specula-
tive conversations on the, play of the
forces that had them in an unrelenting
grip-aIl this is told now for the first
time in the words of one who was part
of all that happened.
On September 6 the Jeanette en-
tered, with the captain in charge in the
crows nest, lead of open water that
was supposed to be the lead between the
Siberian aud North American packs,
and which it was assumed might be fol-
lowed to an open polynia in high lati-
tude. Through much new ice the ship
rammed her way, bat at four in the
afternoon had become immovable.
There she was secuted for the night,
with fires banked. That night was ex.
ceedingly cold, and she was frozen in.
As soon as her position was fully ex-
amined she was found to be in the mid
die of vast accumulation of foes frozen
together, the whole about four miles
across as if, indeed, in that unluckily
cold night the ship had become the nu.
cleus around which the moving foes
were arrested for sufficient period to
be CONCEALED into one mass. Herald Is
land was in sight at distance of 81
miles, but when, some days later, an at
tempt was made to reach it it was found
to be inaccessible because of open water
within few miles of The beach. 1t has
often been subject d comment that no
cairns were found byCaptain Berry on
either Herald Island CT Wrangell Land,
and this has seemed the more remark
able since it has been known that the
Jeanette was for five months within
sight of one or the otler of these points
of land, and it has ben argued that if
in a cairn on one of these islands there
had been found statement of the fate
of the Jeanette down to about the
period when the drift carried her far be-
yond that limit to the northwest, it
wol7ld have hees = : ~ ,a.et.le iaasiication
for all efforts at rescue to be made on
the Siberian coast. &r. Danenhower
gives on that point the simple explana-
ton as above, that on tie first attempt
to land water was found, and when it
was discovered that there was an If
regular drift movement there appeared
no equivalent advantage for sending
party to so great distance from the
ship that she might be carried beyond
their reach before theycould return.
From this critical peiiod of the i'm
prisonment of the steamer, only four
days later than the time when she was
last seen by an Arctic whaler, the story
is mainly continuous record of the
magnificent resistance OF the gallant
little ship and the good conduct of her
company. Lieutenant Danenhower's
recital in detail of the sensations of the
days when the strain on her seemed
such as might from moment to moment
rend her to ribbons is made more pa
thetic by the remembrance that he all
the time was down below, shut in d
darkened berth, standing this trial alone
in silence and solitude. Perhaps it was
due to this that the impressions were
made so vividly. In Che theory that
was argued between Danenhower and
Chipp of the Arctic ice we may get at
least an imagination of its force. They
conceived of the polar world as covered
with one continuous cap of ice, which
revolved around the Pole under the in
fuence of the Arctic winds, and, as the
ice cap swept around, It's outer edge
plowed away the continents or islands
in its path, or by accidental changes in
currents or winds the cap itself was
shattered by the fearful force of its own
movement. In the outer edge Of that
ice cap the Jeanette was caught, and
her fate was sealed from the moment
she was SO caught because she could
only be freed by a force that would
crumble her up with the crumbled ice
and would pulverize the rock of Glib
raltar if it were there.