The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1882-06-07

Il
was an excellent man and a giant in
strength, The captain thought a great
deal q him, for he served him faithful
ly in every responsible position.
When the order was given to aban-
don the ship her hold was full of water,
and rs she was heeling twenty-three
degrees to starboard at the time the
water was on the lower side Of the spar
deck, and hope that our friend the
London Standard, will not now think
that we deserted her and left her adrift
in the Arctic, as was stated in one of
the issues of that paper. We had q
large quantity of provisions on the ice
about hundred yards from the snip
but Mr.. Dunbar, who was alive to the
occasion, advised the shifting of these
to an adjacent and more favorable foe
piece. 1t took us till IL p. NJ. to effect
the removal. We also had three boats
namely, the first cutter, second cut
ter and the whaleboat. As soon as DR..
Amber had looked out for Chipp he
relieved me at my post and / went to
work with No. 3 sled party, which had
been detailed previously to command.
The order was given to camp and get
coffee, so we pitched our tent abreast of
the whaleboat, and set about fitting
out for the retreat.
While waiting for coffee 1 walked
over to the ship to take final look at
her, and found the captain, Boatswain
Coles and Carpenter Sweetman on the
port side looking at her underwater
body, which was hove we'll out of
water. l observed that the ships side
between the foremast and smokestack
had been buckled in by the pressure,
and that the second whaleboat was
hanging at the davits, also that the
steam cutter was lying or the ice near
by. Coles and Sweetman asked the
captain if we could lower the second
whaleboat, and the captain said "No."
The three boats, however, we're consi6-
cred enough, and while journeying on
the ice we afterward found Ohipp's boat
to be the favorite with all hands, be-
cause she was considered short and
handy, with sufficient carrying capacity
for eight men. I then suggested to the
men to return to the camp, for the cap
tain doubtless wished to be alone with
the Jeanette in her last moments.
We three returned to the camp TO-
gether, having to jump across numerous
wide cracks and from piece to piece,
and soon after the watch was set and
the order given to turn in. Most of us
obeyed the order promptly, and were
just getting into our bags when we
heard crack and cry from some one
in the captains tent. The ice had
cracked Immediately under the captains
tent, and Erickson would have gone
into the water but for the macintosh
blanket in which he and the others
we're lying; the weight of the others at
the ends keeping the middle of it from
falling through. The order was imme-
iiately given to shift to another foe
piece which Mr.. Dunbar selected for
rs. This was about three hundred |
Yards from the untenable ship. After
about two hours work we succeeded in
shifting all our goods and our three
boats to it. We then turned in.
About 4 o'clock I was awakened by
Seaman Kuehne calling his reliet, Fire.
man Bartlett, who was in our tent. |
Kuehne called to Bartlett that the ship |
vas sinking and the latter jumped to |
,he tent door and saw the spars of the |
Jeanette after the hull was below the |
surface. We heard the crash, but those
we're the only two men who saw the yes
Iel disappear. 1t was said that the ice
irst closed upon her, then relaxing al
owed the wreck to sink; the yards |
'aught across the ice and broke off, but
,eing held by the lifts and braces were
'arried down-depth, thirty eight faith
ms, as remember. The next morn.
ng the captain and others visited the
pot and found only one cabin chair and
few pieces of wood-all that remained |
# our old and good friend the Jean.
lette, which for many months had en-
iured the embrace of the Arctic mon
ter. The Jeanette sank about 4 |
,'clcck of the morning of Monday,
tune 13.
Our retreat commenced on the 18th
he anniversary of Bunker Hill. We
we're detained there four days in MAX
ng preparations, and on the doctors
recommendation awaiting the improve
nent of about quarter of our party,
Who We're debilitated by stomach dis
,rders supposed to be tin poisoning
rom tomato cans.