Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1883-02-07
LIEUTENANT DANENHoWER,
The Hero of The JeanneIte BE.
fore an Immense House
at CineianRti.
Commeroial 0aEstta. 3.

| the Grand Operahouse yesterday at
ternoon, to hear the fifth lecture In tht
Unity Club course, and received
hearty welcome He wasintroduced b,
his friend, Mr.. G. w. Mayer in few
preliminary remarks alluding to tn,
lecture Of Mayor Dane, on up tn,
Rhine and Over the Alps" placed il
contrast with what they would heal
from the lecturer Of the day, who
would recount the experiences OF the
i'll fated "Jeannette" and her crew o.
heroes who had penetrated into the
eternal region of ice in the polar
world; he whom they mourned as dead
but who indeed returned to home and
friends as If from the far beyond.
Again the modest officer received the
hearty greeting of his audience. He
spoke extempOre, rapidly, and in
a merely conversational tone and man
ner. He proposed to relate az plainly
as possible the narrative of the Jean
nette, name bestowed upon the shin
by young lady, in lieu of its original
name, Pandora" The expedition
started from the Golden Gate" on
July 8, 1879, and was traced miputely
throughout its course. Alaskais more
than half civilized its people are
under the missionary labors of the
Russian church. At Lawrence Bay
they found an uncouth and unciyil.
lied, i'll fed, unproductive people
They had nothing to eat and nothing
to sell. The men are selfish and
rude, even towards their women. One
OF the men was handed a piece of pie
and some prunes. He ate the pie and
then attacked the prunes, which he
also ate, taking pains to crack the
nuts, and, having eaten the kernels
handed his wife the broken shell as
her share. He thought that Oscar
Wilde has mission before him. He
should go up to those farthest limits
OF habltation and teach the inhabi
tants to adorn their huts with flowers
and to wear button hole bouquets.
As to polar expeditions generally
the lecturer was a good deal of the
opinion now of the chap in Philadel.
phia, who asked, the other day, what
we wanted with North poles anyhow
We had too many polls. without any
satisfactory returns at that. Passing
to the subject of his lecture, Lieuten
ant Danenhower proceeded to speak
OF the ocean aspects of the Northern
sea, keeping constantly in view of his
audience the leading land points on a
mammoth track chart of theJ eannette
In the Northern Pacific Ocean. Ihe
line OF the good old hymn, From
Greenland's Icy Mountains, is not a
poetic ianoy. 1t is a fact. Eternal
mountains OF Ice are characteristic Of
the far North seas. He described the
process Of how forming ioe with the
predom'nance Of salt that crisps under
foot like sand. The expedition was
the only one on record without groQ
and as a consequence It made an un-
usually good medical record. When
the ship was first laid up for winter it
was terrible sometimes to hear the
explosions aboard, caused BY the con
tyRotion of the timber and metal by
the excessive cold. The company was
very happy, and there Hss no occasion
tor discipline but with one OF the men
who was gwen to frigLtIul profanity
lie was sorry to say that there had
been so much said about the troubles
OF that expedition; for, in fact, there
were none OF any significance. Go
into a bank or store, or business
house, into a church, or even into A
family, and few would be found as
free from unpleasautness as was the
crew OF the Jeannette He was glad,
however, that the unpleasant talk had
been stopped.
During the weary months they had
diversions, among others seal hunting
The seal is cunning little creature.
It comes up to breathe at a hole in the
ice and suddenly disappears again at
the usual sight OF man. 1t is sure to
return again, and that is the time to
shoot. 1t must be hit square between
the eyes, as the body is concealed BY
the heavy coating Of ice all around the
hole. The great white polar bear was
good sport, especially with dogs, but
it required a good deal Of philosophy
on their part TO eat its rancid flesh.
Some of our English authorities have
represented the polar region as team
ing with life. One Of their men was
suffering with a gunshot wound and
fresh meat was necessary to save him.
but it was four months before a seal
could be seen and shot for the sake of
a stake. So that life didn't team"
very much there just then. The mar
ratlve was enlivened By numerous
little humorous touches such as that.
Some Of the men suffered from de-.
preston. One day, after the ship
broke loose, raven few across the
view and was shot. 1t seemed a bad
omen to the superstitious. One said
that the Jeanette would never get
free from her icy letters, and so, 10,
deed, it proved.
In the spring OF 1881 they sighted a
little island in the northwest. 1t was
not on the charts, and it was named
the Jeanette in honor of the shin
Soon they felt that the ship was has,
tening to her doom. The slabs of ice
in which she foated were ten feet
thick, the temperature SOC below
zero, Finally, on June 18th, the
crisis came. The ship became unten
able, and the Captain gave the word
to abandon her. The Captain was
| the last to leave the wrecking ship.
She sunk at last in thirty eight faith
oms of water, the crashing ice sing.
ing a requiem above her. But it was
the best thing after all that could
have happened. He indicated the point
on the chart in the Arctic ocean
where the Jeanette went down, and
although t1e recital was a mere repe.
tition of what has been published over
and over again, it possessed vivid
and even thrilling interest for the
attentive audience.
Their food was "pemican, made on
a receipt drawn up by DR.. O. /. Hall,
Of Cincinnati, the Arctic explorer
At mention of that name the audience
applauded. The explorers enjoyed
the "pemican" far more than fruit
cake, and it was much more whole
| -. r.. H..