New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-10-07

know. had hoped to accomplish sOmething p9N , ~
the first SUMNER and we have done nolnins. 10
waiting for next summer We are consuming Onr PIV-
W, ions and fnel, and running the rsk OF tue GU
fesblement of the general health which "lhVers
confinement may produce
From the outset he sought to economic coal, 80
az to have sufficient fuel for steaming northward'
IL the hour Of release should ever come. Every
statement from the engineer il regard to the
diminution of the supply is recorded with sign
in the journal. Under date of July l, 1884, ne
writes:
Our coal account shows that we have remaining
ffty-six and One-half tons, At all hazards lhnSI
retain thirty tons for keeping us warm %hq cOOkmt
and distilling next winter, so that L nave Just
tWepty-six tons that couid be devoted 10 steauIhs
In case had fair chance TO accomplish any IHins,
As our consumption per diem III steamlha MouIo ,G
at least five tons have IN round Numbers IEe uHSn
Streaming, Aud this have to make the fole, hc-
compsh tie Northwest Passage, or 90 BACK empty
handed What ending the last Woui9 I've CuHi,
pared with our beginniug,-the yacDls tho ipiI
solute etc. etc Ii makes nv heart SIGN 10 'hIhH
of IT, What a return for the expenditure OF monol
What realization OF all my lonu ui'"i"' anu
hopes
The summer brought no release from their I'M
prisonment III the Ice, and De Lone was compeiied
70 face the drcary necessity OF second WlnterlhG
in the omen pack. With grim humor he deals with
the irony of his fate:
Aurust 90. Sunday.-Another week. come ana
gone and here we are yet OF course, III Is LOT Tue
l.4af T.
INT OH how hard. and III fact impossible II Is 10
draw anv consolation from 1t. Our SITUATION seohlS
unchanged, and its continuance inevitable.
But we cannot help asking ourselves Ihe question:,
8 shall we he any more successful when II has
nassed ?" Here we have been nearly year drilt-
ing with the ice to and fro and we are aGout ono
hundred and forty miles aOrth-n0rt invest OF where
we started. Let us suppose year from nov We
are still one hundred and forty miles north OF our
position today latitude PORN run 90 Or saw say north 7
deg 80 min. We shall thenbe 500 mics itHih tIo
Pole and 500 miles from a siberian settlement
with n disabled ship no fuel, ana perhaps as I'M
r,ovahiv damned as now. Surprising our progress
were in the same successive manner me utNt ycS,'
and so on in SIX additional years We snou'i,l Ie"'n
th. Pole But what is the use OF hgurlng u up--S
nan might as we'll attempt TO demonstrate ~
mathematical calculation the day OF DIS "eath'
Lei us deal with tho present.
rho second winter passed, the drift uorthT ard
becamo more rapid, and at last about the middle
Of Nav these exnorers WHO for twenty months, with
tho o,ceptIon of Wraugell aud Herald Islands for
hr;ef season. had seen nothing but ice, and done
rotb,no bat DRIFT with the foes espied land. What
nathos there is in this bit Of oIuitatlon:
49,, m &c we have been for over twenty
.oo+6s vo shall enjoy getting our t0Bt on solid
narIh or stone as much rs II ~ were I6hUal Iark,
=" = will he q change. But whether II VII b7
~ or tone va do not know, OF course. What
80 rCcr oesOlate island, STANDING among icy
nstas NAV have to do II the economy 81 ma ure DO
moi know or in fact care. IL is S"llc lRi" "heIher
Upl w. origin or otherwise. and VIII stand still
Oh FoICanaD u e. Iat a man realize where he Is
~ aoyor Tins must be the spot 10 Whlch the dncks
III 60 have been steadily lying, ana II we can
80 51,ns nj them for q change 10 out canned meats.
ITbar a treat, And then bears mast swarm on orr
isgrdi In fine this island Is 10 Us our al m all
az # we crtcse ID, We gucss al its dis
t,,co we wish Tor favOrlnr gale 10 driNc Ms toward
IL on1 no doubt vo would accept an assertion that
- c"nt1ncd a gold mine which Wonld make us al
:; - treasuTy vii hont II debts believe most
al ne look carefully at our IslanH boI"Ie We 70 Co
"a ~ mo - sure II has not melted away. fou teen
r~ontbs without anything 10 look ar but ice ana
skv and twenty moIthS drifting IN the PACK, WILL
80 LITTLE mass oil volcanic rock Ike our island
as raslnp tn the eye 40 an OASIS Ia tie desrIt.
Another month ami their ship was lost, aad they
were beginning their wsaIisome march, dragging
their hcayily-}adon boats across the ice, AT first
drifting nortbwarG faster than tAoy could advance
toward Siberia and III the end reaching The open
water only to be scattered by q terrible storm.
The whole story is here, the la rowing entries
IN the closing pages OF Tho diary. N which the end
of ono companion after another recorded, until
DE Longs own fingers we're sttened IN death. 10
the last these melancholy journals bear evidence TO
his sohcituds for the comfort OF his men. his
generous appreciation OF the high qualities
displaysl by the officers and especially by
Engineer Melville his hrnness and tact la dealing
with the members Of his command, his intEepIdlty
selt-pussession organizing power and answering
Christian faith. His manhood had strong fibre
his life was pure and noble. De Long a. he Is
revealed in these uupTeteutious Gauss IS one OF
the most inspiring types OF character the tnitea
States Navy has yet produced.