The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1883-01-11
Lieutenant belongs Report.
MAsHINaroN. pecemher

WASHINGTON, December %.
Lieutenant belongs report, found beside
his dead body, has been made public. 1t makes
$1,000 words, and details the incidents of the
cruise from the departure from San Fran
cisco, in 1873, to January, 1881. Its principal
feature is an elaborate account of belongs
views in regard to the expedition. He consid-
cred it good judgment to head for wrangell
Land. Hisfdea was to adopt that land as the
support of the first winters campaign; he en-
bodies the story of how the land was sighted,
and how he expected to reach l.. He graphic
ally described how, on the next day, the
Jeanette became beset in the Ice, never again
to be relieved, and says: 1.-THE party was COM
PEELED to make a virttfe of necessity and stay
where we were. Sometimes all night, and
sometimes all day and night, from January 10
to February 4, Sweetman and Ninderman
stood down in the forepeak, the Icy water flow
ing around them nearly to their knees, work
ing faithfully until their work WIS accom-
plished, and the good re suits of that work were
evident in the, era 1u lily reduced amount of
water coming into the ship, and our ability to
control the leak without such ruinous expend-
iture of fuel as had been necessary thereto
fore. 1t is for these reasons that I have had
the honor to recommend these two men to you
for medals OF honor as recognition of heroic
conduct under the most trying circum-
stances"
Captain De Long record Of the remainder
of the winter and summer of 1880 is, for the
most part, monotonous record of storms,
ice-mountains constant anxiety, and almost
unbrolken dsappo ntment. As the short Arc
tic summer drew to q close without setting the
Jeanette free and another dreary winter ap-
preached, Captain De Long evidently began to
revolve in his mind the question whether it
would not be better to abandon the ship and
make for the northern coast Of Siberia over
the ice than 10 run the risk Of second winter
in the pack.
Under date Of September 20, 1880, he says:
81 dislike naturally to dwell on the idea of the
abandonment of the ship. We b we come
through SO much it gives me hopes of surviving
more. So long as enough of the ship remains
to shelter US, sticking by that fragment is pref
ceive of no greater 'forlorn hope than an at
| tempt to reach Siberia (say 2l0 miles distant
over the i,e that surrounds us, and with win
| ters cold sapping ones Life at every step. OF
| course, If We were to lose OR Ship we would
| make an effort to get there, but our chances
of success would be extremely probleTaticaL
| ber 81, l8 o, and is as follows: "Minstrels are
| ringing in the New Year in latitude 70 degrees
| IS minutes north, longitude 1T degrees 3.
| minutes east During the last sixteen months
| we have drifted 1.3O0 miles-far enough, If II
had been in a straight line, to carry us to and
beyond the pole, but we are yet only go mi ei
northwest OF where we were first beset. VIZ
| have suffered injury, and danger has Otter
| confronted us. We have been squeezed ant
jammed, tossed and tumbled. We have
| pumped leaky ship for year, but we art
not yet daunted, and are Us ready to dare ev
| erything as we ever were. And we face the
new year firmly, hoping to do somethin,
and of the flag above u.s.
| In less than ten months after these wor Il
se eeSe e at
| the Lena Delta.