The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1883-09-22


January until the 10Th of May they had
to melt the snow for it with hot irons.
During February no less than forty
bears visited the hut, of which seven
were killed, and they trapped fifty foxes
On the oath of May the first deer was
seen, but their only remaining dog had
grown so fat and lazy that it refused to
hunt. On the next day, A" being all but
one, Thomas Ayers, collected together
for prayers in the smaller hut, they sud
denly heard voices calling Heyl' to
which, not without surprise Gas one can
well imagine), Ayers answered, after
the custom of seamen:'' Ho! Their
visitors were from two Hull steamers
lust arrived at Bell Sound, and much
astonished they were at the sight of the /,
eight men lin rags and blackened with
SMOKE On the other hand, they were
well entertained with venison, roasted
four months ago, and a cup of water.
which on account of the novelty they
accepted" The Greenland fleet ar
rived two DAYS afterward, with Captain
Goodler himself, who spared nothing to
promote the comfort of the castaways.
What strikes us here is The good fort
une these men enjoyed in losing none.
of their number; but it must be remem-
bered that they had a roof over their
heads, and tre-wood, and above all
could provide themselves with provis-
ions. The general experience of those
who have been in like condition has
been very different.
Only four years afterward the Dutch
Government offered inducements to any
party of Greenland whale-fishers who
would winter on the island of St. Maur-
ice, commonly called Mayors Island,
from John Mayer, its discoyerer. 1t
| lies between seventy-one and seventy
two degrees of north latitude (whereas
that of the little English settlement
above described was sixty-seven de-
| grees), but is barren, mountainous and
inhospitable enough.
Seven Dutch sailors volunteered for
this adventure, and were left behind by
the fleet, accordingly, on the Goth OF
! August At that time ''the heat OF the
sun was so powerful that they pulled off
their shirts, and sported on hill near
| their abode There was an abundance
of sea-g,ills, and a few vegetables-or
at least something that served for salad
grew in the vicinity. They did not
resort to fires until the 9th of October.
As winter advanced, however, their pri-
vations set in with unaccustomed sever
ity., At the end of the old year they
"went TO prayers, wishing each other u
happy new year and good success in
their enterprise" This is the last
glimpse of cheerfulness we get among
them. January was dark and stormy;
bears were scarce. and the poor fellows
had little skill in killing them. In
March many of them were attacked by
that arctic scourge, scurvy, caused by
the absence of fresh provisions. On the
3D. of April only two were in health, and
the rest extremely i'll. On that day the
last two OF the pullets that had
been left them were killed. The
E" clerk" q. e., i suppose, the
purser) died on the 10th, whereupon the
rest implored Heaven to have mercy
upon his soul and on themselves. They
were, indeed, in sad straits by that time.
On the 23d one writes in his journal
and the journal is all the record we
have of their doings for they all per.
ished: ave are by this time reduced tt
q deplorable state. none of my comrades
being able to help himself, much les:
another; the whole burden, therefore
lies on my shoulders, and / shall per
> form my duty as well as l am able So
long as it pleases God to give mt
strength. | am just now about to assis
: our commander out of his cabin; h,
thinks it will relieve his pain, for he i
struggling with death. The night il
/ dark, and the wind blowing from tn,
: south" What miserable utterance o
\ human misery is this! How difficult i
u is, as one reads it, to reflect that all thi
> happened two centuries and half ago
5 One seems to hear the means of thos
. solitary, sick men even now. On tn
y 9th of April, we read, they killed thei
$ dog As there is no further note O
9 what took place, it is supposed the
|, must have all died in the beginning O
u May.
/ On the 4th of June the Dutch lande
II to seek for their comrades, and "pre
l. saged ill from their not having com
: down to the shore to welcome them.
" They found them all dead men. "Nea
y one of the bodies stood some bread an
u cheese; box of ointment, with whic
Ii he was wont to rub his teeth and joints
- beside another, whose arm was eXtende
Us toward his mouth; prayer-book wa
. near a third. Each of the men wa
found in his own cabin" The con
le mander of the fleet caused the bodies t
y be put in collins, "and inferred, on s.
~ Johns Day, under a general discharg
l. of cannon. "--Jdnes Payne, IN Harper
y Young People
u An Iowa Judge has refused q
D. vorce to woman who asked to be free
Mt from her husband because he was
" drunkard The indUo said in SubStan(