The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-09-15

4
| tenant Greely's party would all be ex-
hausted the present fall, but it is said at the
| Signal Service office that this was an ex-
| treme statement based upon the most unfa-
vorable supposition as to the
amount of consumption, waste, loss
any care or economy in the use of food, or
| for any increase of the available supply by
| means of hunting and fishing. 1t was
| statement of the worst possible aspect of the
Case intended 10 emphasize the necessity OF
relieving Lieutenant Greely's party at once.
| 1t is positively asserted, therefore, by the
| acting signal officer, that, Notwithstanding
| contrary statements in General Hazens or
der to Lieutenant Darlington, Lieutenant
| Greedy has provisions enough at Lady Frank
| lin bay station to last him till the summer
| of 1884 if he remains there till that time.
Ii, however, as seems more probable to the
authorities, he should have abandoned his
station on the 1st of September, and re-
| treated down the coast of Grinnell Land to
| the mouth of Smiths sound, expecting to
| find there relief party and depot OF
| stores his situation may shortly
become critical. How large a quantity
| of provisions he would find at Cape Saterno
and Littleton island is not known, but it is
feared the supplies left there last year, and
the small quantity saved from the wreck OF
| the Proteus, would not maintain Lieutenant
Greedy and his men at the mouth of Smith
sound through the coming winter, even if
the party had shelter and fuel. Some help
might be obtained from the Esquimaux OF
| the Greenland coast, could Lieutenant Gree
| ly find and open communication with them,
but this is admitted to be uncertain.
1t has been suggested that another ship be
| sent from St. Johns to the mouth of Smiths
sound, and also that a sledge party be dis
| patched from Upernavik up the Greenland
coast, but no course of future action has, as
| yet. been decided upon, War Department
officers say they can form no plans until they
receive fuller information from Lieutenant
Darlington, who mas been asked for sugges-
| tions.
| OPINIONS OF TRAVELLERS.
Persons who are not connected with the
War or Navy Departments. but who have
| long been interested in arctic search, and
are familiar with the history of exploration
of Smiths sound, express grave doubts as to
the ability of Lieutenant Greely's party to
retreat down the coast OF Grinnell Land on
sledges after the 1st of September. Autumn
sledge travel along that coast was found by
officers of the British expedition of 1875 to be
practically impossible. On the Sth of Sep
tember a sledge party from the steamer
Alert, under Lieutenant Rawson, attempted
to open communication with the steamer
Discovery, which was then in winter quar-
ters on the southside of Lady Franklin bay,
near Lieutenant Greely's present station.
The party succeeded in getting only three
miles from the Ship and then abandoned
the attempt. On the I'd of October second
sledge party was sent down the coast
for the same purpose, but it returned un-
successful, at the end of ten days. being
tn pntn nj
the ship. The attempt was then abandoned
for that season. AS a conclusion from these
experiments, Captain Mares recorded that
autumn sledging along Grinnell's Land was
practically impossible. The two ships of the
expedition lay only ten miles apart on the
same coast from the 26th of August 1875,
to the Goth of March, 1876, nearly seven
months, without any possible eintercommuni-
cation. This fact alone, it is said shows
that Lieutenant Greedy, with twenty-five
men, with some of them possibly in ill
health, could hardly make an autumn
sledge journey OF 300 miles along the coast
| of Griunell Land TO Littleton island If
therefore, he waited at his station until
September / for the arrival of the supply
steamer, he is probably there STILL and will
remain there until next spring 1t is
| thought, however, by those who express
| these opinions that Lieutenant Greely, fore
seeing the impracticability of making his
obey his peremptory orders to start down
the coast not later than Sept. l, would per-
haps abandon his station as early in Septem-
ber as open water should allow and attempt
to reach Littleton island in boats. Escape
in this way might be effected under average
conditions of Ice and weather. because small
boats could be dragged across intervening
barriers of ice between lanes or pools of
open water where a ship would be stopped
If Lieutenant Greedy and his men left Lady
Franklin bay in boats late in July or
early in August they might perhaps reach
the mouth of Smiths sound by the 10Th or
Goth of August Upon finding the records
at Littleton island, of the loss of the Proteus
they would have before them two possible
courses of action. First if the season was
not too far advanced, they might provision
their boats from the caches at Smiths sound
and make desperate attempt to reach the
Danish settlements of northern Greenland:
second, if it was too late for such All attempt
they might try to lind and distribute them
selves among the Eskimo who live along the
Greenland coast between Littleton island
and Cape York. These Eskimos number but
one or two hundred in all, and are generally
short of provisions, but they might be
able to carry few of Lieutenant Greely's
party through the winter. At any rate
this would be the party's only hope. Moth
ing, it is thought, can be done to rescue the
unfortunate men this fall. Their lives are
now in their own hands, and their future
depends almost entirely upon their skill in
sustaining themselves. The next informa-
ton in regard to them is likely to come from
the Eskimos of the Greenland coast, between
the mouth of Smiths sound and Cape York
Secretary Lincoln said tonight that the
question of how best to get relief to the
Greeley party had been discussed at the de-
partment to-day. He, however, had little
hope that anything could be done this year.
He thought it would be useless to send
party this fall, with a certainty of their hav-
ing to winter several hundred miles from
Greely's station without means of travelling
the intervening distance, when, by waiting
till next summer, party could be sent that
would make just as good progress He said
however, if it were shown that relief could
be sent the Greedy party no expense or