The Rugbeian and district reporter. (Rugby, Tenn.) 1882-1883, 1883-01-06
Lieutenant BELONGS Report.
WASHINGTON, December .

WASHINGTON, December 90
Lieutenant belongs report, found beside
his dead body, has been made public. Itmakes
10000 words, and details the incidents of the
cruise from the departure from San Fran.
cisco, in 1879, to January, 1881. Its principal
feature Is an elaborate account of belongs
views In regard to the expedition. He con lid.
cred 1t good judgment to ,ad for Wranuel
Land. HIS idea was to adopt that land a. the
support OF the first winters campaign; he en-.
BODIES the story of how the land was sighted
ana now ne expected TO reach it. He graphic.
ANY described how, on the next day the
Jeanette became beset in the ice never again
to be rel eyed, aud says: "The party was com.
peiied 10 mako virtue of necessity and stay
where we We're Sometimes all night and
sometimes all day and night, from January ~
10 fcDruarY 1, Sweotman and Min herman
STOOD down In the iorepeak, the icy water flow
ing around them nearly to their knees w rlI.
ing fallhlully until their work WIS accom-
pushed, and the good results of that work were
evident In the gralu llly reduced amount of
water coming into the ship, and our ability to
control the leak without such ruinous eypcnd-
lturo of fuel us had been ncce 'sary thereto.
fNe. 1t is for these reasons that ] b We hOd
the honor to recommend these two men to you
for medals of honor as + c0gniton of heroic
conduct under the most trying crcunl-
stances"
Captain De Long record of the remainder
of the winter and summer of 1850 is, for the
most part monotonous record of storms
ice-mountan ms, constant anxiety, and almost
unbroken disappo ntment. As the short Arc.
tic summer drew to Il close without setting the
Jeanette free, and another drcary winter ap-
preached Captain De Long evidently began to
revove in his mind the question whether il
would not be better to abandon the ship and
make + the northern coast of Siberia ov
the ice than 10 run the risk of second winter
i'll the pick.
Under date of September 20, 1890, he SAYS:
=" diSi kc naturally to dwell on the idea of the
abandonment of the ship. We We come
through so much it gives me hopes OF surviving
more So 10 & aS enough of the ship remains
to sheltcrus, st cking by that fragm mt is pref
cradle to cam ping ON the ice and | can C m
ceivc OF no greater 10 lorn hope than an at
temp to reach Siberia SAY 30 miles diSta IT.
over the Ice that surrounds us, and with win
ter's cold sappn9 ones fe at every step. OF
course. II we We're to lNse o ship, we would
make an effort to get there, but our chanc s
of Su cess would be extremely problematica"
The last entry in the record dated Deem
Der 81, 10 o. and is rs follows: "Minsrels are
.ahSIis III INV NcW e"r III ldtlIule 20 dcRi ees
d IN nut north, longitude III degrees 3!
minutes east. During the last sixteen months
we have drfted 1870 miles-rar enough. II il
had been in Il straight line to carry us to md
beyond the pole, but We are yet only 20 mi rs
northwest Of where we re first beset We
have suffered injury, and danger has often
confronted us. We hava been squeezed and
inmmed t sscd and tumbl d. We have
pumped leaky ship fora year, but we are
not yet dauntel. and are rs ready to dare ev-
crything as we ever were. And we face til,
new year firmly, hoping to do something
worthy of ourselves, of BENEFITS enterprise,
und of the tlng above rs"
In less than ten mont s after these wor s
were written the Jeanette was ut the bottom
OF the Arctic Ocean and De Long lay dead in
the Lena Delta