The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1883-02-14

de Long describes very fully and
with many pen-and-ink diagrams the
long battle of the Jeannette with the
ice and the expedients which were re-
sorted to to repair damages and to
strengthen the ship for future ordealS
About the middle of January the
Jeannette's forefoot was severely
twisted, and a leak was thus caused
which threatened for a time to defy
all means of control. BY the exertions,
however, of the carpenter, Sweetman,
and the sailor, Ninderman, a bulkhead
was built forward Of the foremasr
which partially confined the water.
De Long says:
Sometimes all day, and sometimes
all night, and sometimes both, from
January 10 to February 4, these two
men, Sweetman and Ninderman, stood
down in the forepeak, the icy water
flowing around them nearly to their
knees, working faithfully until their
work was accomplished. The good re-
suits of that work were evident in the
gradually reduced amount of water
coming into the ship, and our ability
to control the leak without such a
ruinous expenditure of fuel as had
been necessary before. 1t is for these
reasons that l have had the honor to
recommend these two men to you for
medals of honor as a recognition of
heroic conduct Under most trying cir
cumstances."
Swestman was afterward lost in
Chipp's boat.
De Longs record of the remainder
of the winter and summer of 1880 is a
story of storms, ice movements. con-
stant anxiety and almost unbroken
disappointment. AS the short arctic
summer drew to close without set
ting the Jeanette free, and another
dreary winter approached, 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 to run the risk Of a second
winter in the pack. On September 20,
1880, he says:
q dislike naturally to dwell on the
idea Of the abandonment of the ship,
We have come through so much that
it gives me hopes of surviving more.
AS long as enough of the ship remains
to shelter us, sticking by that frag-
ment is preferable to camping on ice,
and l can conceive Of no greater
forlorn hope than an attempt to
reach Siberia (say 240 miles distant)
over the ice that surrounds us and
with the winters cold sapping ones
life at every step. OF course if we
were to lose our ship we would make
the effort to get there, but our chances
of success would be extremely profile
matical."
The last entry is dated December 81,
1880, and is as follows:
"Minstrels and ringing in the new
year in latitude seyenty-three degrees
forty-eight minutes north, longitude
III degrees thirty-two minutes east.
During the past sixteen months we
have drifted 1900 miles, far enough
if it had been in straight line to
carry us to and beyond the pole, but
we are yet only 200 miles northwest
Of where we were first beset. We
have suffered injury, and danger has
often confronted us. We have been
squeezed and jammed, tossed and
tumblcd ; we have pumped leaking
ship for year but we are not yet
daunted, and are as ready to dare
everything as we ever were. And wo
face the new year firmly, hoping TO DO
something worthy Of ourselves, of
Benefits enterprise and the flag
above us"
Within ten months after these words
were written the JeanncJte was at
the bottom of the ocean and De Long
lay dead in the Lena delta.