Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1884-08-20
A TALE OF HORROR.
Greedy and His Starving Comrades Said
to Have Eaten the Bodies of the Dead
One OF the Party Shot for Stealing

ate the remains of their dead comrades.
1t says all the facts have been in the
possession of Secretary Chandler for
nearly three weeks, but SO closely have
they been guarded, and so strictly have
the naval officers and sailors maintained
the silence imposed upon them, that not
even an inkhng of the true and horri-
BILE condition of affairs has as yet
reached the public ear. For the sake
Of humanity and the American people,
the army authorities are endesvoring to
Keep the matter hushed, but in the
official investigation, which is almost
sure TO come, the facts in all will I'M
doubtedly come out. Every effort
will presumably be taken to
prevent it, but the truth must be
known in time. Commander Schley's
first dispatch to Secretary Chandler ur-
gently suggested that the bodies be
placed in metallic caskets Immediately
''for safer and better transportation in
a seaway." Both Secretary Chandler
and Rear Admiral Nicholson instructed
him to do as he thought best. It took
some days to prepare the iron caskets,
which were all bolted and riyeted. It
was remarked at the time by expert
enced officers that this would hardly
have been necessary for the preserva
ton of the frozen bodies. They could
have been safely brought on without
any delay in wooden collins. Even the
sailors on the relief ships, with the ex-
ception of few men who assisted in
removing the bodies, were not allowed
to see them. The lips of the officers
LII lor Co1oJ
met Secretary Chandler and Gen. Ha-
rival of the ships from st. Johns, he
was very much agitated, and called the
gentlemen into the cabin of the vessel.
Undoubtedly he then communicated to
them the facts which have since become
an open secret.
The sufferings and privations of the
men in their canvas hut during the
long. bitter winter of 1884 have not half
been told. It has been published that
after the game gave out, early in Feb
ruary, they lived principally on sealskin,
Gchens and shrimps. AS a matter of
fact, they were kept alive on human
flesh. When the rescuing party dis
covered the half-starved survivors their
first duty was to look to the two men
who were insensible from cold and pri
vation even TO the point Of death. One
of them, German, was wild in his de-
lirium. "Ohl". he shrieked, as the
sailors took hold of him to lift him
tenderly, don't let them shoot me as
they did poor Henry. Must be killed
and eaten as Henry was? Don't let
them do it! Don't! Dontp The
sailors were Mortified, but at once re-
ported the mans words to Commander
felt satisfied that the poor fellow was
speaking the trut and that some of
the men who persisted had been
stripped of their flesh to keep their
surviving comrades alive.
Mr.. Schley proposed to make thor
ough work of it. When the horrible
reality was brought out before an inves-
tigating committee he did not propose
to have it rest solely on his oral testi-
mony. He instructed two or three gen.
tlemen, among whom was DR.. Ames,
the surgeon of the Bear, to make a
careful examination and put their con-
illusions in writing. This was done, and
the reports are now in the hands of the
Navy Department.
Lieut.. Greedy was decidedly averse
to having the bodies of the buried dead
disturbed. He thought it wise, as they
had been buried so long, to let them re-
main in their Arctic graves. Com
mander Schley did not agree with him.
The bodies were dug from their graves
in the little hill just back of the per-
manent camp established in October,
1888. Most of the blankets contained
nothing but heaps of white bones,
many of them picked clean. The re-
mains could be identified only by the
marks on the blankets. By INQUIRIES
Commander Schley discovered that
many of the seventeen men who are
said to have persisted from starvation
had been eaten by their furnishing com
rades. 1t was the one last resort. Pro
vided supplies had not arrived, death
stared the hungry and crazed men in
the face, but there was hope if life
would hold out for even few weeks. It
is reported that the only men who
escaped the knife were three or four
who died of scurvy. The amputated
limbs CT men who afterward persisted
were eagerly devoured as food.
Charles B. Henry's death was. par
ticularly tragic. He was young Ger
man, without any relatives in this coun-
try, and joined Company f, Fifth
Cavalry, in Cincinnati. His friends
tried to dissuade him from going with
the expedition, but his spirit of ad-
venture was aroused by tales of Arctic
exploits, and he determined to 60.
Driven to despair by his frightful
hunger, Henry saw an opportunity to
steal little more than his share of
rations, and he made the attempt. He
was found out and shot for the crime.
In the published official report the
death of the man is set down as having
occurred June 6. When the body was
found his hands and face. though
shrunken, were intact and recognizable,
but everywhere else the skin had been
stripped from him and the flesh picked
from his bones. Even his heart and
lungs were eaten by his comrades. One
rib was found shattered by bullet, and
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