Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1884-08-20

JUOI ~, 1854.
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
Food.
New YORK, Aug. II. The Times will
tomorrow print startling story that
the survivors of the Greedy expedition
ate the remains of their dead comrades.
It 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 inkling 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 endeavoring to
keep the matter hushed, but in the
official investigation, which is almost
sure to come, the facts in all will un-
doubtedly come out. Every effort
will presumably be taken to
prevent it, but the truth must be
known in time. Commander Schleys
first dispatch to Secretary Chandler ur-
gently suggested that the bodies be
placed in metallic caskets immediately
t'for safer and better transportation in
seaway." Both Secretary Chandler
and Rear Admiral Nicholson instructed
him to do as he thought best. It took
some days to prepare the iron oaskets,
which were all bolted and riveted. It
was remarked at the time by expert
enced officers that this would hardly
have been necessary for the preserve
ton of the frozen bodies. They could
have been safely brought on without
any delay in wooden cofins. 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
were sealed. When Commander Schley
met Secretary Chandler and Gen. Ha-
zen at P Portsmouth, August 2, on the ar
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,
ichens and shrimps. AS a matter of
fact, they were kept alive on human
flesh. When the rescuing party dis
covered the haf-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, a German, was wild in his de.
lrium. "Oh~ he shrieked, as the
sailors took hold of him to lift him
tenderly, "don't let them shoot me az
they did poor Henry. Must I be killed
and eaten as Henry was? Don't let
them do it! Dontl Don't!" The
sailors were Mortified, but at once re-
ported the mans words to Commander
Schley. After a brief investigation he
felt satisfied that the poor fellow was
speaking the trut and that some o1
the men who perished 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 {
careful examination and put their con
clusions in writing. This was done, and
the reports are now in the hands of the
Navy Department.
Lieut.. Greely 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
1883. 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 arc
said to have perished from starvation
had been eaten by their famishing com
rades. 1t was the one last resort. Pro
vided supplies had not arrived, deatl
stared the hungry and crazed men il
the face, but there was hope if life
would hold out for even few weeks. L
is reported that the only men WHIT
escaped the kn;fe were three or fom
who died of scurvy. The amputateC
limbs of 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 witt
the expedition, but his spirit of ad
venture was aroused by tales of Arctic
exploits, and he determined to go
Driven to despair by his frightfu
hunger, Henry saw an opportunity *
steal a little more than his share o1
rations, and he made the attempt. HI
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 beer
stripped from him and the flesh picked
from his bones. Even his heart and
lungs we're eaten by his comrades. One
rib was found shattered by bullet, and
to another small fragments of lead were
attached. A bullet hole was found in
the skin.
Whether the four bodies which were
swept out to sea and never recovered
/ l~,.o o1loJ e-,kho. II