Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1884-07-19
LIEUTENANT DATEsaowsa.
MS Opinion or the Rescue and or Arctic
Explorations.

LfEOJENAN1 DANENHOWEb.
Ills Opinion or the Rescue and or Areti'
Explorations.
Lieutenant Danenhower, United State
navy, oil the Jeanette expedition, VIII
II now doing duty on the Minnesota. ssid
Thursday night concerning the relief d
the Greedy party, that the Thetis relic
party was the best equipped that was erel
sent 20 the northern attitudes. He wa,
asked whether there could not be cause FOL
regret that such wel-prcDared feet haC
not pushed its way further north ntei
having accomplished IT, object.
mo- answered Lieutenant Dancnhow'
er. "That expedition START d out with
definite Instructions, and &c could do nc
more than carry them.orthi / know that
Commander Sclilcy weyttip there with the
single object Of flndIn9the Greedy party
snd returning after hAyjng done so. II
personal ambition badfbled his movement,
there Il no telling whafhe might have done.
But he acted cOnscientiously. expeditions
". encrgetcally. and sldlfully. and We
have the great result. He might have
pushed hi way through Smith SOUND, a
he did through Melville Bay. Smith Sound
Is the most treacherous part Of the Polar
ocean. But Mr.. schleY's caution. pru.
dcncc. and admirable discretion made him
successful In his undertaking"
TERRIBLE JOURNEY.
Referring to the hardshps the Grcelv
party must have undergone, Lieuien ut
DauenbOwer said: ."rhelr journey over th1
ice from Fort Conger 70 Cape Sabine must
have been terrible. The distance, il ] re-
member rightly, was 80 miles. At Cape
Sabine. Greedy probably found the records
Of Lieutenant Darlington. The explorers
must have seen the relef-ship In the oding
and crawled a; best they could out on the
ire 10 meet her, for the dispatch SAYS that
they were picked up about five miles oil
from the Cape. II is remarkable that an
Esquimau should have been the second
man TO die. And another Esquimau died
among the tirst-On April 3ith. This would
seem 90 show that the white man can out
live even the Esquimaux under such cir
cums.anccS: although, perhaps, those poor
fellows oyerworked themselves rs did
Alexv Of the De Long party. Speaking OF
tie strength Of men, Lieutenant Greely
was considered a delicate man, and most
people believed that he would ri re out an
der hardshps. We now see that he did
NOT. His wife always expressed confidence
in bis physical and mental capacity, and
during all this suspense had borne herself
in dignifed aud sensible manner"
Lieutenant DanenhOwcr spoke OF a couple
Of the lost men he knew. he said that
Sergeant Edward Israel, OF the signal
corps, the astronomer OF the party, was very
highly esteemed in his home at Kalamazoo,
Michigan. and was looked upon by biz fell
low-tOwI Smen as man OF whom bright
things were expected. Nr. Eisenhower
saw ISraeI's widowed mother last winter.
when she had about given up hope Of seeing
her son again. OF Second Lieutenant
Frederick W. KisliDgbury, Lieutenant Da-
nenhower said that he had rendered i'm
portant service during the war as 4 volun-
tcer, and was afterward appointed to the
regular army. KiSlingbury was from
Rochester, n. Y, and left two children.
PORLOBN.HGPE EXPEDITION.
In further conversation the Lieutenant
said: ain September last Professor Jo-
seph Lockwood, of the navy, row on Che
retired list, advocated the plan OF sending
a 'forlorn-hope' expedition OF relief after
Grcely. The scheme was deemed imprac-
ticsble. From the evidence now before us
we know that ii vessel had been able 10
Ut ~ AdDt VI n az luit tlElt IL hOulu
lave reached Cape Sabine, for the channel
was 50 open that Greey's party cOuld not
get from Slbne TO Littleton Island, having
abandoned their boats. The condition OF
the ice at that season in Melville Bay is not
known. II is almost impossible for a ship
TO work through the bay IN the darkness OF
the polar nights. II must be remembered
that this relief expedition had the advan-
tagc Of continuous DAYLIGHT.
- have always said in reply TO questions
that have been put 10 me that some Of the
Greely party would he found alive. / did
not think, however, that Commander
Schley would reach them before the middle
Of July. They must have sustained them
selves wonderfully for nine months. Sir
John Franklin's party and De Longs party
also endured terrible privationS and suffer-
ings for extraordinary lengths OF time"
Lieutenant Danenhower was asked as 10
the possible causes OF Greely's mishap. 81
do not hesitate to express the opinion" he
replied. THAT Grcely was sent too far
north. There are eleven stations up there,
but Grecly was thrust some ten degrees fur
Their north than some Of the others. Point
Barrow, for instance, is in 1So north, while
Greedy had TO 20 up TO $50. He would not
have been ordered up there had it not been
for English reports. The international
Congress decided that Greely was too high
up"
BENEFITS OF POLAR SEARCH.
Is TO the benefits OF Greely's search and
Polar expeditions generally, The explorer
said: mo doubt Greedy has Il series OF
valuable observations, ~ such, but it is not
at all certain that deductions OF great value
will be made from them. As far n can
see from study aud experience, nothing Of
great value has been obtained from mete-
oroiOgical observations IN the Polar re-
gions, and nothing Is likely TO be. think
there ere much better fields for eXplora-
ton and scientific work. The state
ment Is made by scientists that the
most favorable stations for meteorological
observations are in She polar and equatorial
regions-the extremes. The last Congress
proposed to establish eleven stations with
in the Arctic circle, but have heard % no
station near the Equator. The worid-pOs-
slbIy excepting the 9crmans-arc tired OF
polar expeditions aEtEOW. | believe that
they should cease until some special means
of lccomotion, such Is air-machlncs, are
Devised. That may sound strangely. but
say it seriously. They are OF no use -
Manifestations. because they cannot take
q long enough series Of observations and
cannot be sufficiently numerous