The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1884-09-04
the Rescue Of freely.


Arctic expeditions and, polar disasters
| ia the hardy rescue Of the unfortunate
| freely and his companions from their
perilous prison of ice. The Govern
| ment expedition in search of the lost
explorers has been successful to the ex-
| tent of finding seven survivors of the
hibcrnal rigors and merciless hard
ships of frozen desOlatiOn that over
came seventeen of the original number.
The expedition of which Lieutenant
| Greedy, u. s. A., had command was
equipped by this Government for scien-
tific purposes, acting in harmony with
an international arrangement for the
conduct of circum-polar meteorological
observations, the result of the confer
anee held at Hamburg, Germany, in
! 1879. Lieutenant Greedy and his party
embarked in the good ship Proteus,
landed at point on the northwest coast
| of Discovery Bav in 1881, occupying one
of the eight polar stations, others Of
which were assigned to England, Ger
| many, Holland, Austria, Russia, Swe-
den, Norway and Denmark. 1t was
The intention to occupy this spot for
year, taking note of observed changes
simultaneously with the corps of the
other stations The surrounding coun-
try was mountainous, Astounding in gla-
ciers and patches of ice and snow even
in the height of summer Though the
/ sea was open at the date of landing,
Robinson's Channel, leading into it from
| Discovery Bay, was impassably blocked
with ice. The last heard from the
| party was by report October Ii, 1881,
the end of the six-months' summer day.
The long-ensuing silence created a
great deal of anxiety on the part of the
| Government as well as in the hearts of
| friends Of the Proteus' crew, and in
1882 Congress appropriated the sum of
| $33, 200 to equip q relief expedition.
The Neptune was accordingly sent out,
| but owing to the accumulations of ice
/. she was unable to push further north
4 than Smiths Sound, and after cacl1ing
a quantitY Of sprovisiensat points agreed
upon with Greedy to meet the failure to
relieve, the vessel was forced to return.
/ The next year q second relief appropria-
4 ton was made by Congress, though an
/ order was at the same time adopted di-
recting the discontinuance of the sta
1 ton, sympathy with the scientific enter
Il and apparently praiitless dangers to
human. life involved. IN the latter part
of June the Proteus, which had made
II the first trip so SUCCESSFULLY and re-
turned in remarkable good order after
Isdepositing the station corps, was dis
patched to the rescue. Accompanied by
the United States war vessel 1antic as
tender, the Proteus proceeded to Disco
island, Godhaven Bays on the Green
II land coast, where she parted company
with the Yantie and proceeded to Cory
Island, which she left the Dist. Two
| DAYS later she encountered huge foes
Of ice, and in the attempt to forcea way
through fhem was shipped and had
, her sides crushed in. The stores were
Immediately thrown out, and the crew
took to the boats, in which they kept,
through great suffering, until August
Il Iswhen they reached Upernavik, where
they were subsequently joined by the
Yantic, which had been in search OF
them. There was good deal of unjust
indignation over the failure of this ex-
, pedition, the result of the increased APP
, prehension for the safety of the Greedy
. party, though it led to an official inyes-
litigation. gefs GO .7g-ees 1ufseY
Those in command were acquitted Of
any disobedience of orders or neglect
|, of duty, but the. opiHien prevailed with
/ the public that the possibilities of the
! expedition had not been accomplished
owing possibly to an inappreeiation O
the Importance of their mission BY
| those having it in charge. The disas
: tFous results of these two adventures
and the greatly augmented gravity o
| the situation of the ice-beleagured party
J 3weretthey fortunate to be1yet surviving
led to more decisive and Comprehensive
: and thorough steps being taken in pro
: viding for the third expedition, which
has terminated SO gratifyingly in sue
cess. The expedition of 1884 was ad
| mirably organized, mot only for pur
u poses of relief, but for self-protection
! three vessels being manned and provis
: Toned for the serious enterprise. Their
: was to be no tritling this time, and tn
2 Thetis, the Bear, and the Alert wer
! put to sea with the resolution to tetcl
= back definite tidings from the terror
&c stocked regions of the pole. The voy
age was one of extreme trial, encom
. passed by every imaginable hardship
bOoOb VI Win IuO HIOSb
q palling dangers, The storyof the rescu
: shows that the Greedy party made des
}. perate efforts to escape the horrors o
e its CHASTITY situation, and had forced it
9 agonizing way a considerable. distanc
e south of the deserted station, eudeav
:. oring to get nearer to the open way c
d navigation After three years of men
e tai anguish and physical suffering sue
}: as can scarcely be imagined. certainl
I. not adequately. described, seven only G
ie the party of twenty-five were foun
n alive. Meager and scantily official a
is the report from the commander 0
e the reseuers,y the facts presented il
IS their bare horror are sufficient to dis
:. may the mind.
IS The pangs of starvation and the fierc
a misery of bodies poorly clad to endur
J, the rigor of the intense arctic col
al show their ample prey to the fescuers
d and there is a strange sense of th
q empty desolation of that forbidden re
e gion conveyed IN the statement, ..fiy
bodies buried in the ice near the cam
9 | were SVeOt away tn coo hv tho Wi in