Smyrna times., 1884-07-30
For the Smyrna Time,
The Greedy Expedition.

The Greedy Expedition.
Since the disastrous ending of the
Jeannette expedition under Lieut..
De Long, in the western channel of
Behring's straits, more than the usual /
amount of interest has been taken in
the fate of the observation corps
located on the parallel of So north
latitude in command of Lieut.. Greedy,
U. S. A.
From the 25th of August, 1881, when
the party were landed from the Proteus
in Lady Franklin bay, until the 22nd
Of June, 1884, when seven out of twenty
five were rescued in a dying condition,
at Cape Sabine, by Commander Schley
of the relief ships, THeijs and Bear, no
tidings had been received Of them. In
the Summer of 'S3 relief ships had been
sent out but met with disaster and re-
turned without etlecting a junction.
From the beginning, and since verified
by the report Of Lieut.. Greedy, the
purely military character of the expe-
dition, as indeed it originated in the
Signal Service Department Of the Gov
eminent, fell like a pail upon the
movements of the party when the re-
treat was commenced. Prior to the
abandonment of Fort Conger on the
9th Of August, 1888, no mention is made
of suffering either from the rigOrs of
the climate or lack of food. The two
years of residence there the survivors
allude to as most pleasant, and Fort
COnger a paradise in the Arctic. Coal
| for fuel had been mined in the vicinity
game was abundant, provisions they
had enough of for eight months, and
above all not life had been lost and
all were in good health. And there
they should have remained until re
lieved. The ease and facility with
which boats were abandoned upor
nearing Cape Sabine cut off all means o
returning, and rendered tho cacheC
provisions on Littleton Island scparat
ed from them by the open waters 0
Smiths Sound practically useless; OF
a bleak, gale-swept cape, destitute o
nearly every comfort, the party wer
forced to undergo unparalleled suffer
ings amid all the rigors of an Arcti
Winter. The longing desire to reacI
home and civilization may make al
this excusable, but that nevertheless
grave error had been made is to
evident from the facts at hand. 9TH
wish was father to the thought" las
Winter, among those qualified froI
experience in Arctic life to give weigh
to an opinion, that Lieut.. Greedy
chance for escape depended on his nC
attempting to Winter south Of h
station. DIR. Hayes and eight other
of the Kane expedition of 1876 mao
just such an attempt as Lieut.. Greedy
and came near meeting death at Lif
DOdb AON0 . GClOoS AllC SOtAAA0 Al OAAA NtNl
. Sabine, but fortunately they had IL
AdUance and DR.. Kane to fall back {
in 78o of north latitude; they had mat
the attempt to get south in spite of Il
protests of DIR. Kane that new ice al
the darkness of Polar night wOu
surely trap them, as it did Liel
.E Greedy. They found the region ba
of game, and swept with tremendO
gales, and after intense suffering We
forced to return. But there was
- return for Lieut.. Greedy. He h
l0 abandoned dogs and boats and ever
thing to find relief where it was {
pected it would be found, and made
fatal mistake, for Cape Sabine W
beyond the line of safety for h
whereas had he remained at F.
d' Conger, the indOmitable energy a
"a, Commanders Schley a
h Emory with the Tetis and Bear by he
crook would have reached him. I'll
were naval officers reared to the S
they knew the dangers and perils Il
- beset an advance in those seas; wi
to 90, and when to stop, and
crowning achievement to this VIII
- business belongs to Commander Sch
~ and his officers and men, for fore
their way through ice forty-eight no
40 in advance of the death that was
Nm. Ting upon the whole party Had
been the case the meteOrlOgi
astronomical, pendulum and ii
,tu, observations, collected, together v
~ tho highest northern altitude, wo
not have been worth to commerce
ES science one jot in comparison to
sufFerings endured. As tits, it was
enough, so bad, that the sympathy
. nation goes out for the dead, anC
CE the living dead. If the state of scie
reto;; and science is merciless, demands
III men should go days, and weeks,
. months, without food or shelter,
the weird shrek of the icy winds oi
far north to at last sing their requ
then we had better remain unscienI
and If, as a German writer aptly put
lis i in in these regions are the "back of G
-gans hand" then the inscrutable shoulC
. submitted to, and let the solving OF
Polarity of the earth alone. Enc
blood, enough treasure, has alr'
er for gone out in those dreary wastes, t.
ed by deed cause red snow 10 lalii
long enough tears have been shed for t
R, who will never return to melt a