Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1884-07-22
Fate of the Greedy Expedition.

Another catastrophe, says the Baltimore
Sun, has been added to the melancholy his.
tory of Arctic exploration. The dispatch
Thursday by Commander
Schley, of the Greedy relief expedition, re-
ported the arrival of the Thetis, Bear and
Loeb Garry at St. John, N. F., with Lieut.,
Greedy and five men, the only survivors OF
the Lady Frank6n Bay party of observation.
Of the remaining nineteen, seventeen died
of starvation at the point where Greedy and
the survivors were found, one was drowned
while sealing to procure food, and another
died at Godhaven after rescue from the eff
fects of amputation Of his hands and feet.
Twelve of the dead bodies were brought
back, and five of the others that had been
buried were swept away to sea by winds
and currents before the arrival Of the party
of rescue. Lieut.. Greely, with his party of
twenty-five picked men, left Newfoundland
in July, 1881. None of the men had ever
before been on an Arctic expedition, but
they were nearly all volunteers, healthy
and strong, and had been Injured to hard
service in the vicissitudes of army frontier
life. The party reached Lady Farnklin
Bay in safety, provided with all the materi-
ais for erecting meteorological station and
with supplies calculated to last for two
years. 1t was understood that it would re-
main at the station during the winter, and
when the spring opened, would make explo-
rations from that point with dogs and
sledges under the guidance of Esquimaux.
The Proteus, after landing Greedy and his
companions at the point selected for the
station, was sent back to the United States,
with the understanding that it would return
in the fall of 1888. An attempt was made,
however, to reach the party in June, 1882,
with supplies, by Mr.. w. M. Beebe, with
an expedition a board the Neptune, but it
failed to reach Lady Franklin Bay on &C
count of the ice and it returned. The expe-
dition ON the Proteus, under Lieutenant
Darlington, which set out last year, was
also disastrous failure. The Proteus was
wrecked, and Greedy, with his companions,
was left to his own resources until the expe-
dition which, under Commander Schley,
left the United States in May last succeeded
ultimately in rescuing the survivors at their
camp of refuge off Cape Sabine in Smiths
Sound, on June %. The story Of the hard
ships suffered by the Greedy party, as de-
tailed in the dispatches as published, is
full of all the interest that can possibly
centre around a recital of hardship and
adventure. Lieut.. Greedy, it appears, aban-
doned his station On the 9th of August, 1888,
and reached Baird Inlet at the close of Sep
TENDER with the entire party well; he was
Subsequently obliged to abandon all his
boats and was adrift for thirty days in
Smiths Sound, and he kept his party
together until he reached the camp where
he was found. The sufferings which they
endured were intensified by the exhaustion
of the food they brought with them, and
of that which had been cached at different
points by Sir George Mares, by Beebe, and
a small amount saved from the wreck Of the
Proteus in 1888. After these scanty sup
plies were gone they endeavered to main
tain life by eating their sealskin clothing
and by gathering liche9s and shrimps
When they were discovered seventeen had
died of starvation, and the remainder were
reduced to such a state of exhaustion that
but for the fortunate arrival of the Thetis
and the Bear they would shortly have shar-
ed the fate of their companions. 1t is, in
many respects, the story of the Inflated DE
Long and his companions, of the Jeanette
expedition, over again, and it adds another
chapter to the annals of Arctic adventure
almost as sad and painful as any that have
preceded it. Of the Franklin expedition
not one survived; all died of exhaustion and
starvation. Of the belong expedition all
died except those inMelville's boat and the
two men sent out by De Long to communi-
cate, if possible, with the natives. Of the
Greedy party only six now live of the TWEEN
ty-five of which it was composed. Surely
it is now time to put a final stop to expedi-
tions to the Arctic seas, whether they are
fitted out for scientific purposes or with a
view to reach the pole. They are tribute
to heroic effort, but they cost too much IN
the loss of precious human lives.