The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1884-08-21
A TALE OF HORROR.

The Greedy Party Said to Have Been Com.
PEELED to Resort to Cannibalism-The
Living Eating the Flesh of Their Dead
Comrades to Sustain L fe-A Tale of Hor-
rOr that Had Better Never Been Told.
NEW YORK, August u.
The Times this morning says: Written
documents now in the possession of the
Navy Department add to the record of
miserable suffering already published in
connection with the G eely expedition,
shocking stories of inhumanity and cam
niballsm. All the facts have been in the
possession Secretary Chandler for three
weeks, but have been closely guarded.
For the sake of humanity the authoriti
are endeavoring to keep the II after
come out. 1t Will be emember-
ed that in Commander Schley's first dis
patch to Secretary Chandler concerning
the finding Of the Greely party he said:
"T would earnestly suggest that the
bodies now on board be placed in metallic
cases here for safer and better transpor-
tation in a sea way. This appears to me
imperative" As Mr.. Chandler was in
West Point the dispatch was answered by
Rear Admiral Nichols. He said: s'Use
,
transportation of the bodies" Sec
retary Chandler afterward telegraphed:
"Prepare them according to your judg-
ment.'
1t took some days to prepare the iron
caskets, which were all bolted and riv-
tied. 1t was remarked at the time by
experienced officers that this would have
hardly been necessary for the preservation
Of the frozen bodies. They could safely
have been brought on in wooden collins.
The design was obviously to prevent
friends of the dead being given an op-
portunity to look at their remains. Even
the sailors on the relief ships, with the
except. on of a few who assisted in remov-
ing the bodies, were not allowed to see
them. When Commander Sch ey met
Secretary Chandler and General Hazsn at
Portsmouth, on the arrival of the ships
from st. Johns he was much agitated
and called the gentlemen into the cabin.
Undoubtedly he then communicated to
them the facts.
The sufferlngs and privations of the
men in their canvas hut during the bitter
winter of 1883 have not hall been told.
1t has been published that after the game
gave out in February they lived on seal
skins, lichens and shrimps. As a matter
of fact, they were kept alive on human
flesh. When the rescuiug party discovered
the survivors one of. them, German,
was wild in his delirium. "Oh,'
he shricked, the sailors took hold of him,
"DOn't let them shoot me as they did
poor Henry; must | be killed and eaten
aS pO L Henry was? Don't let them do
1t! Don't DOn't!' The sailors were
horrified and reported the words to Com
mander Schley. After brief investtga-
ton he felt satisfied that some of the
men who pershed had been stripped of
their flesh to keep their surviving COM
radeS alive.
| He instructed two or three gentlemen,
among whom was DIR. Ames, the Surgeon
! Of the Bear to make a careful examination
/ and put their conclusions in writing
| This was done and the reports are now in
| the department. Greedy was adverse TO
! having the bodies OF the dead disturbed.
! lie thOUghti; wise, as they had been buried
| so long, to let them remain in their
/ graves. Schley did not agree with him.
! The bodies were dug from the graves
/ Most of the blankets contained nothing
/ but heaps Of white bones, many of them
/ picked clean. The remains could be
! Identified only by marks on the blankets.
! Sch ey discovered that many of the seven
/ teen men said 10 have perished from
starvation had been eaten. 1t was the
/ last resort Death stared the hungry
men in the face, but their hope Of life
would hold out for even a few weeks
were three or four who died of scurvy
The amputated limbs of men who after
| ward perished were eagerly devoured.
! Chas. B. HeHry's death was particularly
1 tragic. He was a young German, with
/ out relatives in this country, and joined
! Company Z, Fifth Cavalry, in CiHcin-
! natl. His friends tried TO diSuade
him from going, but his spirit of adven-
| ture was aroused by tales of Arctic eX-
| n otis and he determined to UO Driven
I to despair by hunger Henry tried to steal
little more than his share of rations.
He was found out and shot. In the Ofli-
| cial report the death is set down as hav-
| ing occurred June 6. When the body
was found his hands and face, though
shrunken were intact, but nearly every
where else the skin had been stripped and
the flesh picked from the bones.
Even his heart and lungs were eaten.
One rib was shattered by a bail, and to
another fragments of cad were attached.
A buhet hole was in the sin The body
was in this condition when it was in
tered in Cypress Hill Cemetery last
Saturday. The letter his friend Mr.
Robert S. Oberfeider, of Sidney, Neb.,
is daily looking for will probably never
come to light The survivors were 10th
to tax of the horrible experience they
had passed through, but after promises of
secrecy tn il evidence was taken in writ
ing. Greely said be wished the men had
been rescued by the army instead of the
navy. OF course it was impOs sble 70
keep the actual state of affairs from the
crew, but absolute silence was imposed
upon them. The officers were not al
lowed to talk of what Lad occurred in
their presence.
Que man who openly spoke in the
mess room about the inhumanity oj
using fragments of hNman flesh as bait
for shrimps was severely reprimaDded
Not a word of the facts was given tC
anybody until Schley made his report
A reporter questioned a few officers on
the relief ships at the navy yard last
evening. Some of them asserted hItly
that the bodies were not mutilatcd wher
found and secuted cannibaiism. Others
admitted that the bodies were shocking
10 look upon, but attributed it to thC
storm a1d ice. The remains wer,
wrapped in clothes as soon as possibl,C
and some of the party did not see then
at ali. Schley declined to have anything
to say about the bodies, more than in his
official dispatch.
A Recreant OmciaI.
AUBURN. n. Y, A gu u.
z