Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1884-08-13
THE STORY OF CANNIBALIsM.

the finding of the Greedy relief expedition
the most shocking stories of inhumanity
and cannibalism. All the facts have been
in the possession of Secretary Chandler TOR
nearly three weeks, but so closely have they
been guarded, and so strictly have the ma
val officers and sailors maintained the 81
lence imposed upon them, that not even an
inkline of the true and horrible condition OF
affairs has as yet reached the public ear.
For the sake of humanity and the Amerl-
can people the army authorities are en-
deavoring to keep the matter hushed, but
in the official investigation, which IS almost
sure to come, the facts in all will undoubt-
edly come out. Every effort will presuma-
bly, be taken to prevent it, but the truth
must be known in time. 1t will be remem-
bered that in Commander Schley's first dis
patch to Secretary Chandler, announcing
the finding Of the Greedy party, he said:
II would urgently suggest that the bodies
now on board be placed in metallic cases
for safer and better transportation in sea-
way. This appears 10 me Imperative"
As Mr.. Chandler was in West Point, the
dispatch was answered by Rear Admiral
Nichols Acting Secretary of the Navy. lie
said:
use your OWL ulSCIcIiou auouI Cal Q nho
TRANSPORTATION of bodies"
Secretary Chandler alterward telegraphed:
prepare them according to your judg-
ment and bring them home"
1t took some days to prepare the iron
caskets, which were all bolted and riveted:
II was remarke ed at the time by experienced
officers that this would hardly have been
necessary for the preservation of the frozen
bodies They could safely have been
brought on, without any delay, in wooden
collins. The design was obviously to pre-,
vent all possibility of friends of the dead
sailors being given an opportunity to look
at their remains for the purpose OF identifl-
cation or otherwise. Even the sailors on
the relief ships, with the exception of few
men who assisted in removing the bod
les were not allowed to see them.
The lips of the officers were sealed. When
Commander Schley met Secretary Chandler
and Gen, Hazen at Portsmouth, August ,,
on the arrival of the ships from ST. Johns,
he was very much agitated, and called the
gentlemen into the cabin of the vessel. I'M
doubtedly be then communicated to them
the facts which have since become an open
secret.
The sufferngs and privations of the men
in their canvas hut during the long, bitter
winter of 1854 have not been half told. 1t
has been published that after the game
gave out early in February they lived prln-
cipally on sealskins, lichens and shrimp
AS matter of fact, they were kept alive
on human flesh. When the rescuing party
discovered the half starved survivors their
first duty was to look to the two men who
wereinsensible from cold and privation, even
to the point of death. One OF them, a Ger
man, was wild in his delirium.
ooh" he shrieked, as the sailors took
hold Of him to lift him tenderly, don't let
Thorn shoot me as they did poor Henry.
Must be killed aud eaten as Henry was
Don't let them do it. Don't! Don't"
The sailors were Mortified, but at once re-
ported the mans words TO Commander
Schley. After a brief investigation he felt
satisfied that the poor fellow was speaking
the truth, and that some of the men who
persisted had been stripped Of their flesh
TO keep their surviving comrades alive
Mr.. Schey proposed to make thorough
work of it. When the horrible reality was
brought out before an investigating COM
mittee he did not propose to have it rest
solely ON his oral testimony. Heinstructed
two or three gentlemen, among whom was
Dr. Ames, the surgeon of the Bear, to make
a careful examination, and put their conclu-
sions in writing This was done, and the
reports are now in the hands of the Navy
Department. Lieutenant Greedy was decid.
eddy averse to having the bodies of the bu-
ried dead disturbed. He thought it wise, as
they had been buried so long, TO let them
remain in their Arctic graves. Commander
Schley did not agree with him. The bodies
were dug from their graves in the little hill
just back Of the permanent camp establish
ed in October 1889. Most of the blankets
contained nothing but heaps of white bones
many of them picked clean. The remains
could be identified only by the marks on the
blankets. By inquiries Commander Schley
discovered that many of the seventeen men
who are said to have persisted from starva-
ton had been eaten by their furnishing com.
rades. 1t was the one last resort Provid.
ed supplies had not arrived death stared the
hungry and crazed men in the face, but
there was hope if life would hold out for
even few weeks. 1t is reported that the
only men who escaped the knife were three
or four who died of scurvy. The amputat-
ed limbs of men who aftcrward persisted
were eagerly devoured as food.
Charles B. Henry's death was particular
ly tragic. He was young German, with
out any relatives in this country, and joined
company f, 9Th Cavalry, in Cincinnati. His
friends tried to dissuade him from going
with the expedition, but his spirit of adven-
ture was aroused by tales of Arctic exploits
and he determined TO go. Driven to despair
by his frightful hunger Henry sawan oppor
tunity to steal little more than his share of
rations, and he made the attempt. He was
found out and shot for his crime. In the
published official report the death of this
man is set down rs having occurred on June
6. When the body was found his hands and
face, though shrunken, were intact and re-
cognizable; but nearly everywhere else the
skin had been stripped from him and the
flesh picked from he bones. Even bis heart
and lungs were eaten by his comrades. One
rib was found shattered by bullet ball, and
to another small fragments of lead were at.
tached. A bullet hole was found in the
skim The body was in this condition when
it was inferred in Cypress Hills Cemetery
last Saturday. The letter bis friend, Mr..
Robert S. Oberfelder, of Sidney, Neb., is
daily looking for will probably never come