Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1884-08-15
THE ARCTIC HORRORS.
The Times Reiterates the Story of Can.
nibalism Among the Greedy Party
Lieut.. kislingbury's Body Ex.
humed and an Autopsy Held.

lcuuN " IilS parry lEOn All Slsuli
to quarter Of mile from the starving men.
There was scarcely any;Ain. l7fI hut pile
OF glister ing bones stripped OF nearly every
trace OF flesh except some ot The lower parts
of the trunk The head was missing and
could not be found - that II vas al first sup
posed that ts.e remains were those Of DIR.
Pavy. The bones were placed in a bag for
removal TO the Bear with the remains of six
Others Of Tie Inflated expedition, On board
they were deposited in little box about two
feet long which vas placed aft and covered
with the stars and strips. A day or two after
the squadron began the homeward trip, the
box was removed from the deck. The Off
GERS determined I remove suspicion of the
terrible scene Of cannibalism enacted al the
camp on Cape Sabine They prepared the
bodies for burial. Sticks Of wood were pro-
cured and fixed 10 the proper length, the
bones were tied 10 these until all were SIS
nearly in place as possible 10 get them. The
head was missing and block of wood was
made to do duty in its place. This frame
work in the shape 9ta man was tied 10 plank
and wound With cGtton cloth as the other
bodies bad been 1t was then surreptitiOu>ly
placed in one of the alcoholic flied tanks
with some OF the Others. 1t was this skill
fully made package resembling a human
body that was lifted into coffin at 81. Johns,
stamped Charles b. Henry. Ii was this bun
die OF wood that was sent to New York,
claimed by HenrY's friends and buried at
Congress Hill Cemetary. SO well had the
work been done that it is doubtful if their
mummy like remains had been seen at St.
Johns there would have been any suspicion
that there was one Of the bundles which was
largely made up5of wood. That the bones
al, Ia, u III b,,,
one conclusion. There was no game about
hares and ptarmlgans There were no car
nverous animals. the record of the relief
expedition shows, 10 disturb the remains of
the dead neither did they decay. The flesh
that remained on the frames of those even
longest dead had not rotted or fallen away.
Sergeant Gross, the first of the party who
died, passed January 18th. He was a large
man aud when taken from his shallowy
grave the body was found HEAVIER than any of
the others. The flesh was quite firm and
showed no signs of decay, excepting portion
Of one hand which was slightly dscolored,
yet Private Henry who died only l6 days
before the relief party arrived there, was
consumed except a few heshless bones The
head had probably been thrown away into
the sea to prevent identification when the
truth should be known as it was sure to be
sometime, whether rescue came or not. In
this work of the officers Of the Bear it was
not possible to remove all traces of the bullet
by which Henry met his death, for more was
left of the trunk than any other portion. The
flesh was not cut from the bodies Of the dead as
the pangS of hunger grew too strong for the
survivors, but with Henry freshly killed tor
attempting to steal an extra share of rations
it was different. The men cooked and ate
human flesh and by this means life was sus-
tanned uuIil rescue arrived.
ROCHESTER,. n. Y, Aug. Il.
Representatives Of the Post Express. hav-
ing obtained the consent of the brothers of
the late Lieut.. Frederick f. Kislingburv. of
Greedy Arctic fame, to exhume his body, this
morning secured the services of Drs Charles
Buckley and F. A. Manderville of this city
to make the autopsy. and the services of H..
NJ Jeffreys, undertaken, and exhumed the
remains The post mortem was made in the
Chapel Of Mount Hope cemetary. The ply
slciaus made a thorough examination and the
remains were placed back in the casket and
again lowered to the grave. Returning to
the city the following affidavit was made
I'VE, this morning, in the chapel of Mt.
Hope cemetary, made an autopsy or post
mOrtem examination of the body of the late
Lieut.. Frederick F. kislingbury, in the pres
ence of the following name persons Lemuel
W. Jetfreys, Samuel Il. Carter, VIM. Butler,
George 7. Stillson, Charles H. Vaudeville.
Edward Angevine. John F. Kislingbury and
Frank W. kisingbdry. We found the BODY
in an iron casket. On the lid being removed
it was taken from the caSket and placed on a
table. 1t was packed in cotton batting and
encased with cotton cloth tied with strings.
On removing this il was found wrapped in a
wooden blanket the whole length. Removing
this the body was in view. Its weight in our
opinion aPproximated about 80 pounds. on
an examination of the head no signs Of
wounds or injuries were visible. The skin
was not broken. The ears and nose were in
tact. The eyes were suuken and wasted
hair was thick and from five to six inches
long face was covered with heavy reddish
beard and moustaClie, skin and muscles of
the interior portion of the face and neck were
intact, from the upper part of the sternum
and clavicle to the lower border of the fifth
rib on the left side the skin and muscles had
all been removed Down to the ribs, on the
right side the skin and muscles down to the
border of the last rib were gone There
were two opening between the 4th and 9Th
intestinal spaces into the thoracic cavity. the
the abdomen were intact to the crest Of the
pelvic bones, the muscles and skin of the an
terror and posteriorI Of the thighs were entire
" removed except the skin on the anterior
portion Of the knee joints, and the muscles
and skin of the left leg were removed to
within three incheseof the ankle joint On
the right leg the skin and muscles were re-
moved to within FIVE inches Of the ankle
joint. Both feet wtre intact, the toes all
present. There was no yestsge OF integument
or muscles on either arm including the
muscles of the shoulder blades to the wrist
joints except on the right fore arm. the inter
oseous membrane remaining. The flesh and
muscles on both hands were intact An ex-
animation Of the Fosterior portion Of the
body showed that the skin and muscles Of the
back from the seventh cerevical vertebra had
been dissected or cut completely down to the
bones with the exception of pieces Of skin
two or three inches square on each side Of
the upper portion Of the sacrum. The pelvis
bones were perfectly denuded. All the ex-
tremities were attached to the body bv liga-
ments only. No fractures OF the body were
discovered. We found all OF the organs OF
the thorax and abdomen present. There was
recent evidence Of defamation Of the stomach
and Bowels. The large intestines were dis
tended with hardened Jumps Of fecal matter
in which there was hair moss or woody fibre.
In our opinion the flesh removed was cut
away with some sharp instrument That
remaining on the feet, hands and face showed
no signs of decomposition.
lSignedl
CHARLES BUCKLEY, NJ. d.
If NJ