McCook weekly tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 188?-1886, 1884-07-24
THE GREEDY SURVIVORS.
Additional Particulars In Regard to Their
Rescu6.

Sergeant Long, of the Greedy party,
who was the first to respond to the welcome
tone of the steam whistle, says he and Ser
geant Brainard We're the first to hear the
sound and they helped each other to crawl
out Of the tent. When Long got clear OF
the ENHANCEMENT of the tent, which had
been swept to the ground, he rose to his feet,
with great difficulty, and succeeded In clam
bering up to q rock that gave the most ex-
tensive view in the neighborhood. Brain
ard went back to the tent, but Long re-
manned, looking out searchingly in every
direction for some strange object. At
length he saw the unw0nted sight of large
black object about mile distant, which at
first looked like rock, but he knew there
was no rock in that line. Suddenly
the approaching steam launch changed
its course and Long recognized the
approach of the rescuers. He came
down from the rock and went towards
the camp, raising the flag pole and flag,
which had been blown down during the
gale, and held it for ten minutes, until his
strength gave out, and it was blown once
more to the ground. He then advanced in
the direction of the little steamer, and in q
few minutes the warm hand of Captain Ash
had grasped his in greeting. Morris Con-
nell, who is still excessively weak, stated in
an interview that for some days after his
rescue he had no recollection Of anything
that TRANSFERRED. He did not hear the awak-
ening scream of the whistle. When his
comrades shook him up from his PROSTATE
position in the camp and told him OF the
suecor at hand, he wildly exclaimed: ''For
Gods sake let me die in peace A tea
spoonful of brandy applied to his lips
called back the feeting life spark, for
Connell could not have survived more than
a few hours. He was by far the weakest
OF the seven survivors and the strongest
must have succumbed within forty-eight
H., Ttn 90 tAl6 hwr Ill
from his recollection of their starving
eX erience is simply heartrendering; how
they burned the hair off their sealskin boots
and coats, cut them into strips, boiled them
into stew, and ate yOraciously of them till
their stomachs rebeled and nausea and
weakness ensued. In some cases nature
gave no call for twelve, fifteen, and even
eighteen days, and then bloody hemorrhage
and consequent weakness ensued, pros
tratng the victim for several days. The
difficulty in keeping heat in the body was
very great. The rule of the camp was to
permit no one to sleep longer than two
hours. He was awakened roughly and
called upon to shake himself, beat his hands
and pound his feet and restore circulation.
This was found absolutely necessary to pre-
vent torpor and possible death, the
usual accompaniments Of intense cold.
Commander schley has received instrue-
tons from the secretary of the
navy to remain at st. Johns until
there are twelve iron caskets con-
structed to receive the bodies of the de-
ceased explorers. The survivors are all
doing well, but are still weak and suffering
from nervous prostration. Lieutenant
Greedy has improved from 120 pounds
weight on the ed Of June to 1859 pounds to-
day. Sergeant Brainard and the others are
pulling up proportiOnately. The weather
here is delightful and all that could be de-
sired for the sufferers, the mercury rang
ing between Is and 70. Great sympathy is
evinced for the survivors and the dead, and
every token of respect is manifested for
hem. The "Thetis' and EBear,'' as
they ride quietly at anchor in the harbor of
St. Johns, wear q sombre and mournful ap-
pearance with the flag of the United States
at half-mast. The United States war-ship
''Alert" arrived at 1 O'Clock p. m. Her
for the other ships Of the squadron. Ali on
board are well. Sergeant Julius r. Fred
erick relates mournfully the tragic story of
the sad death of George Rice,
the artist of the expedition, on
April 9th. Rice and Frederick VOL
lance of twenty-five miles to secure some
meat that was cached near Cape Isabella.
They had sled, rifle, Ratchet and provis-
ions for five days. They travelled three DAYS,
but failed to find the cache. On the way
toward Camp Rice became weak and finally
Sa'e up hS was atLacAeu ny oIOOuy Hulk
that gradually wore him down. He sue
cumbed and was inferred in an ice grave by
his companion. Frederick camped out that
night under the fragment of boat and the
next day revisited his companion to pay the
last tribute to his remains, Frederick re-
tanned sufficient strength TO drag back the
sled with the Ratchet, rifle and cooking
utensils TO camp, where he encountered
more woe in the form of the death of Lieu
tenant Lockwood and another of the party.
The cached meat that Friedrich and Rice
were in search of was brought by them
April 9Th from Cape Isabella, and abandoned 4
the next day in order to drag Ellison, one
of the party, who had been frozen, into
camp. Rice was the life of the Greedy
party, being full Of hope, buoyancy and
energy, and his death was a terrible blow to
them. He died in brave struggle to pro-
long their existence.