Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-09-14


sleeping bag; the effect of this diminished
air-space Will be seen later on. Their hu
was 200 yards removed from an artificial
lake, from which they drew their Wate
/ supply by melting up ice; as the SCI
water strained into this lake, they were
drinking brackish water all the while.
On Nov. 1, 1888, Lieut.. Greedy took
careful account of his stock of provisions
and found that there was but a whole
ration for each man ESTIMATED as al
army ratiOn-abOut 40 ounces of solid fooC
per diem) for 40 days. DIR. Pavy and he
advised together, and it was with some
| reluctance that they determined to di
! vide up the rations so as to make then
last until March 1, putting aside from
time TO time, so that ct the end they
! would still have 10 days supplies Ief
with which to attempt the trip TO Little
ton Island, if the straits were frozen
| over. DR.. Payy did not think the party
| could exist on the ration during the win.
| ter, but the common voice was 10 make
! IL go as far as it would, so each man was
given the following daily allowance:
1 Meat and blubber ................. ABB ozs
| Bread and dog biscuit ........... -. 6.5 "
/ Canned vegetables and rice .... Ia -
/ Butter and lard OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. O75 "
| Soup and beef extract ...... OgO -
| Berries, pickles, raisins and milk i.
Making the daily allowance for the
months Ass ounces. During the winter
| the following amount of game was Sc
cured, which added to their stores: :
seals, yielding about 120 pounds of meat,
bear. yielding 300 pounds of meat, 5
! foxes "A pounds each) and SO dovekies
! (uria brunnichii) a small bird, weighing
! about a pound.
March 1 found the party intact, with
! the exception of Sergt. Cross, who died in
! January with we'll marked scOrbutic
! symptoms-the only case of pronounced
/ scurVy that deyelODed-and Hans, their
! Esquimaux hunter, who was lost in his
boat while hunting seals, early in Febru.
| airy. The straits having been kept open
! during the winter by a succession of VIC
| lent gales, the attempt to cross to Little
| ton Island had to be abandoned, and their
ration was still further reduced to the
/ toIlOWlng allowance: meat 6.S ounces,
! bread and dog biscuit 80 ounces. The
rest of the stores having been exhausted,
the remaining supplies were divided uD
SO as to last until May y. The sun had
/ returned by this time, after an absence
/ Of rs days, and those employed as hunt
ers caught the shrimp (crango-nida). a
small crustacea, One-eighth to One-fourth
OF an inch long, consisting of about four
ffths shell and one-ffth meat From one
10 three ounces Of these a day, according
10 the eaten, were allowed in addition to
the ration.
After the last reduction the party be-
gan rapidly to weaken and die. About
March "a the whole party was overcome
with asphyXia, and nearly lost their lives,
owing to the atmosphere being surcharged
with carbOnic acid. They had lit their
alcohol stove in the hut to cook a meal,
without previously having removed the
rags from the Yent-hOle in the roof; the
remaining oxygen Of the air was soon
consumed no hnI Ia
party were seized with faintness, vertigo
and dyspnGa. 1t was with the greatest
difficulty they struggled from their sleep
ing bags, and stumbled and were helped
into the open air, many fainting away and
dropping unconscious after reaching the
opening. Being poorly clad for a tenn
perature such as prevailed outside at the
time (-46 SF.), many were frostbitten.
The atter-effects of this mishap remained
for long time, and weakened many OF
them.
After May y everything like a regular
ration was exhausted, and they struggled
on as best they could. catching the
shrlmps which they bOiled); gathering
"etndeer moss, which, when boiled, Yields
a mucilaga similar to iceland moss, and
boiling up the sealskin Innings of their
sleeping bags, from which a gelatinOus
mass was extracted. 1t was not till they
had exhausted the supply of moss around
the camp that they gathered the black
lichen growing on the rocks, and boiled it.
DR.. Payy urged strongly against its use,
as he had the authority Of Kane and
Hayes that, when eaten; it would pro-
duce diarfhGa which, in their weakened
condition, would be fatal. They had no
fuel for artificial warmth, and barely
sufficient to allow for melting the ice for
procuring drinking water and to cook
meal every other day; so tnat the tenn
perature of the hut for the winter was
from to 10 degrees Fahrenheit.
They recognized the fact that the nearer
they could approach a state of hiberna-
ting, the better were their chances of get
ting through. Only those employed as
cooks and hunters eXerted themselves
much, and they were given a double
ration. The rest occupied their sleeping
bags and slept sixteen to eighteen hours
out of the twenty-four. In answer to
complaints of hunger DIR. Paws motto
was, soul bort, dine" which was philO-
soDhicaI without being filing.
There seemed to be but little acute suf-
fering from the lack of food. 1t was only
after the introduction of food into the
stomach that the craving became great.
For days they went without food without
actually suffering. The deaths seemed to
take place from heart trouble. The feet
and face became 9dematOus; for day or
so they would complain of pains over the
heart; have a spasm of pain over the
pr9cordia; a slight general cCnvulsion,
and all would be over. Their chief suf-
fering during the winter was from cOnsti-
patton.
When it is considered for the nine
months they were on the ration as de-
tailed, had nothing but brackish water to
drink, no artificial warmth, living in
temperature of five degrees to ten de-
grees for the winter, with cubic air
space of seventy feet per man, the con-
ditiOn in which the survivors were found
will not be wondered at. There was but
seven out of the twenty-five found alive.
These were A. w. Greedy, First Lieuten-
ant. u. s. A.: Henry Biederlich, Hospital
Steward; d. Brainerd, Sergeant, U. S. A.;
Morris Cornell, private, U. 5. A; Joseph
Ellison, Sergeant, U. S. A.; Julius Fred
ericks, Sergeant, U. ); A.; Francis Long,
Sergeant, UI 5. A. The first four men,
toned were taken on board the flagship
Thetis and placed under my care.
On landing at the camp the condition of
the party was so desperate that a delay of
two hours was necessary to restore them
sufficiently to permit their being removed
on stretchers to the boats and taken off to
the ships. Morris Connell, private, was
In eXtremis; was pulSeIess, unconscious,
and unable to swallow; limbs cold and
respiration barely noticeable; ausculat-
ing over the heart, the sounds were heard
very distinctly. BY prOpping him up, and
forcing open the Jaws, a teaspoOnful of
brandy was slowly poured into the back
of the throat The effect Of the stimulant
was soon noticeable, as a faint pulse ap-
peared at the wrist; in ten minutes he
could make an effort to swallow, when
more brandy was administered, followed
by some warm condensed milk at inter-
walls. The rest Of the party were served
with brandy, milk and beef essence, and
finally transported to the ships.
One bushel of ashes represent about two
and a half tons of dry BODY wood. Wood
ashes contain all the required elements
of plant nutrition except nitrogen. One
hundred pounds of wood ashes contain 16
pounds of potash, worth 80 cents; 81