Smyrna times., 1884-07-23
Fate of the Greedy Expedition.

Another catastrophe has been added
to the melancholy history of Arctic ex-
plOration. The dispatch telegraphed
by Commander Schley, of
the Greedy relief expedition, reported
the arrival of the Thetis, Bear and Loeb
Garry at st. John, n. F., with Lieut..
Greely and five men, the only survi-
vors of the Lady Franklin Bay party
Of observation. Ofthe remaining nine
teen seventeen died of starvation at
the point where Greedy and the survi-
YOrs were found, one was drowned |
while sealing to procure food, and |
another died at Godhaven after rescue
from the effects of amputation of his
hands and feet. Twelve of the dead
bodies were brought back, and five of
the others that had been buried were
swept away to sea by winds and cur
rents before the arrival of the party of
rescue. Lieut.. Greeley, with his party
of twenty-five picked men, left New
FOundland in July, 1881. None ofthe
men had ever been on an Arctic expe-
dition, but they were nearly all volun-
teers, healthy and strong, and had been
Injured to hard service in the vicissi-
tudes of army frontier life. The party
reached Lady Franklin Bay in safety,
provided with all the materials for
erecting meteorological station and
with supplies calculated to last for two
years. 1t was understood that it
/ would remain at the station during the
Winter, and when the Spring opened,
would make explorations from that
point with dogs and sledges under the
guidance of Esquimaux. The PrOteus,
after landing Greedy and his cOmpan-
ions at the point selected for the station,
was sent back to the United States,
with the understanding that it would
return in the Fall of1883. An attempt
was made, however, to reach the party
in June, 1882, with supplies, by Mr.. w.
NJ. Beebe, with an expedition on board
the Neptune, but it failed to reach Lady
Franklin Bay on account of the ice
and it returned. The expedition on
the PrOteuS, under Lieutenant CARING
ton, which set out last year, was also a
disastrous failure. The Proteus was
wrecked, and Greedy, with his COM
panions, was left to his own resources
until the expedition which, under
Commander Schley, left the United
States in May last succeeded ultimate.
ly in rescuing the survivors at theil
camp of refuge off Cape Sabine in
Smiths Sound, on June 22nd. The
story Of the hardships suffered by the
Greely party, as detailed in the dis
patches published Friday, is full of all
the interest that can possibly centre
around a recital of hardship and ad
venture. Lieut.. Greely, it appears
| abandoned his station on the 9th o
2 August, 1888, and reached Baird Inle
at the close of September with the en-
= tire party well; he was subsequent,
t obliged to abondon all his boats an,
was adrift for thirty days in Smith
Sound, and he kept his party togethe
until he reached the camp where h
, was found. The sufferings which the,
o they endured were intensified by tn
( exhaustion of the food they brough
with them, and of that which had bee
,. cached at different points by Sir Georg
n Mares, by Beebe, and small amour
q saved from the wreck of the PrOteus i
1888. After these scanty supple
D were gone they endeavored to mair
r tain life by eating their sealskin cloth
e ing and by gathering lichens an
n shrimps. When they were discovere
Q seventeen had died of starvation, an
n the remainder were reduced to such
@ state of exhaustion that but for the fol
tunate arrival of the 7Hetis and tn
f Bear they would shortly have share
= the fate of their companions. 1t is, i
, many respects, the story of the i'll
G fated DE Long and his companions, {
# the Jeanette expedition, over agail
+ and it adds another chapter to th
# annals of Arctic adventure almost q
g sad and painful as any that have pr'
! ceded it. Of the Franklin expeditio
n not one survived; all died of exhau
% ton and starvation. OF the De Lon
expedition all died except those i
% Melville's boat and the two men sci
is out by De Long to communicate if po:
Il sible with the natives. OF the Greel
Z. party only six now live of the twent,
= five of which it was composed Sur
q ly it is now time to put final stop
expeditions to the Arctic seas, wheth,
they are fitted out for scientific pu
N poses or with a view to reach the pol
- They are tribute to heroic effort, bl
u they cost too much in the loss of pr
III cious human lives.