Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-10-23
HAZEN DEFENDS HIMSELF.
ALI THE ARCTIC BLIJNDERS
PUT ON DARLINGTON.

| CnleI olgnal Omcer, nas submitted his an
nual report. In relation to the Arctic ex-
| reditions, after referring to the de-
parture of the Yantic, after the loss of the
Proteus, from Littleton Island to st.
John, without leaving provisions. he
says, that "This abandonment of Lieut..
Greely and his party to probable starya-
tion by officers whose, only mission in
those waters was to succor them. dis
| played lamentable disregard of grave
| responsibility. SHe holds that if Lieut.
Darlington had insisted upon leaving
rations from the Yantic, or if another re-
| lief vessel had been sent from st. John,
| as he says he himself urged, loss of life
and disaster would have been averted.
NO FAILURE ON HIS OR GREELY's PART.
| Gen. HaZen says: 'Lieut. Greely
carried out his instructions literally
and the Signal Bureau carried
out the prearranged plan" He contin-
ues, after referring to Lieut.. Greely's re-
| treat, and to the success of the relief eX-
! peditiOn under command of Commander
| Schley, as follows: t'Up to the return of
the expedition this year l had hope that
there would be no occasion for raising a
| question of blame at this or any future
| time. But new light has been cast upon
| the subject, and with it my duty becomes
plain. The truth of history and justice to
| all calls for such an impartial inquiry
and authoritative judgment as a tribunal
| broad enough to embrace the whole ques-
| tion shall institute and pronounce, and
| the Congress of the United States is man.
| ifestly such tribunal. / therefore trust
that the whole matter of the Lady Frank
| lin bay expedition and the expedition or
| ganized for its relief will be deemed wor-
thy of thorough investigation by Con-
| gress."
HIGH RANK OF THE EXPEDITION.
Gen. Hazen regards the Greely expedi-
ton as ''among the foremost of its kind,
| and insists that both Lieut.. Greely in the
| Arctic and the Signal Bureau in Wash
| lngton carried out their parts of the pre-
arranged plan for a rescue literally and
| successfully in every particular"
He refers to the failure of Lieut.. Gar
| lingtOn to replace the spoiled provisions
| at Cape Sabine, and quotes from a letter
written by Lieut.. Greely to him April 30,
| supposing himself at the point of death, ,.
as follows: "Had Lieut.. Darlington
| carried out your orders and replaced the
| 240 rations of rum and 120 of alcohol in
| the English cache here and 210 pounds of
| mOuldy English bread, spoiled English
| chocolate and potatoes, melted sugar, and
| 30 pounds of rotten dog biscuit, we would
without doubt be saved"
| Gen. Hazen says that Lieut.. Darlington
1
| rescued from the Proteus at Cape Sabine.
| sCHLEY's REPORT.
The report of Commodore Winfield
| Scott Schley, of the expedition under his
| command for the relief of the Greely
| party, has been submitted to the Secretary
| of the Navy. 1t cites the orders under
which the expedition was organized and
| then enters upon a graphic narrative of
the events of the voyage. The greater
| portion of the report is given up to a
| description of the finding of Lieut.. Greely
| and his party, and the rescue of the sur
vivOrs. Commodore Schley describes as
| follows the i'm ressive scene inside Lieut..
| Greely's tent:
Lieut.. Greedy was found in his sleeping bag,
| his body inclined forward and his head rest
| ing upon his left hand. The Book of Common
| Prayer was open and held in his right hand.
| He appeared to be reading prayers to Private
Connell, whose condition was most desperate
| and critical. He was cold to the waist and all
| sensation of hunger had gone. He was speech
| less and almost breathless. HIS eyes were fixed
and CLASSY. Indeed his condition was such that
| it was with difficulty that he swallowed the
| stimulants given him by Drs. Ames and
| Green. His jaws had dropped, his heart was
| barely pulsating, and his body temperature
| very low. This tender scene of a helpless,
almost famished, officer consoling dying
| companion was in itself one that brought tears
| to the eyes OF the strongest and stOutest of
| those who stood about them on a merciful er-
| rand. Sergts. Brdinerd and Frederick aud
| hospital Steward Bienberbick were ex-
| tremely weak, being hardly able to stand,
| They were no longer able to venture away
| from their camp to seek food, nor to prepare
| their simple diet of boiled sealskin, nor to
| collect lichens, nor to catch shrimp, on which
| they had to depend to great extent to sus-
| tain life.
SWOLLEN BEYOND RECOGNITION.
Their faces, hands and limbs were swollen
/ to such an extent that they could not be re-
| cOgnzed. This indicated that the entire
| q lease lyv
i not more than forty EIGHT hours at the most
This TACT was recognized by them all, and had
/ come to them from experience during that
/ long and desOlate winter in watching their
/ dying companions as one after another passed
away from amongst them forever. Poor Sergt.
/ Ellison was found in his sleeping bag, where
| he had been helpless and hopeless for months
with his hands and feet frozen off. Strapped
| to one of the stumps was found a spoon
which some companion had strapped there
| to enable him to feed himself. His physical
| condition otherwise appeared to be the best of
any of the survivors, and this may be attribu-
| ted to the fact that each of his companions
| had doled out to him from their small allow
ance something to help him on account of his |
complete helplessness to add anything to his |
| own by hunting about the rocks for lichens or
| catching shrimps. He suffered no waste of |
strength by the exertion incident thereto. |
| This care of Ellison was such only brave |
and generous men, suffering with each other |
under the most desperate circumstances, |
could think of. Sergt. Long was very |
much reduced though in somewhat better con- |
dition than some of the others. His Office of |
hunter Tor the starving party had made it |
necessary to increase slightly his plttance of |
| food to maintain his strength that he might |
| continue the battle for food and life for the |
helpless. In his case, however, the effect of |
this continued effort had told its story in his |
wasted form.
LONG SIGHTS THE RESCUERS.
Shorter and shorter journeys were made in
good weather, while in the frequent bad |
weather of that region his strength was so
much impaired that when the joyful signal |
whistle was heard he had only enough |
strength to stagger out to the rocks over
looking the water to see if the signal heard |
had proceeded from ships in sight His frat |
visit was bitter disappointment, as
he saw nothing. A second visit. Is
minutes later, brought him within |
so yards of the Bears steam cutter and in
view of the relief ships coming around Cape
Sabine. When the steam cutter ran into the |
the ice covered cliff and was taken into the |
cutter. He informed Lieut.. Colwen that the |
Location or the camp was Just over the Cliff. |
In the case OF Sergeant Ellison the medical |
officers were fearful from the first that his |
chances of life were very small. AS soon as
healthful food was available and the digestive |
functions should be re-established fully, the |
healthful round Of blood circulation would |
begin, and itss distribution of new life to the |
uninjured parts and Inflammation would nat
urally occur. Ii Elllsons strength should in
crease more rapidly than Inflammation ampa-
tation of injured parts would perhaps save his |
life Several days after his rescue, June 2S.
with congestion of the brain. The symptoms |
increased rapidly until the poor fellow lost
his reason. At GodhaYn his condition was so
critical that the surgeon of the expedition |
after consultation, determined to amputate
both feet above the ankle as the only chance
of life left to the sufferer. Disease, however,
triumphed, and amid the bleak scenes that |
had surrounded him for three years in his
heroic sacrifice, and within the desOate soli-
tude of that region of everlasting ice and |
snow, surrounded by his sorrowing comrades,
he passed away.
GREELY'S CONDITION..
Lieut.. Greely was physically the weakest.
but mentally the most vigorous of his party |
He had been in his sleeping bag for weeks on
account of his gradually falling strength He |
was unable to stand alone Tor any length of
time and was almost helpless, except on Sit
ting quiet. All pangs OF hunger had ceased
His appearance was wild. His hair was long
and unkempt. His face and hands were COW
cred with sooty black dirt. His body was
scantily covered with wornout clothes His
form was wasted. His joints were swollen
and his eyes were sunken. His first induirv
was if they were not Englishmeu but when
he was told that we were his own countrv-
men, he paused for a moment as if refecting
then said, ~ am glad TO see yOu.n The condi,
tion of his camp was IN keeping wi h the scene
inside the tent, desperate and desolate. The
bleak barrennesS Of the spot over which The 4
wild arctic bird would not fly, the row of |
graves on the little ridge loo feet awav with
the protruding heads and feet of those lately |
buried, a sad but silent witness to the da1ly
increasing weakness of the little band of sur.
yivors, the deserted winter quarters in the
hollow below with its broken wall invaded nv
water from the melting snow and ice above it,
the dead bodies OF two companions stretched
IN the ica the wrptchad ailoIooSyF -.