The National tribune., 1884-08-21
CAMP sABINEs HORRORS.


The 6reeIy Party Compelled to Feast Off the
Ccrpses Of their Bead C0mrades-Hints of Fright
fal Scenes-Iieut. Greely Denies all knowledge
OF Cannibalism.
A pretty sharp handling of the rumors that
the survivors of the Greedy expedition had been
compelled TO deyour the bodies of their dead
comrades in order to maintain their own
lives has developed beyond doubt that such
was really the case. Suspicion was first aroused
by the telegram of Lieut.. Schley, the COM
mander Of the relief expedition, TO Secretary
Chandler, urging the imperative necessity of
having the bodies cf the dead explorers placed
in sealed metallic coflins. Then, again, the
officers of the expedition did all the work of
exhuning the dead and preparing them for
home transportation job they would cer-
tainly have given to the sailors had there not
been something TO conceal.
The friends of Lieut.. Fred II. Kislingbury,
agitated by the reported cannibalism. had his
body disinterred, it having been buried but
few days in Mount Hope Cemetery, New York,
and an examination revealed that nearly all
the flesh had been stripped from the body
the head, hands and feetalone remaining intact.
1t is stated that Private Henry, who was
shot by Greelys orders for persistently steal
ing food, after he had been warned again and
again, was eaten by his comrades, and his body
viii be exhumed shortly for the purpose of ex-
amining into the truth of the rumor. 1t is said
that ali that remained of the unfortunate man
was a small heap of bones, the head being gone.
These bcnes were tied TO sticks, and with
block for the head, made somewhat in the
shape Of a human body.
LIEUT.. GREELY's STATEMENT.
sLeut. Greely denies all knowledge of the
cannibalism, but states frankly that he ordered
the execution of Henry, as a measure neces-
sary TO the protection of the lives of the
Others. In a recent interview at Ports
mouth, he said: =" In regard to the story of two
factions, with Lieut.. Kislingbury in, charge of
the opposition, / viii say that that rumor is
totally false, having no foundation whatever.
The trouble between Kislingbury and myself
occurred in 1881, the first year of the expedi-
tiOn. He desired TO be relieved from duty, and
/. not wishing TO retain a man against his Will,
although / had the power SO TO do, gave him
his liberty. 1t is my impression that he de-
sired TO return to the United States. He went
southwark, but the Proteus was sunk and he
returned to duty. l treated him as though
nothing had happened, and recently, when
Lockwood died, gave Kislingbury the second
place in the expedition"
What do you say about the condition of
Kislingburys body?"
AZ say that it is news, and horrible news, to
me. All these later disclosures and terrible
charges come upon me with awful sHddenness.
l can truthfully say that / have suffered more
mental anguish these last few days than / did
in al my sojourn at the North, when the
chances were hundred to one against me. /
can but repeat that If there was any cannibal-
ism, and there now seems to be no doubt about
it, the man n-eating was done in secrecy, and en-
tirely without my knowledge, and contrary to
my discipline. i can give no stronger denial.
] have demanded an investigation, and it will
Al
i have already stated All nay papers and Kis-
lingbury's diary, Lockwoods diary, and, in
fact, every scrap of paper relating TO the expe-
dition are IN charge OF the War Department at
Washington. The crew Of the Thetis can
testify that the body Of the last man dead,
Schneider, was not mutilated in any way, and
the fact that we kept Ellison alive in the hope
less state We were in ought 70 convince any
body that we are not cannlbals. Since my re-
turn from Newburyport every one Of my men
has called upon me- They came in a body, and as
sured me emphatically that they knew nothing
about the condition of the bodies of their fallen
comrades, and each solemnly swore that he was
innocent. Perhaps those who died last fed upon
the bodies Of those who died before, but all this
is supposition. / can but answer for myself and
for my orders to the party. For DAYS and
weeks lay upon my back, unable to move. If,
in my enfeebled condition, one or more Of my
men fed upon human flesh, it was beyond my
control and certainly beyond my knowledge.
/ know that / have been criticized for not tee-
graphing the fact of the shooting of Henry as
soon as / arrived at st. Johns, but you mustre-
member that / was in a wretchcd condition of
body and mind. was in quandary whether
or not / should be tried for murder, as Henry
was shot on my own responsibility, aud not by
the order OF regular court-martial."
ANOTHER STATEMENT.
One of the officers of the relief expedition
said in an interview: Commander Schley,
Lieuts. Emory or Colville or myself know very
little of how those wretched months of May
and June were passed. We know that only by
eating human flesh from off their brothers
these mad wretches were kept alive, but we
know very little Of the sickening details of
camp life. In those long dreary days before
relief came the doctrine Of the survival of the
strongest must have ruled. The struggle was
an individual struggle for life, and the weakest
were pushed out OF existence that the strong
est might live upon them. Lieut.. Greely's
authority was a mere name, a something
which the men looked back upon as having
once existed long time ago. And there can
be very little doubt that Greely himself fed
upon the flesh of his men. The exhuming of
the body Of Lieut. Kislingbury shows how
completely the bones were stripped of meat
This was not done by the unskilful hand of
crazy, hungry sailor, but by the trained sealpel
The entire fesh-some 20 pounds-was stripped
away az one time, SO that ali in camp must
have fed upon him on the same day. And so
with most of the corpses. Every ounce of