The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1884-12-11

of September Is, 1888, Dr. James Lawn,
who was Surgeon in the ,,Hartstone Expedis
ton sent out to the relief of DR.. Kane In
1855, strongly urged the utter impracticar
bility, from his { experience, of any
expedition, however well fitted, being
able to reach point where It
could be of the slightest service to the Gree
ley party. He said that before an expedi-
tion could reach the shores of Greenland IL
would be dangerous to proceed above Disco
Island. Captain George E. Tyson, who, as
is well known, was with Halls last expedi-
ton, and was in command of the party
which fioated down from the Arctic regions
on an ice foe offered his services to lead an
expedition, but he made no suggestion to go
In the autumn of 1888. On the contrary, he
expressed III personal conference, his firm
conviction of the impracticability and dam
ger of undertaking such an expedition in
the autumn.
The deplorable situation Of the Greedy
party, then feared but since known to exist,
did not lessen the perils which would have
beset any relief party started at the Begin
ming OF an Arctic winter. The Secretary of
War knows of no one whose opinion would
be considered, except the Chief Signal
Officer, who would not have regarded such
an expedition not only as substantially hope
less for any relief earlier than was actually
given, but perilous III the extreme, If not
foolhardy.
Nothing is more illustrative of the inn
possibility of overcoming at all times the
difficulty of Arctic travel, whether by land
or sea, than the fact that two-thirds of
Lieutenant Greely's party starved to death
at Cape Sabine with 150 pounds of meat un-
touched at Cape Isabella, distant about
thirty miles, and with $50 rations untouched
at Littleton Island, at about the same dis
| tance, but separated by Smiths Sound. It
probably never occurred to any one that the
Gree1y party could not easily reach and use
both of these stores.
The conclusion reached. after most
anxious and careful consideration, was, on
the 10th of September, 1883, embodied in a
written memorandum of the Secretary of
War and the Secretary of the Navy, which
was given. in full in the Secretary's report.
1t may be added that the Secretary of
| War, while deploring the terrible loss of
life incurred by the Lady Franklin Bay ex-
| pedition, has never seen reason to doubt the
propriety of these conclusions reached by
the Secretary of the Navy and himself,
upon all the considerations which were
available to them.
/ To some of the criticisms made by the
Chief Signal Officer in his report no refer
ence seems to be required beyond saying
/ that the ssProteuso Court of Inquiry, so
called, had the merit of basing its conclu-
sions as to the officers with whom it deali
upon such information of facts and condi-
tions as was attributable by the officers
themselves at the time of their action,
as well as by the court. But the
expression of the Chief Signal Officer
above referred to, is an intrusion of an
official opinion as to the propriety of the
course of the Secretaries of War and of the
Navy in not hazarding more lives in 1885
in nearly hopeless adventure, upon his
telegraphic request. This excursion into an
official Jurisdiction beyond his own and his
dictum upon the exercise of superior re
sponsibility which he was not invited t.
share are extraordinary in their time and
place. and are hardly excusable even undel
whatever of irritation may have been caused
by the findings of the "Proteus" Court oi
Inquiry. Waving, however, that considers
tion, if there had at the time been given more
weight to the views of that branch Of
the public service, under whose manage
ment there had been one futile and one dis.
astrous expedition in the Northern seas II
two successive years, than to the views o.
men having experience i'll such matters, i
is now hardly to be doubted that we woul(
have had last summer the news of twt
Arctic calanities instead of one. 1t is no
thought that the public would wish bettel
evidence of this than is to be found in thu
official report of Commander Schley, which
the Secretary quotes.