Hand County press. (Miller, Dakota [S.D.]) 1882-1893, 1886-07-15
RESCUE OF GREELY.
COMMANDER ScHLEYS ACCOUNT OF
PATHETIC INCIDENT.
r.E. W. "" m Boston rren,crip,. |

The story is an old one, but. as authora-
lively ard pathetically told by Commander
Schley, It is worth rstelling. And 80. pass
ing over the discovery Of Greely's records,
which are given entire, on Brevoort island,
" al axe a condensation Of the narrative,
taking il up at the point where the cutter Of
the re>cuing party approa ched the spot
where the provisions Of the wrecked Proteus
had Teen left:
Al last the toat arrived at the site Of the
wreck cache, and the shore ~as eagerly
scanned, but nothing cou.I De ecn Round
ing the next point, the cutter opened out ths
cove beyond. There, on the top OF q little
ridge, fifty or sixty yaris above the ice-foot,
was plainly outlinsd tn, figure OF man.
Instantly tae coxswain caught Up n" boat
hook and waved hrs ha'. The iaaa on the
ridge had -een them, for he stopped, picked
up u signal fsg iran ths rock aud waved IL
in reply. Tuen hs was seen coming slowly
and cautiously down the steea rocky slope
Twice be fell down tesore he reached the
foot. As he appr, a he'd, still Walking
feebly and with difficulty. Colwel hatlej
him from the bow OF tbs boat:
"Who are there lefiH Seven lef o."
As the cutter struck the ice, Colwell
jumped or and went up % him. Ho was
& astly sight As no poke, his u.terance
was thicS AMI mumbling, a,d in hi, agita
uOn his jaws rlsi in c5nvul,i t~itchss.
"Wrera are thUy9' askei CUlwel, trehy.
-ln tire tent, said the nan, pointing over
lis shoul Ter, "uver ths hil,-ths tent is
down." "Iq Mr. Grely aliyai' YES.
GrocIy'5 alive" Any other oficcr>Y No"
Tlen lie repeated absently, The tent is
down" who are your Long
Before this colloquy was over, Lows and
Norman had started up the hill. Hastily
filling his pockets with bread, and taking
the two cans Of pemmican, CSlweil told the
coxswain TO take l. ng into the cutter, and
starting after the others with Ash. Hurry
ing on across the intervening hollow, Col
we'll came up with Lowe and Norman, Just
"a they were greeting a soldierly looking
man who had come out from the tent.
As Colwell approached, Norman was say
ing 20 the man, There is the lieutenant
And be added TO Colwell "This Is Sergt
Brainard." Brainard Immediately drew
himself up to the position of the soldier"
and was about to salute when Colwell took
his hani.
At this moment there was a confu ed mur-
muir within the tent and a voice said,
"Who's therei" Norman answered, "It'-
( Norman Norman who was in the ProteuS
! This was followed by cries OF -Oh, it's Nor
man" and a sound like a feeble cheer,
| Meanwhile one Of the relief party, who in
his agitation and excitement was crying like
a child, was down on his hands and knees
trying to roll away tis stones that bell
down the fspp:ak toht c'oth. Colwel
call,d for knie. cht u a.s IN
the ton, covar, ..nl !uoSeI Ia. Il
was siSht OF hoTro.. n:T 'r:it
soppo-ite, on his naa All knees, W., s
dark man VITA n long mattel basrl. IN q
dirty ami taster'd DIRE sils soYa VITA q
little red skull cap on ii, houd, and rilliaut
staring eye. As Go we'll apparel. hs
raj Q himself a Lt. lie, and put Oh a par ol
eyeglasses
Who are youy" asked C,lwell The ,nsr
made no answer staring at him yac.nty
"Who are your again. One of the nIer
spoke up. That's the nlajor--Maj. Greedy.
/ Colweli crawled in and tick him by ths
hand, saying to him. "Greely. is this your
Yes" said Greedy, In faint, broken voice
hesitating and shufiiing with his wonis
/ "Yes--seven OF US lsft--here we are-dyins
/ like men. Did what ! came TO do--beai
( the best record" Then be fell back ex
hau ted.
| The scene. as Colwell looked around. was
one Of misery and squalor. There was nc
| food lett in the tent but two or three cans oi
| a thin, repulsive docking jelly, made by
boiling strips out from the sealskin clothing.
| Except Council and Ellison, the feeble oi
( the party was Lieu, Greely. His strength
! was failing fast He aculd not stand up
{ right, and for some time he had not left hn
( sieeping-bag.
/ As soon as Colwell understood tho condi
! tion Of affairs, he sent Chief Engineer Lowe
back to the cutter to put of TO the Boar with
/ Long, to report what had happenei, and
( bring OH the others with the surgeon and
| stimulants Fredericks and Bisrderbicl
/ presently got up and came out, Colwei
! gave them, as we'll as Greedy and Ellison, q
4 little of the biscuit he had in his pocket
which they munched slowly and deliber
| stsiy. Then he gave them another bit
/ while Norman opened one OF the cans ol
/ remmican. SSraping of q little with q
knife Coiwell led them slowly by turns. Il
| was pitiaple sight. They could not stand
up and had dropped down on their knees
After they had each been lei twice
they were told that they hal hal
J enough, that they could not eat more then
W tnout danger; out their hunger had nov
! come back with IuIl force, aud they begged
piteously TO be helped again, Protesting tnaI
I IL III.
J wisely deaf to their entreaties ard threw
away the car Wien Greely fouHd that b,
was refused, he took out a can Of the boLel
! sealskin, which had been carefully bus
bandei, and which he said he had right Il
eat, rs it was his own This was takeI
away from him, but while Colwell was al
[ work trying TO raise the tent, some one got
/ the half emptied can OF pemmican, and by
the time IL was al covered the party had
i sconpad out aad eaten its contents.
! While they were waiting for the re.nrn oi
the boat, Colweii and the ice masters did
their hest to cheer them up by tellin, them
that relief was at hand, and that the others
would soon arrive They could not realiz.
II and refused TO belief It So they ~ers
humored, and by way OF taking up thor
thoughts, Colwell told them something ol
what had been going on in the world during
( their three years OF exile Curiousiy enough
there was much that they knew already. II
/ turned out that among the stores from th,
/ Proteus were two boxes OF lemons, and tbs
fruit had been wrapped up In scraps of Eag
lish newspapers-Sthose lemons which your
dear wife put up for u, "as one Of them said Il
/ Colwell, in a moment Of wandering fancy
I The latter could only disclaim the iInag mar,
obligation TO an imaginary person, but tss
impression had already faded
With most OF them the rescue hardly mad,
q revulsion Of feeling Except the con,
uanier, they took 1t a. matter OF course
There was little, very little excitement
and they were perhaps moro than ordinarily
talkative, bat in general they did not seen
| To rise or fall much above OF below the levs
Z Of ordinary good spirits Probably OF tougl
fber TO hegin with, their year Of privatioI
! and hopelessnes had blunted or deadenes
their recolfection of the world, az they hao
! known il, and the feelings to which tn
7 recollection gave rise. Notwithstan ling hi
| Interview with Colwell, Grcely's fir qies
ton when the party from the Bear came mp
as--"whether they were not Englishmenf
4 AMI upon feinz told that they were hi
countrymen, be ,aid, ~ am so glad TO se
you"