The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-07-28
DEFENSE OF LIEUT.. GREEDY.
The Leader of the Unfortunate Arctic
Expedition Did the Best He Could.
Council Was Always Grumbling, and Seemed
to Be Shamming lllness-The Unsubstan-
tiated Talk About Eating Human Flesh.
New York World.


Sergt. Francis Long, one of the survivors OF
the Greedy expedition, who is now attached to
the United States signal Office in this city, read
the charges of Sergeant Connell, OF the expedi-
ton, against Lieutenant Greedy which were
printed yesterday. Long lives at No. Isl Cook
street. Brooklyn, E. D., where he told reporter
a long story about the expedition.
II don't see why Connell turns on the rest of
u.s. he said in tone Of regret 1--WE were all
lucky to get back, and it can't do him any good
to stir up ali the trouble over again. There
isn't any truth in his stories, that's
the worst of it. Here he runs on
about what Lieutenant Greedy ought to do and
what he didn't do. All of us can look back now
and see just how everything ought to have aeen
done to have saved the poor fellows WAC
died. It's rough on Brainard to say no didn't go
so far north when he has got credit for it, 1t
looks like as if Connel was jealous of the rest Of
us because he didn't get promotion. That is ali
there is of it. He was always growing and
kicking, and he didn't do just right by the
rest of us. I wouldn't like TO say anything
about what happened, only he had no reason to
complain.
'.He says Greedy made him wash the officers
clothes when we were at Fort Conger, in Octos
ber 1881. That isn't true. 1t would have been
all right if Greedy did order him to do so. He
was only private like me, and it woul ! not
look right to the commanding officer work
ing over a washtub. The washing had to be
done by someone, and Brainard told Lieutenant
Greedy he would have the prlvates do 1t In turn.
The first man would be Beiber back. but he was
SICK so Cornell came first, Fredericks next, and
was third: Cornell made such kick that
Sergeant Cross said he would do the washing If
he was paid for it. Greedy and all the rest were
willing, and Cross washed for anybody who
wanted and charged 10 cents apiece he made
quite a lot of money that way. and after we got
back the men paid his family 5000 or $500 for
washing.
"Connell says he was assistant astronomer,
and knew some of the observations we're wrong
Well, if calling off figures when Israel took the
observations makes him assistant, then we
all were assistant astronomers. We ali took
hand at it but ElliS-who couldn't write--and
I'm not sure but he called off. too. Connell did
not do any copying. Snyder did all the writing
that was done. and he was at work on it all the
time. He talks about Lieutenant Greedy making
mistakes in his report on his trip to the west"
ward. Greedy made trip into the interior from
Conger, going away April "a. 1882, and getting
back about May Z; anyway, he was gone ten or
eleven days. In August Israel went up himself
and found the reports correct Cornell could not
take observations. He did not know how to do
So and never was trusted. None of the party
were with Lockwood and Brainard when they
reached the furthest point north. The only
thing to do is to take the records for no one can
dispute them They did not know they had
gone higher up than any else until Israel told
them He figured it out from their observations,
and said they went four miles further than any
one had ever gone. The party talked about it,
and everybody was proud. 1t made LOCKWOOD
and Brainard feel good and complained.
| never heard Israel say they made wrong OBJ
servations. and no one else said so when was
around. / don't believe Israel thought So Down
at Cape Sabine just befere he died he spoke of
this number of times. Once he told me while
he was sick, and when were all bad off and
did not expect to get through: Well. some of
the party went further north than anybody else.
anyway 1t did not seem that he was jealous of
what they had done. They were lucky. perhaps,
but no one ought to say they did not 60 there.
Council and Lieutenant kislingbury were
great friends That is why ne stands up for
Kislingbury perhaps. Everybody Knows sthe
lieutenant wanted to come back to the United
States and started to go to the Proteus. But be
never left the shore, and it would take have an
hour to 60 down to where she was. so he missed
returning by good deal more than five minutes,
as Connell says.
"Lieutenant Greedy was in command and re-
sponsible for everything. so he did not have to
ask men what he should do. l had nothing to
complain of only once When we were going up
he had the mems clothing inspected l thought
/ had been soldier long enough to know how to
keep my clothes, and it was not the right thing
to co anyway. That only happened once, for it
was not attempted again"
Council and DIR. Pavy we're good friends, too.
What he says about the Doctors saving that
some of the human flesh ought to be used for
batting shrmps. have just heard for the first
time 1t seems Cornell knows more about the
caunibalism than do. never heard it spoken
Of and had nothing to do with the shrimping:
Brainard attended to that l was the hunter,
and one day when / came back after trying to
get food. they told me they had found some meat
in one of Dr. PAWS old stockings. That was
along in May, before we were rescued and we
didn't have anything to eat Every man who
looked at it thought it was bear meat, or they
said they did. 1t was cut up and made into
stew"
''Who cut it up?"
"Fredericks suppose for he was the cook l
ate some of it like the rest, and did no. hear Of
any one being unable to keep il on his stomach
| believe human bodies were used, but don't
know who did it. Connell seems to imply that
the other men did it and that he did not He APP
pears to know more about it than do Beiber
back may have been sick when Greedy told him
he had eaten human flesh, but know nothing
about it.
1T was sorry for poor Kislingbury, for ne was
n very faithful man and tried to help the others
Once I quarreled with him when he wanted to
bring in the kyak--the Esquimaux boat. Flo was
not strong enough, but he did not like
to think he was not doing his share.
and when the men got down it made it harder
for the rest of u.s. Cornell don't talk about the
shooting of Henry az he used to talk. When the
order was written for him to be shot, Connell
said it was the right thing to do. never had
any other idea, and thought it ought to have
been done on March "a when he stole the bacon
He stood up by the boat and picked off the
bacon. Each man was to have chunk of about
four ounces, but Henry ate about half of it. so
we only got two ounces each. Once We sat
down and had some tea. Henry drank little
and then vomited some bacon. No bacon
had been issued for long time, and this
showed that he had stolen what he had
eaten. We were rescued June %, 1884, and
Henry was shot on tho 9th. Fredericks, the
cook caught him that morning stealing shrimps
from the mems plates. Things had gone far
enough when he would do that, and he had to
be killed He was the best off CT us all, and was
nearly as strong before We left Fort Conger