Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-10-30

sea- his DESCRIPTION OF that event was the con-
densatlon 81 volume. into . single paragraph:
1T was now early in June and be Longs
hopes OF release began to rise; but they we're
| destined to be rudely shattered. Release was
coming. but not ss he would wish. The ice
| field grading the Jeanette, now drifting
swiftly past the islands, still heading TO the
! northwest came in collision with other fields,
and then began . second battle Of the ice foes,
! such as had nearly sunk the ship the year be-
fore. Driven by the winds and currents this
way and that, tho huge masses crashed to-
gether and in q moment we're rent asunder,
piling up vast broken ridges here and there
sinking and disappearing Hour after hour
the crushing and tearing, the upheavals Of
uproar and the ice around the ship was hurled
about in tumutuous confusion. The pack
splitting apart suddenly opens lanes in ali d.
| rections, and these as suddenly close when the
are dashed upon each other. Each moment
the ship seems on the verge Of destruction.
For few hours she escapes, but presently
lane opens where she lies and for an instant
she is again afoat. 1t il but for an instant.
The Hoes that have been torn apart have only
recoiled, rs il would seem for one fuai spring,
and returning they crush the vessel like grain
between the upper and the neither milestone.
They hold her fast just long enough for the
crew to take refuge on the ice with boats and
seds and stores, for every preparation had
been made. and then separating they leave her
crushed and shattered craft to plunge into
the depths below.
"And now with the sinking Of the Jeanette
comes the most marvellous chapter in this
strange history. Thirty-three men, with a
pack of dogs, three boats, Ave sleds and sixty
days provisions, cast upon the drifting pack,
started forth 70 reach the land, 500 miles away.
Never was there such a retreat this. The
nearest point on the Siberian coast was the
Lena Delta Between it and them lay three or
four islands, the New Siberian group; but ex-
cept for these only moving pack and q stretch.
how great or little none could say, OF open
water"
THE FATAL JOURNEY.
The story Of that fearful journey across the
ice was next told in the Same pure style to the
point where the dissolution began of the band
that chung together around De Long, the others
having become separated. One of three par
ties was utterly lost beyond all recovery that
OF Lieut. Chip and his men, and that of Mel
Vile had found succor. The brave, untiring.
never-despairing commander had wandered
about on the frozen land for days and days,
until the end came.
80 with the same unfaltering resolution
which had carried him and those whose lives
rested upon his word through so many peris
he started with them on the southwark Journey
The long confinement in the boat, the hard
ships and exposure OF the retreat, had sapped
their energies and they were in no condition
for forced marching. One Of the men-Erick-
sen-crippled and weak beyond his fellows,
was vital to their safe deliverance. Tenderly
they cared for HIM, waited for him, carried
him, weak as they were, when he could no Ion
ger walk himself, until at length his death re-
leved them OF their burden. But by this
time their own strength was nearly spent and
toll as they might, they could not make up for
the days already lost.
1--WE need not dwell upon the events OF that
fatal journey. Its history is written day by
day in the captains journal, where in letters
md to fha ,lolz
record is preserved. 1t tells how man of I'M |
conquerablo will, firm in his faith, kept up for |
SIX weeks OF agony Of mind and body, the |
struggle with q remorseless fate that stared |
him IN the face. 1t tells OF weary marches and |
contemporaries, OF days of painful toll, fight |
ing against the pitiless gusts OF wind that swept |
those dreary plains, of bitter nights, without |
shelter and without rest, Of weakness and ILL |
ness creeping over the men by SLOW degrees, of |
hunger gradually turning to starvation. 1t |
tell how hopes were raised by tracks of deer,
by foot prints OF men even, only to be blasted ]
for as mIschance would have it natives had
gone that way but q few days before, and others |
found the records OF the band after De Long |
had passed. 1t tells how after three weeks OF |
unsuccessful effort the captain sent Nindeman
and Noros off for succor; how for ten days |
thereafter the main body struggled on, hoping |
each day that the expected help would reach |
able to move, having reached the parting OF |
the streams at the delta's head they waited,
giving up one by one, until only the captain
and the surgeon remained alive. And then the |
record ceases.
THE LAST TEN DAYS.
"Read the piteous story of these last ten |
days, the final ending Of that glorious retreat,
which had lasted $50 days since the ship went |
down, story Of little else than death.
Friday, October 21. 13lst day-Kaack was
found dead about midnight between the doctor
an nlr dtaH
prayers for sick when we found he was going. !
Saturday, October %, 1920 day-Too weak to |
carry the bodies OF Lee and Kaack out on the |
ice. The doctor, Collins and carried them |
around the corner out of sight. Then my eye |
closed up.
Sunday, October %. 133d day-Everybody
pretty weak Slept or rested all day and then
managed to get enough wood in before dark
Read part of divine service. Suffering in our
feet-no foot gear.
Monday, october "a, 134th day-A hard night.
Tuesday, October 25 135th day.
Wednesday, October 26, 136th day.
Thursday, October "a, 18th day-Iverson |
broken down.
Friday, October %, 13sth day-Iverson died
died during early morning.
during night.
Sunday, October 80, l4Oth day-Boyd and
Gortz died during night Mr.. Collins dying. |
The pencil drops, the eye is glazed the arm |
Is palsled the fingers stiffen and grow cold. |
The fight has been fought the struggle is ended |
The others, one by one, have passed away.
There is no more that human effort can &C
complish.
"Vex not his soul:
oh let him pass; he hates him
That would upon the rack OF this tough world |
Stretch him out longer
"De Long and Amber lie side by side. We |
know not to which Of them first came the whis-
pered summons Of the death angel; but we |
know that they were the last to answer. What
was it, think you, that made these two hold out
to the last? Was it that they were made OF
tougher fiber, endowed with greater health and
vigor, greater than their seasoned shpmates,
the hardy seamen, the Alaskan hunter? l !
think not. 1t was that in them lay that un-
comparable purpose to keep their charge, to
fulfill, even to the bitter end. their sacred
trust. And thus it happened that De Long,
his brother officer still faithful at his SIDE only
surrendered his commission when the Almighty
had disbanded his command.
There is more yet to be told OF this expedi-
ton, but we may not dwell upon it here. How
Danenhower first attempted desperate search
for his lost companions; how Melville heard
from Nindeman and Noros of his captains
cruel plight, and how, before he had regained
his strength, he braved alone the arctic storms
and cold and hunger, traversng the delta
down to the very coast, freely putting his life
again at hazard, in the faint hope that he
might bring relief; how a second time he
secured the plains in March, and found the !