The morning call., 1891-08-21
A PLEASANT HOME.
Over One Hundred Men Dev0ured
by Fierce Polar Bears.
Three Of the Matte 7. Dyer's Crew Take Up
Their Residence on St. Mathews Island
to Hunt the Brutes.

Among the arrivals in port yesterday was
the sealing schooner Matte T. Dyer from
Sand Point. AS a result of her seasons
work the vessel has on board $50 seal skins,
10 sea-0tter skins and 10 bear skins.
The vessel brings no great amount of
news regarding the movements of the seal
ing fleet other than that all the sch ooners
have been driven out of Behring Sea by
the war ships. You could not stay in there
with q canoe" said one of the crew.
p" Some of the schooners tried to hide from
the cruisers. but sooner or later all of them
were forced to leave, and are now on their
way home"
The Dyer brought down man who.
with two more, was lost from the schooner
j. Hamilton Fish, and afterward picked up
by the schooner Leo, and landed at Sand
Point. The men were adrift five days be-
fore they were rescued, and suffered terri
bly, from cold aud hunger. A thick fog pre-
vailed most of the time, and to add to their
misery gale srrang up on the third day
that nearly sank their boat.
KEPT HEAD TO THE SEA.
sea anchor was formed of the oars and
by this means the boat was kept head to the
sea, which often swept over her and kept
the crew hard at work bailing the boat out.
men Joined her crew, and before the
schooner reached Sand Point was shot in
the neck by one of the men who was clean
Ing rifle. The wound proved fatal, as the
man died soon after being taken ashore.
The bear-skins were taken at ST. Mathews
Island, and are Of the white or polar bear
species The island literally swarms with
the feroclouS brutes, who seem to make the
island their headquarters. 1t is nothing
uncommon to see dozen Of the animals at
one time, and they are SO fierce that they
will attack a man on sight.
The ten we got" said the mate, gave
us the hardest kind of fight, and we had
to shoot them all to pieces before they gave
up. At one time the island was inhabited
by quite a number of Indians, but nearly
all of them fell victims to the terrible
Drutes, and the rest were compelled to leave.
DEvoURED BY BEARS.
"The ruins of half dozen log houses
stand in different parts of the island, but in
nine cases out of ten the owners have been
devoured by the fierce animals that come up
out of the water at night aud roam all over
the island.
Eight years ago a party of five men
were left there with the intention of spend
ing the winter hunting the ferOciOus ami
mails, for the sake of their skins, which are
worth quite sum Of money. A good strong
Lighthouse was erected, plenty of fuel and
provisions slowed away and the entire
party we'll provided with firearms and ammu-
milton, yet when the vessel returned in the
spring not single man of the five was left
to tell the story of the terrible fight with the
fierce beasts The log shanty was torn to
pieces and close by were few scattered
bones, all that was left OF the hardy men
who had been conquered by the bears.
Everything around the spot showed that q
fearful struggle had taken place before the
little party succumbed to the terrible
Drutes.
rom THE TATE
''Piles of empty cartridge shells lay on
the ground. Hatchets and knives, mingled
with broken rifles and shreds of clothing,
told the tale of how The poor fellows had
died.
Three years ago party of mining ex-
perts, all of whom were we'll armed, camped
on the island with the intention of Search
ing for gold or other minerals. They did
not stay long, however. and when asked by
the people at Sand Point what the island
contained. replied: Bear. bear, and lots of it,
% In spite of all the stories told OF the
number of men who have been devoured by
the savage beasts, party Of three are now
on the island with the intention OF remain
ing through the winter, and will spend the
time hunting the brutes. The men are part
of the Dyer's crew, one Frenchman and
the others Americans
g The schooner remained two weeks at
the island, and during that time a log house
was built that seemed able to defy the at
lacks OF all the pears In the Arctic.
A FORTRESS OF LOGS.
1.-The building is 20x20 and constructed of
solid logs boted together. The roof is also
formed of logs and well boted down. Loop
holes were cut Oh each side and heavy
door built, the outside of which is plated
with iron.
"lhe men are supplied with sufficient
provisions 10 last until spring. and also have
six heavy repeating rifles and plenty of
cartridges A good supply of knives
hatchets and other weapons were left with
the daring trio, as well as lots of clothes and
cooking utensils. They are to get one-half
of all the skins taken, and if they survive
through the winter ought to make their
fortunes" said the mate of the schooner,
but | doubt if anything more than their
bones will be found in the spring."