The Red Cloud chief., 1896-02-21
GEN, GREELEY DUBIOUS.
The E,-Nrctic tsp,orcr raik. About III,
Report From N.uSr,

~
NASmNGroN, Feb. l7.-Thc message
from Archangcl confirming the report
of the return of hansen, from the
North pole, does not mount to a con.
tirmntiun in the opinion OF General
Greeley and of Lieutenant Scbcut2c.
The latter, with the possible cxccp.
ton of Commodore Melville, who il
temporarily absent from Washington,
IL better posted than any other official
III Washington upon the characters.
ties OF the North siberian coast, which
he mas visited on u government mis-
sion. being charged with the distribu-
ton or rewards to the natives who
aided the survivors Of the unfortunate
Jeanette expedition.
said he: This con tirmation from
Archangel is as IT we had u telegram
from Portland, Me. confirming a story
from Sandy Hook"
General Greedy took a similar view,
and held that IL was inconcrivablc
that the same story should cmunatc
from Two places 50 remote from each
other rs are lrliutSk and A%rchangel.
lie knew at no way IN which news of
Nunsen'S approach to the mouth of
the Lena delta should reach Archap.
gel. With the aid Of q chart General
trccly indicated the great distance
between the two places. lie showed
that " II was really true that news of
Dr. Nunscn's movements had reached
the mouth of the Lena and had 80
worked up the river To Irkutsk. then
1t was Improbable that the same in.
formation could have reached Archan.
gel. Then, too, there was the same
lack of detail about this last
dispatch that had been noted in the
first, and this absence of ever a hint
al where Manson was, or how he was
communicated with, casts suspicion in
his opinion on both reports. Arch.
angel, said General Greedy, is n lnrgc
and important Russian town, with
good connections with the outer
world. and IL such news had reached
there, he saw no reason why full de-
tails we're not obtainablc.
He called attention to another
point, that # Nanscn had really
emerged from the Polar regions. any
where on the Siberian coast then he has
himself diSprovcd the correctness OF
the theory upon which his expedition
was embarked. 1t would show that
instead of their existing "a current
across the pole, there was u current
that swept him NJ from the ncighbor-
hood OF Bennett island Ia the pole
and then turned back and returned
him 10 his starting point. General
Greedy not unuaturally thought this
state az affairs was hardly possible.
Certainly there was no scientific cyi.
dcncc OF the existence of such an
obllging current as this, and, there.
fore. Notwithstanding the Archaugcl
story, General Greedy stood unshakcu
in his disbelief in the return of Nan.
sen as described.
WILL M pirrICuIT 10 VERIFY.
Lieutenant Schcutz declared tina, n
the story from Irkutsk was true, then
Namsen was sighted or heard from of
the Lena river delta away last sum.
mcr. From lrkutSk To lakutslk,
which is the most rorthcrly
Russian post Of any significance, is a
distance Of about 1000 miles and
communication is had only by sleds
or in summer by RATS down the
River Lena. From lakutsk to ust
Iansll at the mouth of the Lena,
where the Russian trader IS said to
have heard from Nansen, is "a distance
Of l,5OO miles through an unbroken
wilderness and the means Of comnu-
nication are reindeer or dogs. The
only travel between Iakutsk and ust
fansk il by a few half breed traders.
who go to the latter point early in the
winter and stay through until the
next spring. Many months are re-.
quired for the trip, and any news com
ing from lst Nansk of Nanscn would
be very old. declared the lieutenant.
He explained the difficulties that
might be encountered in an attempt
to trace u rrmor. The natives who
may nave sighted the Arctic explorer
could not conceivc the nature of his
undertaking, and owing to their dense
ignorance IL would not b. possible for
them To transmit an inteliigiblc az
count of the event. The natives ~
the siberian islands were stricken with
terror at tho sight of the steamcr
Vega. which had "A hunting marty in
that region, and they hid themselves
in The. loo fnr u,nnths uft.r,,a,Js