The San Francisco call., 1896-02-15

members of the society. He soon after
died and all his effects passed into the
hands of distant relatives who found the
musty old things saved from the icefoe.
So the precious relics of one of the most
pathetic stories in the annals of the sea
were SWEET out for the ragman and wasted
forever. Even the manner of their disap-
pearance was no less pathetic than the
death of the brave men in the snow of the
Lena delta.
"The members of the Geographical So
ciety at Copenhagen" said Mr.. Lund,
"were chagrined and distressed when they
learned that the Jeannette articles were
lost. They considered 1t misfortune,
almost a calamity. and made every effort
to trace them. You see / was commits
stoned by our society to bring the relics
home, but was obliged to return empty
handed. It's pity to think that those
articles, after surviving along drift through
the Arctic for three years, should be care
lessly and needlessly lost"
AS is well known DIR. Nansen, the Nor.
wegian explorer who has just been re-
ported as having reached the north pole,
laid his proposed route along the line of
these drifting relics. The Jeanette after
passing through Bering Straits proceeded
almost north till caught in the ice near
Wrangell Island, and for almost two years
ohC oihtSN hOi WIFI tHS LOG. Ou
June 13, 1881, she was crushed in longi-
tude $50 degrees So minutes east from
Greenwich and latitude II degrees 16
minutes north. The foe with the relics
evidently continued to drift northward.
crossing over the region OF the pole, thence
south, though still in almost straight
line, to the eastern coast of Greenlan d !.
1t followed the coast around the southern
point of Greenland, and was discovered
near Julianahope. Nansen intended to
strike this current and drift with the ice
across the pole to Greenland.
81 don't believe my exploring country
man found the pole," said Consul Lund,
because if he drifted with the ice to the
pole there is no probability that he woul d
him back to the Siberian shore. II he did
find such current then the theory of the
straight drift of the relics over the polar
apex of the globe and down the Greenland
coast is shaken. l think we will learn
later, however, that the rumor is un-
founded and that DR.. Nansen is still hunt
ing for the current that will take him
across the pole"
General Greely doubted the existence of
the Jeannette relics and stated that he be-
lieved that they had never come from that
vessel, and consequently he had no faith
in the theory that Nansen was following
out. Mr.. Lund during his visit to Copen-
hagen veriDeQ DeyOn0 all contradiction
that the articles came from the Jeanette
people after they had abandoned the
crushed steamer From the substance of a
lecture delivered by Carl Lytzen, director
of Julianahope, before the Geographical
Society of Copenhagen in 1885, he Obtained
a description of the relics and the story Of
their discovery.
Director Lytzen says that exactly three
wears to day after the Jeanette s destruc-
ton three Greenlanders, fishing in the bay
of Julianahope, noticed raven constantly
hovering over an icef1ce, and upon in
vestigating they found number of articles
frozen fast in the ice. A few days after
another find was reported in the vicinity.
There were fifty-eight pieces of clothing
and other articles, of which Mr.. Lyrzen
succeeded in securing the following:
ships provision list, with the signature of
Captain de Long attached.
4 written description Of the Jeannette's
boats.
The visor of cap, upon which is written
"T. G. Lindermann." This was the name of
one of the men of the expedition. He was
saved.
pair of oilskin trousers, having "Louis
Noros'' written on them. He was one of the
crew of the Jeannette.
great number of pieces Of paper with notes
written on them; part of q checkbook contain
ing postage-stamps; buttons and pieces Of
wearing apparel and remnants of a tent There
can be no doubt that these are relics OF the