The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1897-12-12
COMMODORE MELVILLE
INTERESTING ADDREssEs BEFORE
THE COMMONWEALTH CLUB.
he Paid . Beautiful Tribute 70 the Memo
~ OF DIR. James Ambier--He is WEI
coined by Mr.. virginius Newton.

w Melville. Among the Few inNl,eu
quests present was Lieutenant Arthur ~,
Clair OF the Confederate Statcs-nayy, VINO
was on the Alabama when she went uoMn.
lie remained In the water for four nouIs
and was finally rescued by Doat oi VIZ
kesrsarge and made prisoner; ho"oneii'
ne jumped overheard again ana was n idi-
iy picked up by the English yach'' Dee'
Hound" .ho
There were but a few members OF the
General Assembly present theiI oois .,
tion consisting OF Lieutenant-GoVcrnor
Kent Senator George w. Morris. OF Abe
marie. and Mr.. Little, Of STAFFORD Soil-
mandcr Melville arrived mere on tne cfE VI.
train from Washington ana TOOK MS nlh-
ner al the club II was, therefore, alter
O'Clock when the gathering was calico 10
order In the big dining room on me upPer
floor. where the members ana thlity
guests took seats around huihpei oi
email tables. A very tempting luhcn h is
been prepared by Mr.. w. H. Niduse' tue
caterer OF the club.
PRESIDENT sTARKE SPEAKS.
President Ashton Starke called the gath
ering TO order and reviewed In a pleas
ant way the experiences which had been
collected at the various smokers.
lie expressed the hope that the mem
beers would have the very best time, tncse
smokers being entirely informal
Mr. Starke then called on Mr. shepherd
Webb TO give those present sample OF the
yousical Attractions furnished on these oc-
cssions. Mr. webb then played Aud
Lang Syne," which was sang by6ll pres
ent. Al the conclusion OF the song three
cheers were given with VIII 10 ComIno-
uore George w. Melville.
The President then called on Mr. w. X.
Trigg, hut the latter asked that Mr.. Viz
ginius Newton make the address OF well
come.
and their invited guests in his usual in
teresting and eloquent manner, saying IN
part:
the advice OF your president, to do as ne
pieases. /, therefore, desire to propose a
toast He spoke OF the commemoration OF
Sir John Franklin in England and referred
10 the continuous record OF many years
made by those who eadeavored TO inVesu-
gate the extreme north beyond the nine
fieth degree In order to discover north
west passage to avoid the dangerous trip
around Cape Horn
In July. 1879 vessel furnisned Dy PIT
vate means. equipped with officers Of the
Knitted States sailed through Behring
Strait and passed two arctic winters
rhere. when she was smashed by the Ice
and left her crew in helpless condltlon.
After 81 journey OF seVenty-elght DAYS.
they reached the open sea and embarked
in three boats which they had vigorously
carried with them.
Mr.. Newton then spoke In eloquent
terms of the splendid deeds Of q. w. Mel
Mile, TO whose health he proposed toast.
Tie hoped that his records and his useful
ness might be long preserved TO the
Union.
TRIBUTE TO DIR. AMBI.ER.
Commodore Melville then arose and adj
dressed the club, calling the members
gentlemen, friends, companions and broth
ers. He said he had been eulogized by
Mr. Newton beyond reason: he had sim
ply done his duty like any one else would
have done.
When he entered the clubhouse he was
very glad TO once more meet his old
friend DIR. Jim Amber. whose portrait
was on exhibition there. Jim Amber was
his friend, he was proud To say, ana ne
was his. When we abandoned the ship.
he said, with sixty days provisions. we
prepared two little powders which We de-
rided 10 take in order 10 die before we
ever would eat each other.
jim Amber was tho one gentleman par
excellence OF that expedition. He shared
his clothing and the only objection he had
was that Jim Amber was slouchy in re-
gard to his person.
The speaker described in the most pa
thetic manner how he found the bodies
of Lieutenant De Long and Jim Amber
The latter had his left hand over his
mouth, which he had eaten into TO suck
the blood. lie had a revolver I'm his right
hand and with two cartridges and three
empty chambers. The rumOr that Amber
had committed suicide was not true He
died on his post a soldier under arms,
guarding the dead bodies OF his comrades.
brief but very touching address, he was
greeted with round Of applause.
Lunch was then passed around and dur
Eng the intermission caused by the CASTRO
homie efforts of the members. Mr.. Eugene
Jones sang Baldwins Love Lay.
Mr.. George Elliott followed with comic
Bong. He then played lively tune on
the guitar and French harp and In MS
new role was introduced by President
Btarke as the Commonwealth orchestra
Mr.. w. C. holland. a young architect OF
This city. sang his favorite melody
COMMODORE MELVILLE AGAIN.
Mr.. Newton then addressed the meeting
and called on Commodore Melville In re-
gard to the recent arctic exploration Oh
Nansen in order 10 ascertain from him as
an expert whether Nansen's vessel with
stood the pressure of the Ice. lie also
Desired TO know whether Nansen's de-
6ertion of his ship within 40 miles or the
pole was unbecoming an officer.
Commodore Melville replied that hansen
built the ship expressly for use i'm the ice.
1T had no outside keel. l don't care how
and not crushed to-day. it will be to-mor-
row or some other day. His ship was
frozen in and afterwards when the ice
broke up. II drifted out.
He thought that Nansen's ship was pc
culiarly fortunate in being frozen in as
II was. thereby being able 20 Withstand
the pressure OF the ice and avoid be-
Ing buried under it,
Ills snip was lne llIht one III diCtic ~
yiOns that had no ScurvY on board; they
had fresh provisions and every drop or
water used was distilled, thanks TO the
care OF DIR. Amber.
AS TO the other point. he said. Greeley
took the correct idea from military
point OF view. that an officer should not
leave his command DR.. Nansen went
there merely as a scientist and abandoned
his ship to go north and when he driftcd
down 10 Franz Joseph land. he did not
know where he was But In my opinion
Dr. Nansen's march was the most heroic
EVER made. Nansen very wisely took the
drift, which the Jeanette had taken,
where the latter let 40. and he showed
that he knew exactly what to do.
Mr. Melville stated that he was now en-
gagged in making a drift chart and expect
ia 20 make another sea chart. The one
which was made on board or the jean
nette went down with the ship. IL would
have otherwise been the most valuable
Tea chart in existence.
lie stated that the growth OF the ice
was about twelve feet a season. and this
was one thing that exploded the idea OF
an omen polar sea Nansen started out
with the idea that he should drift across
the pole. We found, however immense
ice-bergs OF a depth OF loo feet, when
gould only be made on the lanu Mher'
did they come from? IL we have land 10
ward the pole. the ice can begin 10 gather
between the rocks.
/ took the ground that there could be
no currents in n hollow sea, ana al
Ways predicted that there would be found
a deep channel and we afterwards sound
ga at one time eighty fathoms and DIT
Nansen's experience indicated that the
Dry as 10 such n channel was true.
There was some singing AFTER Commo-
nore Melville had ended and IL was near
~ midnight when the gathering dispersed.