The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1897-10-02
AMID ARCTIC ICE Fl0ES HELPLESS FOR A YEAR
STORY or THE LOST NANARCH'S
CAPTAIN.
With His Wife and Trusty Followers
lie Faced Death in Its Grimmrst
Forms.

Captain and Mrs. Joseph White
sides of the steamer NaNarch, lost in
an arctic ice foe last August, arrived
in Seattle recently.
They have been literally rescued
from the jaws of death for more than
once in the thrilling and desperate
situations in which they were tossed
amid Arctic icebergs did they face
death. And yet they are alive and
well. while perhaps the lifcless bodies
of twentv-nine of their unfortunate
companions are drifting towards the
north pole.
The captain is a tall and strongly
built man. with an iron frame and II
look of the sea about him which gives
hint of the twenty-niue years that
he has chased the sportive whale. Mrs.
Whitesides is younger than her hus-
band. but she has been through ex-
periences which entitle her to be rank
ed as one of the bravest of her sex.
The Navarch left San Francisco on
March last. and after spending some
time at Unalaska proceeded to cruise
in Boring sea. She proceeded there
at once and succeeded in catching sew
en- whales, and about July 10 passed
an. They proceeded at once to the vi
cinity of Ice cape, distance some 12O
miles from Point Barrow. As there
was no safe anchorage Captain White
sides tied to a massive cake of ice that
had grounded. Ice was floating by in
the swift currents. making navigation
uncertain and dangerous. But no Sc
rious trouble was 2ntiripntAd. Duri, 2
/ 4 H., l.. L
boat was attached became loosened
from its moorings and commenced to
move northward with the drift. At
first the navigators thought that they
would be soon able to control the boat
and rescue it from its icy letters, but
as the days went by the ice packed in
more solid than ever, until on July 20
they realized that there was no hope
of getting her out into the sea.
Accordingly on August the three
whaling boats were dragged over the
ice to Il strip of open water some dis
lance Off. This was a laborious, al
most superhuman task, for each boat
is thirty feet long and nearly seven
feet deep. But desperation lent them
strength and they pulled with win
born of despair. Over five miles of
rough and rugged ice they dragged
these cumbersome boats before they
came to clear water. As soon as they
were safely launched the swift cur
rent caught them and they rapidly
sped away, hoping to find a passage
out to the open sea and help.
But new peril here came upon the
party. In the confusion of getting off
from the ship they discovered that
they only had enough provisions for
five or six days. Another ice pack sur
rounded them and they abandoned the
boats and struck out over the ice in
life and death struggle to reach the
ship. Two men We're sick and had to
be left with the abandoned boats The
captain and his wife reached the ship
| after nineteen hours of constant
| trudging over the ice. Mrs. White
| sides had long before donned mems
! clothing to facilitate her movements
and the change greatly aided her
progress on the long march. The cap
tain says that not once did she falter
or betray the popular weakness as
cribed to her sex.
Left to die on the ice alone, the two
| sick sailors summoned all the courage
/ and strength and dragged themselves
after their companions, arriving one
day later.
On the following day the captain
| and his wife and all but eight of the
/ officers and crew. decided to attempt
| to reach the other whalers by cross
| ing the ice. After one days
tramp, Captain Whitesides decided it
would be safer to return to the ship,
but twenty-nine of the crew pushed
on. and were no doubt lost in the ice.
After two days rest on ship board,
Captain and Mrs. Whitesides again
set out with the first and fourth mates
and four seamen. They took along Il
small canvass boat with a weeks pro-
visions. They got into clear water
and padded as far as they could,
crossing foes that impeded their pro-
gress on foot. After sixty hours of
such travelling, they landed on Copper
Island. There they found shelter in
an EsquimauX hut. until they were
rescued by the revenue cutter Bear.
\ few weeks aUO tbe editor was ia