Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1898-03-28
AN AWFUL CARGO.
The Dead Stacked on the
GreenIand's Deck in Tiers.
SeaIers Perish on Ice FIoe Driven
About by Terrific Gale.
twenty five Bodies Recovered twenty three
Men Are Still Missing.

the terrible calamity which over
Whelmed half of the big crew of the
sealing steamer Greenland in the ice
fields Were received here, today. from
st, Johns, n. f.. which port was reach
ed by the Greenland, turned into YER
liable death ship, this afternoon.
The steamer, which left Bay DC
Verde, this morning, sailed nto the
harhor Of st Johns, with the most aw-
full cargo that has ever freighted ship;
of the sea. twenty-five corpses. stiff
and stark and frozen, We're piled upon
the deck. Fifty-liVc men We're moaning
With terrible suffering in the holds from
The pain if frust-bittcn limbs and bod
les. The little sealing steamer Whc h
sailed for the hunting grounds three
short weeks ago. returned as an awful
charmed house.
Never in the history of the sealing in
dustry, has a more terrible calamity
fallen on a ships crew. 1t was q grew
some spectacle The dead bodies were
in tiers on the decks Of the steamer. dis
figured and almost unfeCngniza bic from
the effects of the terrible suffering
which they had endured. pres cnting one
of The most horrible sights human eyes
ever beheld.
Nearly onc-half Of the Grecnland's
crew of 800 mon drifted away from their
ship on an ice foe. last Tuesday. and
persisted in a fierce storm which sprang
up. that afternoon. In addition >; men
are missing and have undoubtedly per
ished.
The Greenland set sail from St Johns
y f.. about the first Of March. on her
fat"ful voyage. She was commanded by
capt. George Barbour and carried Il crew
of nearly 800 hunters. The steamer pro-
cepdcd northward with the rest of the
sealing fleet. but after couple of days
she divcrgcd on u separate track. She
reached the hunting grounds not long
after.
An went wcll until Tuesday last. Seals
were quickly encountered and several
good packs were secured. Tuesday morn
ing. the hunters left the ship about :
O'Clock, as usual. The lookout in the
rows nest reported seals plentiful
around them The men were clad in light
clothing, for the Strengthening of seals is
"Xhausting work They scattered over
The ice fields and were soon hard at work.
They wandered far from the shelter of
tn ship.
\ gale and a raging snow storm shut
them out from view. The ice foe parted
and they driftcd away from Inc steamer.
Many of them drfted to certain death.
Tmey were scantily clad and the cold on
hose Arctic foes was intense. Long ere
ne Storn Sul'Slued many OF the uiioiiu-
nat" lelioWS had Succummbcd 10 inc Ter
rlhie cold ana exposure. 1hoS" who dld
not were terribly froSthittcn ana suffered
rXCruciatng pain.
The long night passed. but morning
brought no help, for the storm still ragged
ana the atmosphere WAS thick with snow
driven before the gale. Snow continued
nearly all day and the evening brought no
cessation To the highwind. Another night.
one which seemed to the helpless. drift
ing sufferers who still lived. a thousand
times longer than the first was passed
N untold agony Some of the victims had
already given M hope of and in de-
pair lay down ana died Every hour Wit
messed at least two deaths on that aw-
rul night on the zee hoe
Towards morning the storm subsidized
ana clear weather enabled the survivors
10 see that the Greenland was not far
away. searching for the mission The
steamer bore on down on the driftirg
.icld ice. which had by this time separted
nto number of sections and began the
work of picking the bodies Of the dead
and the half lf"lcsS bodies Of the lV-
ne. Twenty-Five corpses were taken
y! poafd that morning, nut :" men Wer"
we're rr,oy,'r,d
Thursday night the Greenland healed