The Washington herald., 1906-10-19

TlS0N-Died at Dis home. 50 II street northwest. on
THURSDAY Ocjober r. 1906. GEORGE z. TYSON.
in the seventy eighth year Of his age
Stranger and more wonderful than any
romance ever conceived by the magma
tive brain of fiction author is the record
Of facts that appear in the diary kept
bE Capt. George Z. Tyson. of the Inflated
Polaris expedition of 1872 when. with
eighteen companions. he drifted for 1876
days on an ice-doe amid the darkness
and terriers of the Arctic winter-a plain
record Of facts I'm chronological sequence.
comprising oft-repeated danger Of death
from cold. from starvation. from disease,
from mutiny, the fears of cannibalism,
the dread that natures raft on which
they 1oafed might be ground to pieces
by the awful rage of the fierce polar cur
rents, the fearful sufferings Of men.
women, and children-for al We're com
prised In the little company which sur
vived this marvellous eXpeTience-and
among the survivors was one who was
not with them when they started. for one
of the Esquimo women gave birth to a
child. a little girl. during that awful voy-
age; and the little one survived and was
rescued with the rest.
And through it all is seen the indomit-
able spirit of the man who assumed COM
mand with no means of enforcing au-
thority and who with courage sublime
and intelligence unimpaired by hardship
and danger, kept a faithful record Of
daily events. as calmly as though seated
in his library at home. in the warmth
and ligh, Of the fireside.
Accompanied ..PoIariS."
George E. Tyson was born at Red Bank,
y. j.. December Is. 1873 At the age of
t1senty-one DE shipped aboard a whaler.
and for the next twenty years devoted
himself 10 that arduous calling. During
that time he established for himself
reputation ass a navigator of uncommon
ability. and when in 1870. President Grant
commissioned Charles Francis Hall as
commander Of the polar expedition
which, it was hoped would plant the
Stars and Stripes at the uttermost bounds
of the frozen north. 1T was AT Commander
Halls written request that the then Sec
Rotary of the Navy. George N. Robson,
commissioned Capt. Tyson as assistant
navigator and master of Sledges of the ex-
petition.
It was not until the following year
(Junc 29 1N,U that the expedition got Un-
der way The po8ris was a screw steam
er of 80 tons. also rugged as a foremost
topsdH schooner. her huh was Dlau6ed
over with solid oak six inches thick and
sheathcd with iron. terminating i'm "a sharp
Prov She carried four small boats. and
was first fitted out at the Washington
Navy Yard. although finals We're com
pleted an Brooklyn.
Bravey she set sail. followed by the
piJudits of the nation with thirty-three
souls aboard-fftcen officers and scien-
fists. ten seamen. and eight Esquimos
The last dispatch from Commander
Hall was received in Washington i'm
August 1872. but by that time the
bones of the brave commander had been
bleaching for nine months I'm his arctic
grave al Thank God Harbor. g degrees b
minutes north latitude. The dispatch had
been sent from T0ssac and forwarded by
a vessel bound for Copenhagen.
vessel sprung "a Leak.
After Commander Halls death. the sail
ing master Sidney o. Buddington. as
suned command Tysons diary. under
date of October -. 1872 relates that on
that evening the engineer. Schuman. re-
ported that The vessel had sprung "a leak
which the pumps were unable to over
come Instantly there ensued q scene of
wild confusion. while bedding food. and
other articles were east Unfortunately
out upon the lee the men and women
scrJmbliuE after 10y Buddingtons orders
Subsequently IL was found that the engi-
uctr's fears were mufoundcd and prepa-
rations were making to return all hands
to the ship when. quoting again from