Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1909-10-07
TRAGIC RELICS
IN ARCTIC SEAS.
Mementos of Greely Expedition
Found by Peary Aid.
FOOD PERFECTLY PRESERVED.

Abandoned Coat-Racing Dope Sheet
and Hymn Book Among Remnants
of III Fated Expedition.
/ Professor Donald Mcmillan of
Worcester, Mass, topographer with
the Peary expedition, although he did
not go to the north pole, had, after
Peary himself, the most interesting eX-
periences of any of those in the party.
Remains of the expedition under
Greely during his i'll fated attempt to
find the pole in 1881 to 1884 were dis
covered by the scientists at Fort Con-
ger, on Lady Franklin bay, in latitude
| S144. Canned vegetables including po-
| tatoes, hominy and rhubarb; some penn
mican and tea and coffee We're discov-
/ cred in great quantities.
"They were still good, too" said Pro-
( fessor Mcmillan. Il know, for | ate
! some of them myself. Sergeant David
II. Brainerds trunk was found intact.
l used it as a shelter in taking my OBJ
servatons to protect me from storms"
In May, 1852, the Greedy party had
reached 1921 in north Greenland.
| They were on their return when the
winter set in. and they camped at Fort
Conger. Here the party became des-
perate and split. Seventeen of the
twenty-five members, under Lieuten-
ant KislinGbury, started off alone in
an effort to reach civilization. Limited
to nine pounds of baggage and food
each, they were overcome by the ele-
ments and all perished. The remain
der of the party who remained at Fort
! Conger We're rescued by Admiral (then
Lieutenanb w. s. Schley. U. S. N, in
1884
Boys Gift to Explorer Found.
Among the relics found at Fort Con-
ger were many documents relating to
the expedition. including records in the
handwriting Of Greely, which had been
! left behind on the arrival of the res
cuing party One of the finds was
! text book. and another was a temper
| ance hymn book. Both had belonged to
| Lieutenant Kislingbury. The fyleaf of
| the first bore Kislingbury's name and
| was inscribed:
| To my dear father. from his affection
ate son, Harry Kislingbury May God be
/ with you and return you safely to US.
Lieutenant Kislingbury never return
ed to his son, who is still living in the
west. This book, which, with tho
! hymn book, was shown by Professor
Mcmillan, seemed to have been used
! by students Of Assumption college.
| Sandwich. Ont, bearing the names or
! several, with the dates at which they
had used it. The words Harry Kis-
lingbury, Fort Custer. Montana" were
also written on the fyleaf Lieuten-
ant Kislingbury was stationed at Fort
| Custer when he received leave of abb
sence to take part in the Greely expe-
! dition.
| The song book bore the dedication:
J To Lieutenant Frederick Kislingbury,
! from his old friend and wellwisher. the
author, George w. Clarke. Detroit Mich.
May IS. 1881.
Wore Coat GreeIv Left.
I'VE found Greely's coat on the
I ground near the camp" said Professor
/ Mcmillan. Here is one of the but
/ TONS" And he produced a gilt button
rlr from the uniform worn by the ex-
/ piorer. The coat was in such good
state of preservation, the professor
went on, that | wore 1t. 1t served to
| Keep out the cold too. Between the
! pages of an old magazine bearing the
date 1850 ! found. too, several photo
graphic plates which had beer made
by George r. Rice. official photogra-
pher of the expedition. The plates, of
course, were spoiled by their long ex-
| posure to the elements"
| A bit of grim humor was contained
in the discovery of batch of dope
sheets" of the trotting races held in
! the United States in 1881. These were
| decipherable, and one might still see
! the marks where the member OF the
party whose interest in racing was
carried into the arctic had marked his
selections. Yet further insight into
the life of the party during the long
winter night was furnished by n note
| book which contained the draft of a
speech which was evidently delivered
at banquet held during the long peri.
cd of inactivity. The speech began:
Chairman and gentlemen thank
God there are no ladies'" and was fill
ed with semi-humorous alluSions to va.
rious members of the party and their
peculiarities and hobbies. The speaker
said he was sorry to see so few faces,
but added that stress of weather had
prevented many from being present or
this most 'auspicious occasion"
Strange Musical instrument Found.
That the dreary period of waiting
was not without other bits of bright
ness was indicated by the finding of
an ocarina. a perished musical instru-
ment once Il favorite with those whose
ear for music was stronger than their
desire for harmony On this instru-
ment was inscribed the latitude. Sc. a.
and the date. May 6, 1882.
Other evidences of the haste with
which the party had abandoned its
headquarters were articles OF wearing
apparel scattered about, bits of gold
braid, fur garments which had beer
worn out, sewing outfits, buttons, etc
Professor Mcmillan also brought
back souvenirs from camps of polaf
expeditions led by Commander O. II.
Hall, U. S. N; Admiral Sir George
Mares, Sir John Lockwood and Roald
Amundsen.
The Finisher