The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1929-08-02


way cautiously through
lead" dark streak of open water
which ran irregularIy across the sur
face of the frozen sea. The steamer
was the "Proteus," which had been
held in the ice there for six days
while Captain Pike waited in vain for
lead" 70 cleave path through the
ice of Lady Franklin bay so that he
could start south towards civilization.
The men who stood watching the
ship until it disappeared from sight
were members of the party officially
known as the Lady Franklin Bay Elk
peditionary Force, which had been
sent out by the United States govern
ment in the interests Of science. But
it was more commonly known as the
Greedy Expedition, in honor of its
commander, First Lieut.. AdOlphus w.
Greedy, of the Fifth cavalry of the
United States regular army. His sub
ordinates were Second Lieutenants
FREDERICK F. Kislingbury, of the Elev-
enth infantry, and James B. Lock
wood, of the Twenty-third infantry.
These with Octave Pavy, assistant
army surgeon, eight sergeants, two
corporals and nine privates, most of
whom had lately been serving in the
Indian wars on the western frontier.
and two dog-drivers, Jens Edward and
Frederik Thorley Christensen, COM
prised the personnel of the party.
The departure of the "Proteus"
marked the beginning of what has
been aptly called lone of the supreme
adventure stories of the world" a
story of almost unbelievable human
grit and endurance which forms one
of the brightest pages in the annals
of the American army. For two years
this party was as much lost from con-
tact with their fellow men as if they
had been on another planet, and when
finally the third attempt to rescue
Greedy succeeded, of the original
twenty-five there were just seven left
alive and one of these died within
twenty-four hours. The other eight
cen had persisted of starvation or ac-
cident after a series Of adventures
marked by incredible suffering and in
credible heroism.
The official records of the Greedy ex-
petition were made public soon after
Commander w. S. Schley (Admiral
Schley,' of Spanish-American war
fame) and brought its survivors back
to the United States on the 'Thetis,"
but it was not until nearly half GEN.
fury later that the heroic human side
of the story became known. For more
than forty-five years the diary of Ser
geant David L. Brainard, one of the
seven survivors, lay unused in an old
trunk. Recently it was brought to
light and under the title of 1.-The Out
post of the Lost" it was published by
the Bobbs-Merrill company. Today
there are but two survivors of the
Lady Franklin Bay Expeditionary
Force. They are Maj. Gen. A. w.
Greedy, retired, the commander of the
Inflated expedition, and the man who
served as a sergeant under him, now
Brig. Gen. David l.. Brainard, retired.
IT is therefore especially appropriate
that his old commander who once
called Brainard "the most remarkable
of a number of remarkable men of
that expedition" should write in the
book "salutation" to remind himself
how Together with our comrades we
faced for nine months the prospect of
death day by day and were harassed
by the sight of our associates perish
ing of starvation or from vio:ssitudes
in the polar field"
E According to the plans for the ex-.
petition, 1t was to establish station