Show Y IN HT TH THE TEE hi ARCTIC His Sis Heroism Shown at the Age of 17 The Tk may stay a change his spots but a once ince brave bravo man can never prove caitiff says MYS Soanna Nicholls Kyle in inthe Inthe n the W Lashington Post It Tt seems IMms to t tl me that the best vindication vindication tion of Admiral Schley from the recent charge harge of cowardice brought against him te Is a review of oC the t e most ring ng evi nt of the year ear 1884 18 4 when the navy Department received a dispatch which caused caulle It to thrill with pride over mer the tile triumphant daring of c o e of ot ofUs Us ltd officers If It I rem correctly Schley has at times been blamed for foran foran foran an excess of or daring drIn and und the Massa Massachusetts rhu Humane s Clety awarded its gold medal m dl to the gallant life sever saver severan averan an honor ne net r bestowed by that ven Institution unless for tor deeds of exceptional bravery I But to o return That telegram which flashed along alon every wire vire throughout our nation told that General Genral A W Greely had be ben beo n rescued at the point paint I of DC starvation stan atlon and restored to his fam family family ily lIy and countrymen through the per persistent persistent Is tent of Captain Winfield S Schley U TJ S N A It told the glorious I but It revealed nothing of the de details details tails tall of or the th hardships and dangers of that daring trip to the polar regions undertaken un in the early spring a thing athing never nevor attempted at such a season be before betor before fore tor O JC Someone has haa rightly said that courage cour courage courage age is easy on the crowded battlefield where excitement and the sympathy of oC I numbers numb rs keeps a c ans nerves high strung strong and he IB is cheered eon by the shouts of his comrades but the real test of or courage is a ft sotar so Uary trial when tenacity of or purpose is proved through days day and weeks weaks of CJ f discouraging ob obstacles obstacles obstacles and perils Such a trial was successfully met by Captain Schley sev seventeen enteen onteen years ago We Ve are not sur surprised surprie prie d when we learned that the hero heroo h ro roof o of Santiago was the hero who had res rued Greely Seventeen years ago the arctic regions were more wrapped Tn ped in mystery m tet and a d re regarded with great r awe than they are today In 1881 1831 party arty J of or exploration had started In search of the north pole with the intention tion tun of being b gong go two years arrange arrangements ar nget t ments meats having b ben en made to reinforce him hlin with provisions ns each succeeding s summer ummer But Got the a shins hl s sent to his relies relief eU In 1888 and t both failed Caned to accomplish their mission One could co Jd not penetrate the heavy ice at the en entrance entrancE entrance trance to tl Kane sea the other was crushed to t pieces in a frozen grave her crew barely escaping with their lives In face o these disasters nobody at Washington ashington felt very sanguine about helping the unfortunate un explorers The Th navy department called for fo vol volunteers ers to undertake this perilous service rv and Captain Schley by his hl own choice became commander of the relief n It was first experience in Arctic navigation his hla naval duties prior to fi is s time Ump having kept him in inv v M e the vicinity of Mexico and South Amer America America ica leu except while aiding to maintain the during durin the war between our states but sixteen hours a day aloft in the crows nest soon made him ac acquainted acQuainted acquainted with the Ule eccentricities of ice lee floes Despite its snug name suggest suggestive su gest ive of comfort the nest is anything but a place of restful ease as it consists con consists of a barrel with its head knocked out attached to th the i foremast in which the captain ca stands scanning through his telescope the treacherous element upon which he i Is embarked embarked embar ed a Ii watch too fraught with danger to become mo monotonous monotonous monotonous goo 9 0 During one portion of the trip Schley never left his lofty lotty perch for thirty consecutive hours an absorption which wa Swag severely chastised by natures weapons wee ons One side aide of or his face was frozen by the keen wind and he almost became blind In one eye from the daz dazzling dazzling zUng whiteness ever present while his hearing abnormally acute was temporarily tem temporarily injured Inured Did you ever picture a ship traversing a frozen ocean Sometimes she her way along following the lead lend of a crack in the Ice lee at others all her progress is ef effected effected effected by ramming a process of or striking the solid oUd opposing way with her stem while under full steam till tm she opens a pathway through it Oc Occasionally OccasIonally Occasionally she seeks shelter beside an Iceberg leeberg to avoid whole fields of run running running running ning ice known as the pack When the wind is from the tho north it blows these detached masses off shore leav leaving leaving leaving ing narrow lanes tanE g open to navigation but a change in to the direction of or the wind at any moment may drive the pack back toward the land ice to nip the unwary ship between two relentless masses like a wedge and grind her to pieces These are a u few of the horrors to which the arctic seaman Is exposed Again there Is the chance of becoming frozen to the solid floe and drifted helplessly off to her bel doom while fog the sailors worst enemy descends to complicate the situation It was June when wh n the expedition reached Melville bay ba at that early season bristling with ranks of stately Icebergs like Solemn spectres presiding over a stillness which was only dis disturbed disturbed disturbed by b snowstorms No human be being beIng being ing ever dared to tl enter this Norwegian Inferno in the month of June until hardihood embraced tHat three weeks battle RammIng ing the floes fives exploding torpedoes on the ice lee in front to open leads and fight fighting fighting fighting ing hard every very step of the way the thew vessels w at length touched at Cape York It was here that the whaling fleet which had haa accompanied Schley thus far farIn farIn farin In hope hOle of ot securing the reward offered by the government for tor the res rescue rescue rescue cue of Greely became discouraged and fearing they might lose their whole summers catch for the sake of an un uncertain uncertain uncertain certain reward abandoned the enter enterprise enterprise prise Animated by a nobler ambition than the desire of ot gold two ships the Bear and the Thetis pushed on taking such risks to personal safety as only a matter of life and death dath could rould o 1 IJ Justify Undeterred by the records I found on Brevoort island in to which Greely spoke of desperate circum circumstances circumstances i stances and exhausted provisions the I Inow now almost despairing leader of the rescuing party part turned his boats In the direction of ot Cape cap Sabine ne a e r Thither the explorers papers stated that they were going eight months be before before fore but there was little chance of find finding ing one survivor after more than half halfa ii I Ia iia a year of starvation Had Schley been delayed but two days in his quest the I tent would indeed have hung its shroud above seven more dead all that were left out of the who embarked with Greely The distinguished dis distinguished distinguished explorer himself was at the point of ot death unable to drag himself out of ot the fur bag in which he had lain I many days trying to substitute sleep for food I In a letter which I received recently from Captain D L Brainard the gal gallant lant ld t officer who endured so much priva privation prIvation privation tion and labor seeking relief for his it is stated that the whistle of the Thetis recalling her crew from Brevoort island was heard at Cape Sabine and that himself and Private Long two of the strongest of the wretched exiles crawled to the top of the bluff overlooking the sea but saw no help coming Chilled alike by I the severe cold and the disappointment of a forlorn hope Brainard dragged I himself back to the tent but Long re remained remaIned remained until the Cub the small boat belonging to the Bear came into sight Scarcely believing the apparition to tobe tobe tobe be more than the fancy of a disordered brain yet he caught up his signal flag composed of a n large colored cotton handkerchief a 3 white undershirt and the remnants of a suit of red flannel underclothing all nailed to a broken oar a pitiful suggestion to the red white and blue It was answerer by the stars and stripes waved from the boat and in a few moments the th rescuer and the rescued clasped hands Long led the way to too Camp Clay where his famished companions stared at the newcomers with hollow frenzied eyes scarcely realizing the fact that they were saved Who Vho can picture the emo of Captain Schley as he looked upon the men he had rescued and gave orders that they be cared for in the manner There are supreme moments In life which are the best re reward reward reward ward of noble deeds Why has congress never bestowed a vote of thanks upon Admiral Schley Long before the battle of Santiago was dreamed of he had written a page in history more beautiful than any con in m the annals of warfare a page unsurpassed In heroism He had left home with the expectation of spending a winter in the Arctic but exactly three months from the date that he first set sail sall on his errand of or mercy Schley steamed into the harbor of Portsmouth N H and the country rang with his praise |