CHAPTER HI. 



SEARCHES FOR THE JEANNETTE 1881. 

 (SECOND CRUISE OF THE CORWIN.) 



AS the spring of 1881 drew on without bringing any news 

 of the Jeannette, it was deemed wise to carry out some 

 concerted plan of action for the discovery of the whereabouts 

 of the ship and her crew. Petitions for government aid and 

 action were presented to Congress, and Hon. Charles P. 

 Daly, President of the American Geographical Society, in an 

 eloquent letter to the President of the United States, urged 

 the sending out of a search expedition. 



Subsequently, early in March, Congress authorized the 

 Secretary of the Na.vy to expend $175,000 for a suitable ship 

 audits equipments, to be manned wholly by volunteers from 

 the navv. and to be sent north to search for the Jeannette. 







A little later, Secretary Hunt convened at the Navy Depart- 

 ment a board of officers, to whom the duty was intrusted of 

 suggesting and advising as to the best plan for conducting 

 the government sea relies for the Jeannette. 



The Jeannette Relief Expedition Board was composed of 

 Rear-Admiral JolmRodgers, Captain James A. Greer, Lieu- 

 tenant-Commander Henry C. White, Lieutenant William P. 

 Randall, Lieutenant R. M. Berry (recorder), Paymaster Al- 

 bert S. Kenny, and Surgeon Jerome S. Kidder. They were 

 officers of great experience, and most of them had been 

 identified with earlier Arctic expeditions and explorations in 

 that region. After thoroughly investigating the whole sub- 

 ject, they made a full report, in which they stated their views 

 as to the direction of the search, and the best means for car- 

 rying it out. 



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