866 CONGKESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 



WASHINGTON-, D. C., May 20, 1880. 



SIR: I beg to inform you that it will not be possible to complete the report on the 

 scientific results of the United States Arctic Expedition, under the late Capt. C. F. 

 Hall, without assistance from Congress. 



The reason for a request for assistance at thia time lies in the fact that of the 

 $15,000 appropriated in 1875, at the instance of the late Professor Henry, and to be 

 expended under direction of the Secretary of the Navy, only about $3,000 has ever 

 been available for the purpose, the remainder having been used for purposes not in 

 keeping with those for which the money was granted. 



On drafts being made upon the Navy Department, after about $3,000 had been 

 spent, Professor Henry was informed that there was no more money available. 



At the time this information was received the preparation of the volumes in ques- 

 tion was being vigorously prosecuted. Contracts were outstanding with engravers, 

 lithographers, and others to the amount of about $4,000, for which sum Professor 

 Henry, as he informed the Navy Department, held himself personally responsible. 

 As it was hardly to be expected that the artists making the plates to illustrate the 

 volumes should be sufficiently interested in the work to induce them to await indefi- 

 nite payment of their respective bills, and being repeatedly urged to settle the same, 

 I felt in honor bound to satisfy these demands; and the more especially so since 

 Professor Henry had assumed personal responsibility for obligations incurred on 

 account of the work. I therefore at once paid from my private means all outstand- 

 ing indebtedness. 



As at present there remain two volumes of the scientific results unpublished, viz, 

 Volumes II and III, it is estimated that $8,000 will be required to complete the series 

 and fulfill the purpose contemplated by Congress when making the appropriation 

 in 1875. 



Should Congress think proper to make the appropriation desired, I trust the 

 money will be placed under the control of the Smithsonian Institution. 

 I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 



EMIL BESSELS, 

 Chief of Scientific Department, United States Arctic Expedition. 



Prof. S. F. BAIRD, 



Secretary Smithsonian Institution. 



Referred to Committee on Appropriations. 



June 16, 1880. 



Deficiency act for 1880, etc. 



For completing the preparation, with the necessary illustrations, of 

 the report of Dr. Emil Bessels, of the scientific results of the Arctic 

 Expedition under the late Captain C. F. Hall, to be expended under 

 the control of the Smithsonian Institution, $8,000. 



(Stat, XXI, 238.) 



REIMBURSEMENT OF EMIL BESSELS. 

 February 18, 1881 House. 



Mr. HIRAM BARBER, jr., from Committee on Claims, submitted a 

 report (H. 306) on a bill (H. 4718) for the relief of Dr. Emil Bessels: 



It appears from the examination of this claim that the North Polar Expedition 

 was authorized by a special act of Congress March 8, 1870. The steamer Polaris 

 sailed for the arctic regions June 10, 1871. The claimant, Dr. Bessels, was the chief 

 of the scientific division of this expedition, having been designated for that position 



