"NEVER THE LOTOS CLOSES."

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 14052, 25 May 1911, Page 6

"NEVER THE LOTOS CLOSES."

POLICE LOST_IN -THE NORTH. TWO HUNDRED MILES ON DOG MEAT. , A TRAGEDY oFfHE YUKON. Never tlie lotos closes, never the wildfowl wake, .. , But a soul goes out on the East wmU that died for England's sakeMan or woman or suckling, mother or bride or maid —Because on tlie bones of the English the English Flag is stayed. —Kipling.

*nd always new bones are being added to that mighty pile. Somo die in battle, but more in the incidents of r-eaco; for a few thero aro epitaphs of many words, and for others no more than a* ten line message at the time of their death, and afterwards a tradition that they did work—and died. The latter seems to be the lot of the members of a part of the Royal North-west Mounted Police, Canada, whose bodies were found on the banks of the Peel river. Lost in the wilds of Yukon they had eaten their dogs—even tho harness —and then had perished in thc snows. The party, says the "Dawson News, •left Dawson with three dog-teams on December 22nd, failed to find the Peel river pass across the ItockieS, wandered about near the head of the Wind River, until January 18th, and when only ten pounds of flour, eight pounds of bacon and some dried fish remained, started back towards Macpherson, a distance of "50 miles. Their supplies were soon exhausted, aud they began eating their doffs They had no shot gun or they might have' secured enough ptarmigans to last them through the journey. Dog meat was offered to the dogs, but the., would not touch" it; so the men led their dried salmon te thc animals and ate the dogs' flesh themselves. .Thirtylive miles irom Macpherson the harness of two dogs was found and it is believed that two were killed there. This supply should have lasted the men to their journey Vend, had they been healthy. l

HOW THEY DIED. It is believed, however, that they were poisoned by eating dogs' livers, and, therefore, wero unable to travel fast. Also, they were very footsore. Tho members of the party—B. J-* gerald, inspector, S. J. Carter. C. J). Kinnev, and Richard O'Hara Taylor, constables—all died naturally, except, perhaps. Tavlor, whoso head was missing. Uo had his rifle m his hand, and it was apparently a case of suicide. Possibly ho shot himself in extreme delirium, or fright, when not in his own mind, after awakening from sleep and seeing Kinney dead beside him. Fitzgerald and Carter, , who made the last attempt to finish the dash to Macpherson, 35 miles, covered only ten. They had left all their robes and supplies with Kinney and Taylor, taking only two little red blankets with which to face the Arctic nights in their last struggle.

A FULLER ACCOUNT. A letter that has been published from tho Rev. C. E. Whittaker to Bishop Stringer, at Dawson, says, in. part:— "Carter had been over the trail, four years ago, but was not suro of tho crossings. It is surmised that the men went astray in trying to find tho crossing from the Littlo Wind River to the Hart River, and, being short of food, decided to return and, for some unknown reason, were unable to make

it. "The packet and the inspector's bag were found in Collins's house, left there on their return. Twenty miles lower down were found tho bodies of Kinney ond Taylor, with four fur robes. Ten miles lower still, were found the bodies of ' Fitzgerald and Carter. "They went from here with fifteen dogs, and so far the harnesses only have been found. When the Indian Esau left them their dogs were pretty well spent. The snow was three feet deep in most places, and they travelled slowly, making only six miles a day. "Then, when they should have crossed tho divide by Forest Creek to the Hart River, they could not find the crossing, and, perhaps, went about forty miles too far up the Little Wind and spent nearly a week looking for the crossing in vain. "An entry made in the diary on January ,17th reads:— " 'Carter is utterly bewildered, and does not know one river from another. My last hope gone. Reluctantly shall have to return- to Peel River. We havo now ten pounds of flour and eight pounds of bacon and somo dried fish for tho dogs.' "Three days later the food was exhausted. The men began killing the dogs and trying to feed the meat to the dogs that were left, but they would not eat it, so the men ate the dog- i flesh and fed the dry fish te tho dogs. They were hindered by open water, by weather sixty below zero, and by fierce I winds. They mado their way back I slowly, their old trail being drifted full. TRAVELLED ON DOG MEAT AND TEA. "About February 1, when tho party was on Long Portage, above Colin's Place, an entry reads: 'We have travelled about 200 miles on dog meat and tea and have about 100 miles to do yet,\Dut expect that wo shall be able to make it, but Khali havo only three or four dogs left. Wo have killed eight dogß and have eaten most of the meat.' Three or four days later the diary ceases. The party was then a few miles from Trail Creek, »>bo,it thirty-four miles above Colin's Place. It is probable that they survived from five to seven days after that, and perhaps more, judging from evidence found and tracks about the camps."

WHAT THE RESCUE PARTY FOUND. On March 21 the rescue ■►arty, under Corporal Dempster, found the bodies of Kinney and Taylor, who had played out first, thirty-five miles from Macpherson, partly buried- in tho snow, a handkerchief and a note on a tree marking the place. Ten miles beyond they found the bodies of Fitzgerald and Carter, who had tried to go on for relief. Fitzgerald survived to the last, first laying out Carter's body, crossing his lvands and placing a handkerchief over his face. Then with his last few ounces of strength he CTept on a little to the place where he perished. Fitzgerald had realised that his end was near and left a crudo will in favour of his mother, who ia said to live in Ireland.

The Dempster party pushed through to Macpherson, got help and took the bodies to Macpherson, where they were "buried.

That the living are of m*>re import than the dead is provided by the prominence given in the published reports to the fact that the party then returned to Dawson, smashing all records for the trip over the course, making it in a total of forty-nin© days after leaving Dawson. The previous time was fifty-three days.

So far, that is all there is of the story. A grim and splendid tragedy, showing that the spirit of the adventurers is as real to-day as it was in centuries past. Always there have been men ready to do, until doing was no longer possible, and then to die in the course of their service. These men had lived their lives in tho open spaces; and their reward, doubtless, was no moro than an Australian poet- has declared to- be the bounty of the Australian deserts —th© lust to live and tho strength to die bravely.