tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74608515719857710472024-03-13T00:23:09.342-07:00Erebus & Terror FilesThis blog is intended as a very occasional series of rambling notes documenting my thoughts and original research relating to the 1845 Franklin Expedition.Peter Carneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11720739633773324546noreply@blogger.comBlogger69125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7460851571985771047.post-18841733980927159522022-11-23T07:20:00.004-08:002022-11-24T01:01:56.624-08:00Stephan Goldner and the Billion Dollar Corporation<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEqG0lDBfUbCbP7uX8ByAJ3GirupO5V6zu42DxhkmXY5zkJvoZt3BqpfTkSYr3NOQwHo7m-WTd11I4EH-od4Y07yOajdj2vOeGut1DqSK4V8-jp8csHt8Mk8PtrzpjLjptahfhsPl6hbaSQQNuGCujuqqpkd3rpdEg95YnojIUgu3MNmfjLSRsDdOlXQ/s845/Goldner%20label%20boiled%20beef%20w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="657" data-original-width="845" height="498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEqG0lDBfUbCbP7uX8ByAJ3GirupO5V6zu42DxhkmXY5zkJvoZt3BqpfTkSYr3NOQwHo7m-WTd11I4EH-od4Y07yOajdj2vOeGut1DqSK4V8-jp8csHt8Mk8PtrzpjLjptahfhsPl6hbaSQQNuGCujuqqpkd3rpdEg95YnojIUgu3MNmfjLSRsDdOlXQ/w640-h498/Goldner%20label%20boiled%20beef%20w.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div><br /></div>I was amazed to discover recently that it is now ten years ago, in November 2012, that I had the privilege to travel to Nelson Mandela Rd, Kidbrooke, London to view the Goldner cans in the National Maritime Museum's reserve collection. That visit, and a follow up, in September 2013, ultimately led to the fully functional replica cans which I used in my <a href="https://erebusandterrorfiles.blogspot.com/2019/06/victualling-victorias-navy-5-goldners.html">Victorian Victualling simulation</a> in 2019.<div><p>Sometimes when researching history you come across surprises. In this case the rare example of a business rooted in the distant past which, astoundingly, still exists and even thrives to the present day.</p><p>Who would have believed it that a man proudly named on the above label and who filed what is arguably one of the most important patents in the history of food preservation also founded a commercial enterprise which has not merely survived for nearly two hundred years but has grown and developed into a billion dollar business empire.</p><p>It is well known that Stephan Goldner's food canning business collapsed as a result of the Naval preserved meats scandal of 1852. However, the business I'm teasing you about is not even food related... </p><p>Look closely at the bottom left corner of the can label at the top of this page. It carries the words "Wertheimer & Co., Printers". Surely it would be very unusual for a printer to put his name on something so utterly prosaic as a food label? - I certainly can’t recall any other example. In fact John Wertheimer was one of the most respected printers in London. Much of his output can be found by searching Google Books for "Wertheimer printer" or variations thereof. In 1844 he began printing the fortnightly "Jewish Chronicle and Working Man's Friend" whose print run is unbroken to this day as the world's oldest and most influential Jewish newspaper, the Jewish Chronicle. Wertheimer built an international reputation, printing books in various languages, but probably the most celebrated work he printed was in 1858 - the original edition of a book called "<a href="https://archive.org/details/anatomydescripti1858gray">Anatomy, descriptive and surgical</a>" now universally referred to as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray%27s_Anatomy">Gray's Anatomy</a> - a major technical challenge and a work of global significance.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixAS-W1FGvAO4XAlUAH-v5x3mY7fUu7h9Z2WQx-vF8D-CfINJKezzT6ySMGme2_MoNLcpErQEybFex6y17ErvYXjYMGRpmJWABbcbhgbylR4xiI9uMLoe87ZT_3lnevpa2rrHfp_OCa70G8WOnKL31ePcTVaHnVSe09lg1ly3PmOJw2_oP7IAhnTE9nw/s640/wertheimer%20printers.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixAS-W1FGvAO4XAlUAH-v5x3mY7fUu7h9Z2WQx-vF8D-CfINJKezzT6ySMGme2_MoNLcpErQEybFex6y17ErvYXjYMGRpmJWABbcbhgbylR4xiI9uMLoe87ZT_3lnevpa2rrHfp_OCa70G8WOnKL31ePcTVaHnVSe09lg1ly3PmOJw2_oP7IAhnTE9nw/w400-h300/wertheimer%20printers.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Close up of Goldner can, reference <a href="https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-2275">AAA2276</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2H70FiBVmyOG2v6YWOloWWHT37izpK29eJtP4CeIJzG0pR4cyi6M3JQ-wb2VznrOjW-2OG4g3nTjAgjFWH-hQy3janPknFSnisfFXaJdq3xkK2DaqKxTMRoHkb7BcDHR-YhXjy3uZRdvRJDdzfnLykvYBHxNO7yx5Zae5oebupfA1z4rIP00JDjD2VQ/s3131/Gray.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2060" data-original-width="3131" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2H70FiBVmyOG2v6YWOloWWHT37izpK29eJtP4CeIJzG0pR4cyi6M3JQ-wb2VznrOjW-2OG4g3nTjAgjFWH-hQy3janPknFSnisfFXaJdq3xkK2DaqKxTMRoHkb7BcDHR-YhXjy3uZRdvRJDdzfnLykvYBHxNO7yx5Zae5oebupfA1z4rIP00JDjD2VQ/w640-h422/Gray.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><div>Goldner's well known patent, Number 8873, was filed ("sealed" in the terminology of the day) on 8th March 1841.</div><div><blockquote><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b>STEPHEN GOLDNER, of West Street, Finsbury Circus, Merchant, for improvements in preserving animal and vegetable substances and liquids.</b></span></blockquote></div><div>The very next patent in sequence, number 8874, was filed on the same day, with the same title, but in this case the applicant was “John WERTHEIMER, Printer”, the address was also given as "of West Street, Finsbury Circus" and it was noted as "Communicated from a foreigner residing abroad". The foreigner in question can be identified as Louis Amédée Fastier, a Parisian <i>marchand de comestibles.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Wertheimer had filed an earlier patent, also a "communication", No 8378, on 8th Feb 1840. This is the one I regard as the most significant as it introduced the key concept of the can being heated after being sealed – the essential step in the process still in use today. On the 2nd July 1846 the patent was amended to disclaim some of the other parts of the patent which had proved not to be useful.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYoWlomXMvBJi9y2Uo912-e_xPp8onjbbj7KU0ICLXFXG2Ald_UgIgX1mw-yRlTbu94XAWS4gbLvXngwXSZ8FZUXaRhja9sVwvYCks6yHUTLZiBleBB59w1CmYKDxlXvaMNkUjQABdVAYQJmnMbVSbctQtRXJZ_w9VeIViYOvDX9AUYGIVOvzQSzE-bQ/s1858/Fastier%20and%20Wertheimer.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1312" data-original-width="1858" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYoWlomXMvBJi9y2Uo912-e_xPp8onjbbj7KU0ICLXFXG2Ald_UgIgX1mw-yRlTbu94XAWS4gbLvXngwXSZ8FZUXaRhja9sVwvYCks6yHUTLZiBleBB59w1CmYKDxlXvaMNkUjQABdVAYQJmnMbVSbctQtRXJZ_w9VeIViYOvDX9AUYGIVOvzQSzE-bQ/w320-h226/Fastier%20and%20Wertheimer.jpg" title="Drawings from Wertheimer's patent and Fastier's brevette d'invention" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Drawings from Wertheimer's patent and Fastier's brevette d'invention</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>The 1841 Census data shows printer John Wertheimer and his family residing at No. 5 West Street, Finsbury Circus. Presumably "living over the shop". Lodging with them was a certain Stephen Goldner, aged 30, "Ind" - meaning "of independent means".</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibmeAxUeXeCj-k-WT4KkKoU3JAgdH44Lh34x1PpcS5da7QenkPN2tLehHqwC8Ed6eaKCe3HojtgsO_EkhTCuSIJ871ylJI7sIKNH2r7-qa7xBg_wtxSHg9h9V7oVqMCZuJWz8RSWsnb1u3KccfyjHYFUH9lb3d-UZUc2acfkicxHvEduaCBt6IhNlasw/s853/1841%20Census%20extract.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="589" data-original-width="853" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibmeAxUeXeCj-k-WT4KkKoU3JAgdH44Lh34x1PpcS5da7QenkPN2tLehHqwC8Ed6eaKCe3HojtgsO_EkhTCuSIJ871ylJI7sIKNH2r7-qa7xBg_wtxSHg9h9V7oVqMCZuJWz8RSWsnb1u3KccfyjHYFUH9lb3d-UZUc2acfkicxHvEduaCBt6IhNlasw/w640-h442/1841%20Census%20extract.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>As a foreigner residing in Great Britain, Goldner was constrained in certain aspects of business such as the purchasing or leasing of real estate.To overcome these restrictions he filed an application for Naturalisation dated 24 December 1845. The application consists of a series of sworn petitions attesting to Goldner's character. Wertheimer declares:</div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote><span style="font-family: times;">... that I have known and been acquainted with Stephan Goldner of Houndsditch in the City of London, Merchant, for a period of seven years and upwards, since May 1839</span></blockquote><p> and later:</p><blockquote><span style="font-family: times;">... to the best of my knowledge and belief the said Stephan Goldner has resided in London from the month of May One thousand eight hundred and thirty nine to the present time excepting a period of eight months during which the said Stephan Goldner was abroad on commercial transactions but during which period the business in which the said Stephan Goldner is engaged in London namely the manufacturing and vending of preserved provisions according to a process to a process as I have been informed and believe protected by Her Majesty's Letters patent was carried on by the attorney or agent of the said Stephan Goldner</span></blockquote><p>While Stephen Goldner's food business, and the man himself vanished in the 1850s, John Wertheimer's printing business flourished. John Edward Lea joined the firm in 1866 and they became
Wertheimer Lea & Co.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdz54jmmTs3V4H2-0V3qOu8toF4PM5HR_Er1P6KnmY_gVhMJ4Nub-ygOf98kS-zqyZFFjCmxNv0N-9iTR2JQC8Hg_ETF7aF1jS3mP16DaFxVj5FBc2jYjCDaG60bnxHb5Eki9QKK-hz9iK0l57-Ku8ruKhqsPh1JgczQhdryMxpB7NdVuZbSByx8yn9w/s1000/Werthehimer%201902.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="573" data-original-width="1000" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdz54jmmTs3V4H2-0V3qOu8toF4PM5HR_Er1P6KnmY_gVhMJ4Nub-ygOf98kS-zqyZFFjCmxNv0N-9iTR2JQC8Hg_ETF7aF1jS3mP16DaFxVj5FBc2jYjCDaG60bnxHb5Eki9QKK-hz9iK0l57-Ku8ruKhqsPh1JgczQhdryMxpB7NdVuZbSByx8yn9w/w400-h229/Werthehimer%201902.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">New premises were established at 46 & 47 London Wall and a new print-works, Clifton House, constructed in Shoreditch. the building now serves as offices for the National Health Service.</div><div><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik6xSZ_pQ_oe6hpASTnnBF5gXclrBnd5NL12M--zHOXG4eAOvLlkPIpL5teT5hzS_7Z6DkL65E8MSiFR7isxGrbsFOx79LhzE532qcd1QhxMx0gfB1iEDnFQHF2xmbS9hjoCxUp07Y0mSeUtS2jmVXyQaI_yDN7WvuOsx3S0BRtQV39wrIJsMnGNtcGw/s1919/Clifton%20House%201920%20and%202020.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="821" data-original-width="1919" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik6xSZ_pQ_oe6hpASTnnBF5gXclrBnd5NL12M--zHOXG4eAOvLlkPIpL5teT5hzS_7Z6DkL65E8MSiFR7isxGrbsFOx79LhzE532qcd1QhxMx0gfB1iEDnFQHF2xmbS9hjoCxUp07Y0mSeUtS2jmVXyQaI_yDN7WvuOsx3S0BRtQV39wrIJsMnGNtcGw/w400-h171/Clifton%20House%201920%20and%202020.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1920 and 2020</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><br /></div><div>John Henry Williams bought into the company after John Wertheimer's death in December 1883. The name remaining as Wertheimer, Lea and Company until 1916 when wartime anti-German sentiment necessitated the change to Williams Lea and Company.</div><div><p>Williams Lea grew strongly throughout the twentieth century, the business developing from straightforward printing into the realm of business services outsourcing.The Company remained in family ownership until 2006 when Deutsche Post AG Group bought a 75% stake for 370m euros ($440m, £253m), a proportion of which was used to endow a charitable trust. Later the same year The UK Government's official publisher, <i>The Stationery Office,</i> was acquired.</p><p>Design agency Tag Worldwide was acquired in 2011, and the combined business was rebranded as Williams Lea Tag. Revenue was 1.41 billion euros ($1.7 billion) in 2014, hence the reference to "Billion Dollar Corporation" in title of this blog post.</p><p>Deutsche Post sold Williams Lea Tag to Private equity group Advent International in December 2017. The business was then described as employing over 10,000 people and operating in more than 40 countries globally.</p><p>Current Williams Lea Group brands:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.williamslea.com/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="95" data-original-width="530" height="67" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB_WFqz9dwzJ64R6kE7-ftOnueammhYUELLJWyyaIm6a8A4tnDtMl2FtfNML0S6wEWlNXdejAjNYBB4TjhZAG5O_P7nNuc9K_RiDb8kuRLdmE_hnOKTbPl8H36VakeUmnO1oLtHNRFWjucp-qbQv56I6KbCNRwVUoITqYgdjsIX8t6SZj4d0NeXZtF6A/w376-h67/William%20Lea%20logo.jpg" width="376" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.tagww.com/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="95" data-original-width="214" height="71" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-fKdpZBwUFmhwRB9zNsQoHA5q5AtXSXlr66nQh2GTfbQPZQSvpwUIrR7jyJafPQRHJYW_5Eo64QDt7zmEanTPAqpW-d3kVgmfcq2_zw1ygSxjw3INTGOq0VujE3EGx1_ijSc7r4wdBExV2yLtbEjs3BrfVCDfJUTlwjn9UzyTPabNVSD0U_pcSukrWw/w160-h71/tag%20logo.jpg" width="160" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.tsoshop.co.uk/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="106" data-original-width="277" height="79" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMBvfF9yeOqd6poT6FWXPxHBopRVgMKtMZwxakv-vTTidPN5m5s4n7hQ2fi9gKmKqjYtvVQadrTwkbOHhPaIwHwP9LPnl5FBHtY7IAxHzaJXgtbT3WncAVY8lYJA_Xiq4udQwkQsEn3H-pg9F5BhCr4j_pV757Uvud0seSBNPq2jDd2RhK5rVCj4Hzwg/w206-h79/TSO1.jpg" width="206" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>In conclusion, the existence of a present-day entity with a link to Stephan Goldner is a fascinating curiosity. Of greater interest to the serious historian is the information that archives from the company have been preserved and that I have hopes, in due course, to use them to fill in some more gaps in the story of Stephan Goldner.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><br /></div></div></div>Peter Carneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11720739633773324546noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7460851571985771047.post-34333474605332930652022-11-09T04:51:00.009-08:002022-11-09T17:06:02.808-08:00May we be Spared: Four talks in eight days.<p>The last week of October was, for me, a mad week of travelling, <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/May-Spared-Meet-Earth-Expedition/dp/0228011396">book launching</a>, talking, and meeting old and new friends.</p><p>It started with an early morning flight to Ireland West Airport Knock and a drive to Rosses Point County Sligo for the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/rossespoint1">Maritime Heritage Weekend</a> organised by the wonderful Medbh Gillard.</p><p>I had been humming and hawing about attending this year but it was always my answer when asked, during the pandemic, where did I want to go when travel restrictions were lifted.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3bGHo_u5TbOdFIe-jEtZlSOPzKb6SYZPi2bn_IsCPuFYjQsNFN96yTajXgiDGPg7ecmpro_L7QLbK0WX4atz_P9bBBrJphNnUP4qNdw7ao6EhzFdJ81LW2sR8eFp-TETucRfHqUTe0vSvUbklcJ4AHutMqbqITrQab3wmFrzsunWEhmCR7cwndbFOxw/s2048/IMG_1394.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3bGHo_u5TbOdFIe-jEtZlSOPzKb6SYZPi2bn_IsCPuFYjQsNFN96yTajXgiDGPg7ecmpro_L7QLbK0WX4atz_P9bBBrJphNnUP4qNdw7ao6EhzFdJ81LW2sR8eFp-TETucRfHqUTe0vSvUbklcJ4AHutMqbqITrQab3wmFrzsunWEhmCR7cwndbFOxw/w400-h300/IMG_1394.JPEG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It was a good thing that I did decide to go in the end as, a few days prior to setting off, Medbd messaged to say that one of the scheduled speakers had tested positive for Covid, and would I be able, at short notice, to fill the gap in the programme. I was delighted to step in, and in return I was officially declared a saint. I made it a fairly introductory explanation of the Franklin expedition, and what it meant to me, finishing up with a plug for the book with a couple of example paragraphs. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg44-Apdu3BCNLYTaSclja7jYvboHBinS9iHybDvFz_iE31O1oNi9iQfTkInxe8YcQG2svYf4sdApaLxdXhJ0RXDRTVxndraNCORHe67ydKgGV66UhRt1J95YUo0hLLV7vli_CtMgG87Bkf3xgxbQxmGe_SoGck34BpBEAtMCl5TuCAg3rNLH62v8StVA/s2048/IMG_1486.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg44-Apdu3BCNLYTaSclja7jYvboHBinS9iHybDvFz_iE31O1oNi9iQfTkInxe8YcQG2svYf4sdApaLxdXhJ0RXDRTVxndraNCORHe67ydKgGV66UhRt1J95YUo0hLLV7vli_CtMgG87Bkf3xgxbQxmGe_SoGck34BpBEAtMCl5TuCAg3rNLH62v8StVA/w400-h300/IMG_1486.JPEG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Back home Monday morning, with a few days to spare before Thursday's for a trip up to Greenwich by car and train for a get together at the Trafalgar Tavern and the evening's lecture at the National Maritime Museum. The talk went extremely well with an excellent introduction by Jeremy Michell with Russell, Mary, and myself onstage taking it in turns.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAxkWqr1a6KzRWGO--BBv9wbJcPcnaDNQkJghvBAxTjSaYZoZbclj_CTQIxUJfnXZ06IGzvxdoLwAYYZP3h7XTUF9pUkKWK1_ehVy78d9itLsZNm2oYdzHnN2ibgx_5GiJIpWdkvl1j8VQBLZqnMZNGna0L1JJuBVlk71bfSADzu8CM-5DvrcEIPFcEg/s2048/IMG_1499.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAxkWqr1a6KzRWGO--BBv9wbJcPcnaDNQkJghvBAxTjSaYZoZbclj_CTQIxUJfnXZ06IGzvxdoLwAYYZP3h7XTUF9pUkKWK1_ehVy78d9itLsZNm2oYdzHnN2ibgx_5GiJIpWdkvl1j8VQBLZqnMZNGna0L1JJuBVlk71bfSADzu8CM-5DvrcEIPFcEg/w400-h300/IMG_1499.JPEG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Gina joined us for book signing, meaning that the lucky recipients of these books will have, so far, the only copies signed by all four editors.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRv8qbutXEfFeoOTBlzWMnpXQqGCgVBNoaWQmN8ntO5AFHKJYEW0_IVoLE4650orBxZ6LKzEbjvQ8jXvmrIjJ_z6mZpXJjsWUA0Fkz-nZKIjVBhxG9_8FUqr-_luulSdc-x6hUbG1Xvm_1Mt-KuniFhBhYtPLct90lIPnr3IMxpi6g3kb3xRdS23ua3A/s2048/IMG_1505.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRv8qbutXEfFeoOTBlzWMnpXQqGCgVBNoaWQmN8ntO5AFHKJYEW0_IVoLE4650orBxZ6LKzEbjvQ8jXvmrIjJ_z6mZpXJjsWUA0Fkz-nZKIjVBhxG9_8FUqr-_luulSdc-x6hUbG1Xvm_1Mt-KuniFhBhYtPLct90lIPnr3IMxpi6g3kb3xRdS23ua3A/w400-h300/IMG_1505.JPEG" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Friday morning dawned, meaning another early morning run to the airport, this time for a flight to Dublin, then on to Athy, home of the Shackleton Museum. Our book was launched in Ireland at 9 pm in O'Brien's Pub, or, more precisely, in the covered yard attached. This was particular fun due to the informal setting and the absence of any visual technology meant it was just a question of stand up and wobble on about the subject. This all went very well due to the receptive audience, the subject being close to the speakers' hearts, and plenty of drink.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnxHMF9PGaEIvaiX6KXNh5B8TqooGmirghL2c4uL_wnH3QO6AAuSFFjYhUr3vATnhb9xmXSoOW6u2zOHn4ixLKkD_LfHV1YRfzzjmsO_hOBhpxA36sI6pYXWTh7IFUw09NX7vD4sbietk0o6xSVIxeFnMdoUvIdbrqTFm9ChyDXSXPCo5LOARsmmxcyg/s2048/IMG_1515.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnxHMF9PGaEIvaiX6KXNh5B8TqooGmirghL2c4uL_wnH3QO6AAuSFFjYhUr3vATnhb9xmXSoOW6u2zOHn4ixLKkD_LfHV1YRfzzjmsO_hOBhpxA36sI6pYXWTh7IFUw09NX7vD4sbietk0o6xSVIxeFnMdoUvIdbrqTFm9ChyDXSXPCo5LOARsmmxcyg/w400-h300/IMG_1515.JPEG" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Saturday after lunch was the more formal version, with Russell's excellent PowerPoint slides and the three of us taking it in turns to read excerpts from the book and explain several aspects of the story of how it came into being. This again went down very well, with many compliments received afterwards.<div>Sunday afternoon was a shared taxi back to Dublin and an evening flight resulting in arrival back home a little before midnight.</div><div><br /></div><div>All in all, a most memorable and enjoyable week of madness. I am very keenly looking forward to going back next year!<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p></div></div>Peter Carneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11720739633773324546noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7460851571985771047.post-11939878480539565542022-09-07T05:15:00.003-07:002022-09-07T05:17:38.199-07:00May We Be Spared to Meet on Earth - The voyage begins!<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWNyI8OB1SVQdncN16tzRbRWRhKM53JYu0DFkJxTapj9mTehJcgn6u4ZBPY-HOkQ6CkQTGKwwVXJn9quotuFFfaj3Xwri8UL3nTOQAq-KZVQ-HBx6qjadGFye-via9snaIpRIp2Cr14lntReXvoRaiiDIuCwBeZR18jwy5Q15w7ZtwcA6yjiI4YDdfHA/s789/Cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="789" data-original-width="526" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWNyI8OB1SVQdncN16tzRbRWRhKM53JYu0DFkJxTapj9mTehJcgn6u4ZBPY-HOkQ6CkQTGKwwVXJn9quotuFFfaj3Xwri8UL3nTOQAq-KZVQ-HBx6qjadGFye-via9snaIpRIp2Cr14lntReXvoRaiiDIuCwBeZR18jwy5Q15w7ZtwcA6yjiI4YDdfHA/w426-h640/Cover.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><p><br /></p>At last! Our book, <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/May-Spared-Meet-Earth-Expedition/dp/0228011396/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=94fFY&content-id=amzn1.sym.31c9090c-9b65-4f91-bf37-04dd92281172&pf_rd_p=31c9090c-9b65-4f91-bf37-04dd92281172&pf_rd_r=8VQQVHQP8P99NMBS9BC3&pd_rd_wg=Gnkvl&pd_rd_r=63db8ea9-0fe8-453e-ac4c-7992a0d91bf3&ref_=pd_gw_ci_mcx_mi"><i>May We Be Spared to Meet on Earth: Letters of the Lost Franklin Arctic Expedition</i>,</a> has now been released!<p>The title is from the 175th letter in the collection in which Sarah Hartnell, mother of two members of the expedition, expresses her hope of being reunited with her sons but recognizes and accepts that her hopes may not be fulfilled:</p><p></p><blockquote><i>“if it is the Lords will may we be spared to meet on earth if not God grant we may all meet around his throne to praise him to all eternity”.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>Steve and Mary Williamson hosted a wonderful launch party on Sunday at their beautiful home in East Sussex.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf-0_FImL6O1KCNny3iXwmjolOtFP2fxjf-GkK75DoBUxeHYp3LMNR9k6sQ6IXvQiH0p6Xxvikm7b7QQByPzooVfIuzCOvKroSu5s5_uh0NsKsTaDKCzoFkcf7GkTKSooVM2Cf8Wyvom4r9Ms8YiwFRPNsfY5LpfBRCkBWgpZOPJ_nt_SsuDz2BYRZEQ/s1275/cake%20cutting.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1087" data-original-width="1275" height="546" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf-0_FImL6O1KCNny3iXwmjolOtFP2fxjf-GkK75DoBUxeHYp3LMNR9k6sQ6IXvQiH0p6Xxvikm7b7QQByPzooVfIuzCOvKroSu5s5_uh0NsKsTaDKCzoFkcf7GkTKSooVM2Cf8Wyvom4r9Ms8YiwFRPNsfY5LpfBRCkBWgpZOPJ_nt_SsuDz2BYRZEQ/w640-h546/cake%20cutting.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>The centrepiece of the show was the cake cutting ceremony in which I can be seen wielding Sir John Franklin's sword (ineffectually) while Mary actually divides the cake which is brilliantly decorated with a full sized reproduction of the book's cover. You can be assured that I took home the piece with my name on it and that it was truly delicious. </p><p>My sincere thanks to Russell Potter, who led the book project superbly, fellow editors Regina Koellner and Mary Williamson, Sir Michael Palin for the foreword, and everyone else who had a hand in making it a reality. I am humbled to have been allowed to join in.</p><p></p>Peter Carneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11720739633773324546noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7460851571985771047.post-82345958252726980432020-12-06T12:23:00.000-08:002020-12-06T12:23:35.941-08:00Three visits to 137 Houndsditch<p>In January 2019 Gina Koellner and I made a pilgrimage to the site of Goldner's preserved provisions manufactory.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjecXuhPOMmrMp46vbrB-gIcLIAeKQVam2HAb6jS5OCHLh_boDJlddXZov1GFJ91BeZQbl-XzEuabiz8hHKcrg9Yr5IqsZtouKL_IBVbZxPmcKiSnrCYMmLfhribJOmag0mdfSZMgXLQd0K/s707/Five+Acre+Square.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="471" data-original-width="707" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjecXuhPOMmrMp46vbrB-gIcLIAeKQVam2HAb6jS5OCHLh_boDJlddXZov1GFJ91BeZQbl-XzEuabiz8hHKcrg9Yr5IqsZtouKL_IBVbZxPmcKiSnrCYMmLfhribJOmag0mdfSZMgXLQd0K/w640-h426/Five+Acre+Square.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />The site is now partly occupied by a somewhat stern faced office building named Five Acre Square with the nominal street address of 133 Houndsditch.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1nEhAjYBEXOVUbHf5ZrL0CqS5Rk_lOoFSJWmBfkLGBF4mFE3ecwAZC9B9bOxcN_ks9rQNr_DJOPUmmcjS0I6xKa44-pQHqyTSlkSEilXCcnH7tKkggGFKRMbdn7JhGVP7JlLtQ7Vgvt9W/s1990/Houndsditch+map.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1253" data-original-width="1990" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1nEhAjYBEXOVUbHf5ZrL0CqS5Rk_lOoFSJWmBfkLGBF4mFE3ecwAZC9B9bOxcN_ks9rQNr_DJOPUmmcjS0I6xKa44-pQHqyTSlkSEilXCcnH7tKkggGFKRMbdn7JhGVP7JlLtQ7Vgvt9W/w640-h402/Houndsditch+map.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>Supimposing the footprint of the McCall & Co warehouse from Charles Goad's 1887 insurance map on a Google Maps image of the present day street layout shows how the new road, Stoney Lane, was driven through the site of the largest building in the range.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzS9FapTqJliYJW-z9apd3QC75ZNTKfSPYOzYqQO2hrqcFlTEs1FS5w8AyGVDxUyhMUqanRpLt4_Vkv_qSkkObUfEhtrs7malovRDRr-wP-2WfhrT98exRrTu4-xx3XOhIkiWjCYryksKW/s1600/IMG_20190122_134739566.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzS9FapTqJliYJW-z9apd3QC75ZNTKfSPYOzYqQO2hrqcFlTEs1FS5w8AyGVDxUyhMUqanRpLt4_Vkv_qSkkObUfEhtrs7malovRDRr-wP-2WfhrT98exRrTu4-xx3XOhIkiWjCYryksKW/w640-h480/IMG_20190122_134739566.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A different kitchen once occupied this spot</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR_j2Ht97ZT3rEN_KGYGYzpgGXsLrq5sWGUZlPW5pN-QnWG0-9czGNhGCjhJRrPZCJzY5IM0_zhrhhbIDwHKtxVhp7fEdFF02Pzjy5a7ERDh9mMUNr-AWct387MliX0fi3LMRoecX1xQwi/s1600/IMG_20190122_140516733.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR_j2Ht97ZT3rEN_KGYGYzpgGXsLrq5sWGUZlPW5pN-QnWG0-9czGNhGCjhJRrPZCJzY5IM0_zhrhhbIDwHKtxVhp7fEdFF02Pzjy5a7ERDh9mMUNr-AWct387MliX0fi3LMRoecX1xQwi/w640-h480/IMG_20190122_140516733.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A cosy hostelry for City workers<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>The corner of the new building which overlies the Goldner site contains a bar called CBK, for City Bar and Kitchen. It would have been wrong to visit the location without popping in for a coffee, or a cheeky beer in my case.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM5fNPvh0oKuWcQtlGEpIwqlLLiKF0Jl2j1Cg6epHYzIlXjmw-nyGKmXuDYRe-eQF-2ZnG5nJ1K1f5JA6A-g_grIY1nXWNCm4UjhB1NY5e-03LbOOHrWnHCsCZlyccIV1FrMTL9ypwryu1/s1345/ILN.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="852" data-original-width="1345" height="406" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM5fNPvh0oKuWcQtlGEpIwqlLLiKF0Jl2j1Cg6epHYzIlXjmw-nyGKmXuDYRe-eQF-2ZnG5nJ1K1f5JA6A-g_grIY1nXWNCm4UjhB1NY5e-03LbOOHrWnHCsCZlyccIV1FrMTL9ypwryu1/w640-h406/ILN.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Illustrated London News, Page 93, 31 January 1852<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The Illustrated London News paid their own visit in January 1852. Their article concluded:<br /></p><p></p><blockquote>Our sketch represents the establishment of Messrs. Ritchie and M'Call, of Houndsditch, whose preserved provisions are excellent, as we can testify from experience, having examined the contents of canisters taken at random from their stores.</blockquote><p></p><p>The Parliamentary Inquiry reported that Thomas Thorp, who had been employed by Goldner at Galatz for five or six years, had stated that Goldner still had an interest in Ritchie's business. </p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2tywAr4ZD7vfBhu9kjvD41uWEE7wsyRj2ALW4APOghkSNtUxaIOb7Cyp1Z-SnuEzfR9svJLRJinpjjG4A5DHqkLPgSM_4zMK8ge3QOGfYP5onts-_EF95OxjIbtIo7zJ4_jpXgccWTOax/s545/Hall.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="277" data-original-width="545" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2tywAr4ZD7vfBhu9kjvD41uWEE7wsyRj2ALW4APOghkSNtUxaIOb7Cyp1Z-SnuEzfR9svJLRJinpjjG4A5DHqkLPgSM_4zMK8ge3QOGfYP5onts-_EF95OxjIbtIo7zJ4_jpXgccWTOax/w640-h326/Hall.jpg" width="640" /></a><p>The interior scene depicted exhibits quite a close correspondence with the plan of the Southern building in the complex. It should be remembered that the map is from many years later so it is likely that there may be some differences. I take the figures "1=2" in the corner to mean a single story building with the height equivalent to two stories. In other words, a double height space. The shaded rectangles in the corner are steam boilers, presumably to heat the preserving vats. The forty foot tall chimney shown in the plan was the cause of a notice of a nuisance complaint being issued in 1853 due to emission of opaque smoke. The proprietors promised to take greater care in feeding the furnace and no further action was taken.</p><p>Although not mentioned in the article, at the time of the ILN's visit, the three storey warehouse on the Northern side of the complex was in ruins as it had been
gutted by a fire in November 1851. Several local newspapers carried the
following report:</p><blockquote>Fire at Aldgate Old Workhouse. — A
fire, attended with much destruction of valuable property, broke out
shortly after twelve o'clock on Saturday morning, in the immense range
of premises formerly Aldgate Workhouse, but at the present time in the
tenure of Messrs. Ritchie and M'Call, household provision manufacturers,
situate in Cock and Hoop-yard, Houndsditch. The flames originated from
some unknown cause in the staircase of the north wing, and very speedily
three of the floors became fired almost simultaneously, and for some
time nothing short of the complete destruction of the premises could
apprehended. Numerous engines of the London Brigade and West of England
Office, with the Royal Society's fire escapes, were remarkably early it
arriving, and no time was lost in setting the machinery to work, but, in
spite of the most strenuous exertion of the firemen, it was nearly
three o'clock before the fire could be extinguished. The damage done is
thus officially reported :— Three floors of warehouse and store rooms
burned out; greater part of roof burned off of one half of the north
wing. The floors adjoining, together with their contents, considerably
damaged by water, and the furniture in dwelling-houses by water and
removal. The building was insured in the Sun, and the contents in the
Phoenix offices.</blockquote><p>The report of the Parliamentary Inquiry contains a record of the earliest documented visit to the factory at 137 Houndsditch although the author's imperfect memory substitutes Shoreditch for Houndsditch.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkeJzSVumdSAeztCTngXVyW-8bSSvjNwH5fncVmpw2UwnE3TWJSJ-YdjufYcci6siSrhq4p4GMRc2Ekt7_MQmVkUvSxeN9vBPAIvaKrGbdGdFoI9rPm2MZ4Wlg7WB5UsV5tFgdsymwnROL/s555/Shoreditch2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="322" data-original-width="555" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkeJzSVumdSAeztCTngXVyW-8bSSvjNwH5fncVmpw2UwnE3TWJSJ-YdjufYcci6siSrhq4p4GMRc2Ekt7_MQmVkUvSxeN9vBPAIvaKrGbdGdFoI9rPm2MZ4Wlg7WB5UsV5tFgdsymwnROL/w640-h372/Shoreditch2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p> </p><p>The witness, Commander George Farquhar Morice, RN 1792 - 1868, was Master Attendant of the Victualling Establishment Deptford from 1833 to 1850. He mentions two senior officers, William Henry Shirreff (1785–1847) and Sir John Hill (1774–1855), in charge of the Navy's most important victualling establishments at the time of the Franklin expedition. The fact that William Henry Shirreff retired in 1846 indicates that the visit must have been earlier than the five or six years remembered by Commander Morice in 1852. It seems a reasonable inference that the reason this inspection happened was connected with the provision of supplies for Franklin's ships.<br /></p><p>The inevitability that Goldner's reputation would be destroyed had been predictable many months before January 1852 when the shocking revelations of the Navy's preserved meats scandal would erupt from the pages of The Times. Those months were not wasted: "Goldner's Patent" preserved provisions would be rebranded as Ritchie and McCall's. Ritchie would subsequently depart to set up a business in Australia leaving the business of McCall and Co. to thrive for nearly a century, being finally wound up on 14 April 1964. That is not the end of the story though as there was another business associated with Goldner which played a part in the production of the canned provisions for the Franklin expedition. Remarkably that business has survived to the present day with the most recent report of annual earnings being greater than 500 million US Dollars.</p><p>Comments are welcome here or on the <i>Remembering the Franklin Expedition</i> Facebook page.<br /></p><p> <br /></p>Peter Carneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11720739633773324546noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7460851571985771047.post-28344966824204909842020-11-24T10:47:00.002-08:002020-11-24T10:49:05.797-08:00The other "137 Houndsditch" - Stephan Goldner's Factory revealed.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV3zs6Av95AVDhPu3KmH9pbRCjJ1Q7_szNkQOBaIIhxNhLCSM0ajWGqZdbQU6XcFrHAfDIuwsNhmtWMgW3kHekZ_qFwAUEJHBcupdhaB0DxbCHEA_usmMBcqJTsi5bcgSC_6IxuHzy-yAv/s2048/Block.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1642" data-original-width="2048" height="514" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV3zs6Av95AVDhPu3KmH9pbRCjJ1Q7_szNkQOBaIIhxNhLCSM0ajWGqZdbQU6XcFrHAfDIuwsNhmtWMgW3kHekZ_qFwAUEJHBcupdhaB0DxbCHEA_usmMBcqJTsi5bcgSC_6IxuHzy-yAv/w640-h514/Block.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <p></p><p>My previous post concerning the Nag's Head pub was something of a tinned herring - an appetiser intended to gently tease the readership' historical palate and leave them hungry for more. I hope it did that! Now look closely at the map above. Starting from the street outside number 137 Houndsditch, the Nag's Head, you can go through the wood ceiling-ed passage into Cock and Hoop Yard. Continuing on to the end, the number 137 appears again. This "137 Houndsditch" really is Goldner's establishment although by 1889, the date of this map, it is M'Call's Preserved Provision Warehouse. A quadrangle of buildings roughly 110 feet square, with the central courtyard covered over by a glased roof, it has by far the largest footprint of any property in the block.</p><p>The map is extracted from <a href="http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/firemaps/england/london/itov/mapsu145ubu22u3uf071r.html">Insurance Plan of City of London Vol. III: sheet 71</a> courtesy of the British Library.<br /></p><p> </p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIxpMeA9vhoqBe7LRxI1NKIgHulbmQ2NtMX7NYF65i_G7uY5hAgMmyoBpGP2I9Tea7j0KbPc0OX7Kyh3mvbzLEc_mLc57Ak4tuLuI00lnDuI6DIF-VZaxusGRkpIZ7-Hj-n_8drvhRXrG7/s1677/Houndsditch+1870.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1044" data-original-width="1677" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIxpMeA9vhoqBe7LRxI1NKIgHulbmQ2NtMX7NYF65i_G7uY5hAgMmyoBpGP2I9Tea7j0KbPc0OX7Kyh3mvbzLEc_mLc57Ak4tuLuI00lnDuI6DIF-VZaxusGRkpIZ7-Hj-n_8drvhRXrG7/w640-h398/Houndsditch+1870.jpg" width="640" /> </a></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This slightly earlier map (above) depicts the area as Goldner knew it. It shows the mid nineteenth century layout prior to the extension of the Metropolitan Railway to Aldgate in the 1870s. The quadrangle lies between Houndsditch, which follows the line of the wall of Roman Londinium, and New Middlesex Street, formerly Petticoat Lane, which is the boundary of the City of London. An article in <i>The Builder</i> periodical from February 1872 entitled <a href="https://archive.org/details/gri_33125006202077/page/n150/mode/1up"><i>Homes in the East of London: Jew and Christians</i></a>, gives a flavour, or perhaps more accurately, a whiff of the vile stench, of the neighbourhood.<br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3iB6dzu8BsmOIg6XGwzF26oaohE55Nvtl48P-V9nloah0CiJjfqgQVubY9GEot2p3AMWJOdwQjMz1ZCogNCumxWYG940eYXUWtDSrCykm0pS8mgoaj1zPHlaOQKuYNCjIOtryfeUfogaz/s1569/London+3D.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="909" data-original-width="1569" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3iB6dzu8BsmOIg6XGwzF26oaohE55Nvtl48P-V9nloah0CiJjfqgQVubY9GEot2p3AMWJOdwQjMz1ZCogNCumxWYG940eYXUWtDSrCykm0pS8mgoaj1zPHlaOQKuYNCjIOtryfeUfogaz/w640-h370/London+3D.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>This aerial view brings home the relative proximity of Goldner's factory to the heart of the City of London. It is a sobering juxtaposition - the wealth of City institutions and individuals side by side with the grinding poverty and squalor of the poor neighbourhoods of the vicinity. A further twist is that prior to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poor_Law_Amendment_Act_1834">Poor Law Amendment Act 1834</a>, the buildings which became Goldner's factory had been home to the parish <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workhouse">workhouse</a> of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Botolph%27s_Aldgate">St Botolph's Aldgate</a>. The new law allowed individual parishes to pool their resources resulting in the much larger Union workhouses with a distinctly harsher regime than the version of Christian charity previously dispensed by the parishes. Houndsditch, for all its dead-dog associations, is one of the main thoroughfares of the City so for commercial purposes the address of 137 Houndsditch has a certain cachet. To locals the address was simply "Aldgate old workhouse".<br /></p><p>Next: A visit (or three) to Goldner's factory.</p><p>Comments welcome here or the Rembering the Franklin expedition Facebook page.<br /></p>Peter Carneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11720739633773324546noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7460851571985771047.post-74255628021456493122020-11-23T08:53:00.001-08:002020-11-23T08:58:27.399-08:00The Secret of 137 Houndsditch<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPIBVz7kus3romz74N5rfjVpk_rk0aAMYmvybMN8oRgfWkCBPovrhVYmNr6bC78LwOPjRjffhd0_i0z2XbDAZ27m8fS8jXX3eSsmFg0qCT1g5a5Q_QxZIWaQyj0A2yTBhJQfAptTKVIydc/s2048/Nags+Head+1889+b.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1187" data-original-width="2048" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPIBVz7kus3romz74N5rfjVpk_rk0aAMYmvybMN8oRgfWkCBPovrhVYmNr6bC78LwOPjRjffhd0_i0z2XbDAZ27m8fS8jXX3eSsmFg0qCT1g5a5Q_QxZIWaQyj0A2yTBhJQfAptTKVIydc/w640-h370/Nags+Head+1889+b.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <p></p><p>The painting above, dated 1889, shows the ancient Nag's Head pub shortly after some of the adjacent buildings to the South had been demolished to allow for the construction of a new road.<br /><br />The detailed map below is slightly earlier and shows the layout before the demolition mentioned. The Nags Head is labelled P.H. for Public House and the numbering on the roadway shows that its street address was number 137. It is surrounded by retail shops (S), dwelling houses (D), warehouses, and hat factories.<br /> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9bEPen6GUVqP4VXEaS20HKUm0ykb3H98uvV_1JuPBEFJ-gn-7Z3hlImRCNhDVMPizr4Hi3aHVYUYnPEAD5w92hPkvbLs_J1SgGgFcoaiEnivKwYaWdbjbsZRuOISuV4-Wuz5gMvwFBZbY/s1005/tease.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="867" data-original-width="1005" height="552" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9bEPen6GUVqP4VXEaS20HKUm0ykb3H98uvV_1JuPBEFJ-gn-7Z3hlImRCNhDVMPizr4Hi3aHVYUYnPEAD5w92hPkvbLs_J1SgGgFcoaiEnivKwYaWdbjbsZRuOISuV4-Wuz5gMvwFBZbY/w640-h552/tease.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>The address of the Nag's Head pub was 137 Houndsditch in the City of London, an address famous (or, let's face it,
notorious) as the location of Stephan Goldner's preserved meat
manufactory between about 1839 and 1851. The old pub in the painting looks
like it has stood on the site for centuries, so where was Goldner's
factory really? The answer to this (hopefully) amusing conundrum will be
revealed in my next post.<p></p>Peter Carneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11720739633773324546noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7460851571985771047.post-62873807665292231132020-11-16T13:27:00.001-08:002020-11-16T13:27:57.910-08:00The Official Aquittal of Stefan Goldner<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN0fDaTX4-uFuUfNG2xVcJo6A10lArgvbPXXNo2aDAy_9OsH5P6pnF6wEjYMBm1MKlRw4Lb6dcJZd7nfNqdpoc8ZypSKZSTbOmMkLVHodI6frOIsykLBVZTp2RPtIZdFa1rMxz1dASCf1p/s919/Report+from+the+Select+Committee+on+Preserved+Meats+%2528navy%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="910" data-original-width="919" height="634" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN0fDaTX4-uFuUfNG2xVcJo6A10lArgvbPXXNo2aDAy_9OsH5P6pnF6wEjYMBm1MKlRw4Lb6dcJZd7nfNqdpoc8ZypSKZSTbOmMkLVHodI6frOIsykLBVZTp2RPtIZdFa1rMxz1dASCf1p/w640-h634/Report+from+the+Select+Committee+on+Preserved+Meats+%2528navy%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">The Report from the Select Committee on Preserved Meats (Navy), Together with the Minutes of Evidence, Appendix and Index, is a weighty document of nearly 500 pages.<br /><br />As the title page suggests, it documents in great detail the Government's inquiry resulting from the Preserved Meats scandal which broke in the Times on January 3, 1852.<br /><br />The examination and condemnation of canned meat at the Royal Clarence Victualling Establishment in Gosport, Hampshire, which the Times reported on was just one episode in the closing stages of an official Admiralty investigation which had already been underway for the best part of a year.<br /><br />Deep in the Appendices, on page 393, is the document which explicitly exonerates Goldner of any criminality.<br /><br />On 27 August 1851 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Tassell_Grant">Thomas Tassell Grant</a>, The Comptroller of the Navy's Victualling Department, wrote to William Frogat Robson, the Admiralty Solicitor, to ask if any of Goldner's actions rendered him liable to prosecution.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><br />The conclusion was received the next day from Robson's deputy, H Swainson:<br /><br /></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span>There appears to have been repeated quarrels between Mr. Goldner and his servants at the factory, which may account for the bad state of some canisters by the introduction of offal and filth. It is not likely that Mr. Goldner, under the serious penalties of his contract, would make himself a party to so flagrant a breach, which must fall upon himself; and unless he could be fixed with a knowledge of using or conniving at the use of some dangerous ingredients in the mode of curing or preserving the meat, he cannot be held criminally responsible for the acts of others.</span></span></span></blockquote><p><span style="font-size: small;"><br />But what really happened?<br /><br />The report states that Goldner had been going on well between 1844 and 1849.<br /> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">There had been occasional reports of improper substances in the cans but rarely were they anything sinister. On several occasions the cans were rejected for containing tongue. Tongue is classed as offal but is actually a premium meat fetching a higher price than many other parts of the carcass.<br /><br />As well as these problems, the scale of the business had grown considerably since the original running contract of 1844 so the Admiralty decided to move to annual contracts for fixed quantities open to competitive tender as was done for other foodstuffs.<br /><br />The real problems began with the 1850 contract which required the meat to be packed in larger pieces and in larger cans than before - 6, 9, and 12 pound cans. The men disliked their meat being served in small pieces and the larger cans were a cost saving.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><br />An additional change was how the weight of the meat was reckoned. <br />The 1844 contract specified the cans to be packed with raw meat before processing, then on opening each pound of contents was required to provide 12 ounces of cooked meat and 4 ounces of gravy. This had led to many complaints about short measures so the 1850 contract stipulated that each pound must be 16 ounces of cooked meat and only so much gravy as necessary. This change necessitated the meat to be pre-cooked before canning and the cans packed tighter with less room for the liquid to circulate during the heat processing. The net result of these changes was to reduce the margins for error during processing and making under-processing more likely.<br /><br />The recipe for disaster was compounded by Goldner's combative personality and abrasive management style which from time to time led some of his disgruntled, underpaid, workforce to deliberately sabotage the product.<br /><br />The final element in the mix was the fact that Goldner was absent from Galatz for considerable periods, leaving his 18 year old nephew in sole charge of the critical preserving process.<br /><br />The most headline grabbing part of the disaster were the 'filthy substances' found in some of the cans. It is perfectly understandable that they will have provoked feelings of disgust and anger.<br /><br />Grant estimated that of the meat issued to ships, less than two one hundredth of one percent, or 2 lb in 10,000 lb, matched this description.<br /><br />The bigger problem was meat which appeared perfectly sound and sweet when accepted into the stores but which spoiled far sooner than had occurred in the past. The fault was far more frequent in the 9 and 12 pound cans introduced in the 1850 contract. The six pound cans were usually satisfactory.<br /><br />When, prompted by the Admiralty, other manufacturers attempted, at a higher price, to supply preserved meat to this specification they failed too.<br /><br />The parliamentary inquiry revealed no systemic fault in the system of contracts for supplying the Navy but noted the difficulties with the larger cans. They reported that in the new contracts by then already in force, only 6 lb cans were being used. The report also highlighted the testimony of several witnesses that it would be beneficial to bring the production of preserved meat in-house and this was subsequently done.<br /><br />Many have assumed that Sir John Franklin's 1845 expedition was supplied by Goldner on the basis of lowest cost tender but the report makes clear that this was not the case.<br /><br /></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">... the arctic ships, "Erebus" and "Terror," were supplied with preserved meats bought specially for the purpose, at a price varying from 7d. to 2s. per lb., and not, as in Mr. Goldner's contracts, at 4 3/4d., 5d., and 5 3/8 d. </span></span></span></blockquote><span style="font-size: small;"><br /><br />That special consideration was given to the preserved meat for the Franklin expedition is entirely consistent with what we know about the other foodstuffs. No effort or expense was spared in providing the best of everything. I do not know whether Franklin's provisions were canned at Galatz or the factory at 137 Houndsditch or a mixture of the two but the fact it was a special purchase makes me suspect it was Houndsditch and that it was probably inspected by the Navy's Victualling Department at the time.<br /><br />The Parliamentary report clearly shows that the 1852 scandal casts no shadow whatsoever on the integrity of the preserved provisions which Goldner supplied to the Franklin expedition.<br /><br />Nonetheless, it wouldn't be very long before Goldner would be reviled as a criminal, a traitor, and worse.<br /></span><br /><br /><p></p><p></p>Peter Carneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11720739633773324546noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7460851571985771047.post-5972901884744313702020-06-11T15:03:00.003-07:002020-06-12T02:27:06.858-07:00"This Hungarian Jew" - House of Commons, 12 February 1852 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEickJYuCdcX9bYNTq_qmlwvtHFiKIREEmlRoOKsq5Xg5UH5pdm1_t7BmmA4wtyQvxFUpX6mhr67NXXbj_1cs62QsvSzXSwBMFHQ7WqiQr2azfvcJ0Pc36ja1A6UIY2ZMNhANOSGiTErwzvP/s1600/house-of-commons-chambr+7.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="942" data-original-width="1600" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEickJYuCdcX9bYNTq_qmlwvtHFiKIREEmlRoOKsq5Xg5UH5pdm1_t7BmmA4wtyQvxFUpX6mhr67NXXbj_1cs62QsvSzXSwBMFHQ7WqiQr2azfvcJ0Pc36ja1A6UIY2ZMNhANOSGiTErwzvP/s640/house-of-commons-chambr+7.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
The clamour for answers could not be ignored, so in February 1852 experienced parliamentarian and member of the opposition <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Jolliffe,_1st_Baron_Hylton">Sir William Jolliffe</a> of the Conservative Party stood up to <a href="https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1852/feb/12/preserved-meats-navy">propose that a select committee be appointed</a> to inquire into issues regarding the problems with the preserved meats. The nub of the matter seems to have been whether the system of procuring these supplies by contract was up to the job. <br />
<br />
The matter was important for the efficiency of the Navy which was critical for national defence and maintenance of European peace.<br />
<br />
Jolliffe pointed out that he was not one of those so called "disappointed admirals" who criticised the Admiralty at every opportunity. He didn't have an axe to grind but the excitement in the press and the valid concern this had generated warranted a close scrutiny of The Navy's dealings with Goldner between the years 1847 and 1851<br />
<br />
Stated in simple terms, the situation looked decidedly extremely dodgy.<br />
<br />
Goldner's first contract had been cancelled because the meat had turned out bad. He was then awarded a bigger contract which again was cancelled. Finally a bigger one still which had failed so horribly with the recent explosion of publicity.<br />
<br />
It had been alleged that the Admiralty had done nothing until magistrates in Portsmouth had called on them to act because it was feared that the terrible smell was liable to trigger an outbreak of disease.<br />
<br />
The government needed to provide answers but a mere ministerial statement would not be enough.<br />
Only the detailed scrutiny of a Parliamentary inquiry would do.<br />
<br />
Jolliffe also mentioned he would like to know if Sir John Franklin's expedition had been supplied with Goldner's meats. If that was the case then he feared for their safety.<br />
<br />
Jolliffe showed he was familiar with the terms of Goldner's most recent contract by saying: <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"They heard sometimes in that house of prejudices affecting the Jews; but it was satisfactory to find that a Jew had power to be what a member of that House could not be - a Government contractor." (Times)</blockquote>
<br />
This was quite a delicious piece of irony. Goldner's contract included a clause, preventing any member of the House of Commons from personally benefitting from it in any way. Presumably this was a standard text intended to combat corruption.<br />
On the other hand Jews were prevented from sitting in the House of Commons because each member had to swear an oath including the wording "and I make this Declaration upon the true Faith of a Christian".<br />
<br />
Whig prime minister <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Russell,_1st_Earl_Russell">Lord John Russell</a> had made several attempts to pass a bill allowing the oath to be varied so that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_de_Rothschild">Lionel de Rothschild</a>, elected in 1847, could take his seat. The measure was approved by the Commons but repeatedly rejected by the House of Lords until <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_of_the_Jews_in_the_United_Kingdom">eventually achieved</a> in 1858.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Baring,_1st_Baron_Northbrook">Sir Francis Baring</a>, the First Lord of the Admiralty, replied to Jolliffe's motion from the Government benches.<br />
<br />
Baring agreed to the motion with the sincerest pleasure but suggested amendments to extend the date range for the inquiry to cover the period of the Franklin expedition and also extend it to include domestically sources salt meats which had also caused some concern. The motion as it had been initially proposed only included foreign preserved meats which Baring noted were intrinsically mistrusted by the opposition as the Conservative Party was protectionist while the Whigs championed free trade.<br />
<br />
Baring stated he thought it could be shown that the Admiralty had acted correctly at all times with regards to the issue.<br />
<br />
With respect to the Franklin expedition, Baring noted that "this meat had been supplied early in the time of Goldner's contract, at a period when no complaints whatever had been made of them, and there was every reason to conclude that those supplies had been good and efficient."<br />
<br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Charles_Chatterton">Colonel Chatterton</a>, displayed an open hostility towards Goldner, calling the disastrous failure of his 1851 contract as his "coup d'etat". In contrast he praised the manufacturer Gamble who had supplied Parry's expeditions with cans left at Fury Beach still being serviceable after 25 years. Gamble were based in Cork, Ireland, which happened to be Chatterton's constituency. "what could the House think of a Government with such facts before its eyes that would continue to patronize this Hungarian Jew ?". He stated that he greatly feared for the safety of Sir John Franklin's late expedition.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Lowry-Corry_(1803%E2%80%931873)">Henry Corry</a> (Conservative) had particularly relevant knowledge regarding the Franklin expedition as he had been First Secretary of the Admiralty at the time of its departure. He noted that in 1845 the rate of condemnations of preserved provisions was actually lower than it was for the best Irish salt beef and additionally that the preserved meat for the expedition had been obtained under a special contract and at a higher price than that normally supplied. He concluded with his opinion that there was no need to worry that Sir John Franklin's expedition might be imperiled by their provisions.<br />
<br />
After the serious points had been made <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Sibthorp">Colonel Sibthorpe's</a> contribution was a mixture of ribald comedy, xenophobia, and antisemitism. <br />
<br />
Sibthorpe seems to have been a real life prototype <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonel_Blimp">Colonel Blimp</a> figure. He vigorously opposed political emancipation of both Jews and Catholics, was against the Reform Act of 1832, the repeal of the Corn Laws, the 1851 Great Exhibition, and the construction of the National Gallery. In fact he seems to have been strongly against any change whatsoever. He didn't like Germans, notably Prince Albert. We may assume he didn't care for Hungarians either. To him, the booming railway network was merely a passing fad. He was a boon to humorists, the magazine Punch depicting him as Don Quixote, tilting at steam locomotives.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTnUMfWThyphenhyphenmiJbJUIktrl86bFPyQBjgLBP8C3HCCJB97KRd36uIhTWR1O84Jgh0ZmKHltlkGdSOesfTQQWUo6sPl3A96w9MvR0eWEtEJHFEChs91sckX2DuNSx5XX08oB3lTe3nTLb__k6/s1600/Sibthorp+Punch+2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="620" data-original-width="964" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTnUMfWThyphenhyphenmiJbJUIktrl86bFPyQBjgLBP8C3HCCJB97KRd36uIhTWR1O84Jgh0ZmKHltlkGdSOesfTQQWUo6sPl3A96w9MvR0eWEtEJHFEChs91sckX2DuNSx5XX08oB3lTe3nTLb__k6/s640/Sibthorp+Punch+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
Although, during the debate, some statements were made which can be considered to count towards Goldner's defence and others supporting the conduct of the Admiralty, the press remained unmoved in it's condemnation of the scandal.<br />
<br />
The parliamentary inquiry having been agreed, with even broader terms than initially proposed, surely it would expose the root cause of the scandal and identify the guilty party or parties?Peter Carneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11720739633773324546noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7460851571985771047.post-64025218397209922020-05-19T09:39:00.001-07:002020-05-19T09:39:38.908-07:00The Thunderer Thunders<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAkuMxCvPyhjG2Qu1gLirZKsTc52rJH6PFfYdQ59l9XGZy0HV6nB_fsRlC2UOIiNQoIoaUDgkbffA4JWSlQL7nCCRTQBuYH0USNA_TRIlK9P7n6S10NdWqv5tHIHYyTcLb6C6HAa6-4zQT/s1600/Times+Head.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="228" data-original-width="856" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAkuMxCvPyhjG2Qu1gLirZKsTc52rJH6PFfYdQ59l9XGZy0HV6nB_fsRlC2UOIiNQoIoaUDgkbffA4JWSlQL7nCCRTQBuYH0USNA_TRIlK9P7n6S10NdWqv5tHIHYyTcLb6C6HAa6-4zQT/s640/Times+Head.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The reports of the condemnation of preserved meats at Portsmouth concluded with the slightly melancholy implication that the Times' mole had been neutralised.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">PORTSMOUTH, JAN. 9.<br /> The examination into the preserved meats at the Royal <br />Clarence Yard was resumed this morning, we believe with <br />the same revolting results as already published by us, but <br />we can furnish no definite report upon the subject, the <br />Admiralty, ashamed of their responsibility in the matter, <br />having deprived us and the press generally of obtaining <br />authentic information. But the horse being now stolen, <br />their Lordships lock their Augean stable door too late.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Yes, the cat was well and truly out of the bag and the Times was already living up to its nickname the Thunderer having already begun the series of fulminating editorials reproduced below. <br /><br />The reply printed in the Observer (and reproduced in the Times the next day) clearly derives from an establishment source with privileged access to authoritative information so it may well be an official, although unattributable, statement.<br /><br />It is worth noting that the Times directs most of its scalding attack towards the Admiralty, not on the contractor, Stephan Goldner.<br /><br />The Times does make one tiny concession, noting the information that improper contents were found only in a very small proportion of cans may allow the possibility of a slightly reduced level of criminality than originally suggested.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Nothing is made of Goldners background at this stage, although that would change during the parliamentary debate on February 12th 1852.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The newspapers of the day didn't go in for shouty headlines like they do now so, in the interest of my own, and hopefully the readers, amusement, they are my own composition. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj75AEHPIgV1AYvBUPz0p-9ye-noc8x8pNN9KRSMUhjuUZoTOEaFFbO8W39_Pl7F0Cs9vW4HVXbQTjO1Q36TpRrq9zDepvFt-A9VWdYnJLMp1W0fxxLV22CtvU0QIF6xZqW4NWBja_Km20u/s1600/Jan+7+Times+Head.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="390" data-original-width="1600" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj75AEHPIgV1AYvBUPz0p-9ye-noc8x8pNN9KRSMUhjuUZoTOEaFFbO8W39_Pl7F0Cs9vW4HVXbQTjO1Q36TpRrq9zDepvFt-A9VWdYnJLMp1W0fxxLV22CtvU0QIF6xZqW4NWBja_Km20u/s640/Jan+7+Times+Head.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> It is the pleasure of the department of our Go-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">vernment which presides over our navy to do all </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">things for itself. While the less maritime Powers of </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Europe are well content to receive vessels of all </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">descriptions from the yards of our private ship- </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">builders, the Admiralty has so much confidence in </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">its skill, economy, and vigilance that it takes upon </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">itself the duty of building and rigging our fleets. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Undeterred by the uniform experience which has </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">proved, over and over again, how badly this duty </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">is discharged, unwarned by the fact that while </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">one-third of our naval estimates defrays the ex-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">penses of the effective service two-thirds are swal-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">lowed up in the bottomless sink of dockyard pro-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">fusion and corruption, we stick to this losing </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">trade, and lavish our millions in the con-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">tinuance of an experiment which practice and </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">theory alike condemn. So far do we carry our </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">desire to do everything for ourselves that we have </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">turned biscuit manufacturers as well as ship-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">builders, not being able to trust the composition </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">of that most simple edible to any bakers but our </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">own. With a singular inconsistency, however, we </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">have not taken upon ourselves the manufacture of </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">preserved meats for the use of the navy. "One </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"must draw a line somewhere," and the line in this </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">instance has been drawn between the baking of bis-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">cuits and the preparation of meat. It possibly </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">might have been thought that if Government is to </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">embark in any trade at all, the preparation of meat </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">would have been the most suitable to which its </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">energies could have been directed. Hermetical </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">sealing is required in order to effect the preservation, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">and the only test which can be applied is the open-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">ing of several cases taken at random. The pur-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">chaser of such an article is always liable to be </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">more or less imposed on - a strong reason for be- </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">coming the manufacturer oneself. As, however, the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Admiralty has thought fit to trust this de-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">partment to contractors, we had a right to ex-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">pect that the proceedings of such persons would </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">be watched with infinite jealousy by a Government </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">department so little disposed to let anything out of </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">its own hands. How far this reasonable anticipa-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">tion is well-founded what has recently been passing </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">at Portsmouth will best prove. For several days a </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Board of Examination delegated by the authorities </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">have been engaged in the disgusting task of exa-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">mining "preserved" meats intended for the use of </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">HER MAJESTY'S ships of war. These preserved </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">meats are contained in canisters holding about ten </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">pounds each. Out of upwards of three thousand </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">of these which have been examined up to the pre-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">sent time, scarcely one-fifteenth has been found fit </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">for human use, and even that, we apprehend, cannot </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">be considered as very excellent, since it has been </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">distributed among the poor of the town. "If any-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"thing," says JOHN GIRDER, "is totally uneatable, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"let it be given to the poor." The remaining four-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">teen parts were not merely uneatable, as consisting </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">of the refuse parts of animals, intestines, ligaments, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">and coagulated blood, but emitted a stench so in-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">tolerable that the Board, after availing themselves </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">copiously of Sir WILLIAM BURNETT'S disinfecting </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">fluid, were constantly obliged to desist from their </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">labour, from the well-grounded fear of pestilence, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">and did not deem themselves safe from infection </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">till the noisome cargo was fairly thrown overboard </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">at Spithead.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> This is an extremely serious business, and must</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">be fully cleared up and explained. We do not </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">quarrel with the purchasing of meat for the navy </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">from Galatz, in Moldavia, or anywhere else where </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">it can be had cheap and good, though this mis-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">carriage will doubtless be a source of immense </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">triumph to some of our Protectionist contempo-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">raries. But we want to know whose duty it was </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">to examine this meat, and what amount of ex-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">amination it actually underwent. This is not </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the case of a few defective canisters here and there; </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the staple of the purchase was altogether bad. We </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">bargained for wholesome meat, and we bought </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">putrid garbage. The slightest examination, the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">most superficial scrutiny, would have detected this </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">at once. It is fifteen to one that any case which </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">had been opened would have been found not merely </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">uneatable but absolutely pestilential. The meat has </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">been supplied for fourteen months, and it is therefore </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">quite evident that it has been received without any </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">examination at all. The contractors said it was </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">good, and the naval authorities who purchase it </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">took their word for the fact. Does this proceed </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">from gross negligence or corruption ?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> Possibly the amount of culpability is not much </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">varied either way. Whether an officer intrusted </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">with a duty so important to the comfort or even </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the existence of so many hundreds of helpless persons</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">has suffered his vigilance to be put to sleep by a </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">bribe, or has neglected his duty through callous </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">and self-indulgent inertness, is but of little moment, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">compared with the effects which may arise from </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">such a breach of duty. Upon these supplies </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">may depend hundreds of valuable lives, and </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the success of the most important operations. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">It would be gratifying at any rate, to be in-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">formed - and we trust the public will be informed </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">without loss of time - whether the six thousand </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">canisters now under examination are the whole </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">of our unfortunate Moldavian purchase, and if </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">not, what has become of the remainder. What </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">guarantee have we that the same infamous negli-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">gence may not have loaded the ships of our Arctic </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">voyagers with tons of hermetically sealed corrup-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">tion ? What security is there that these brave </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">men may not have found from the negligence of </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">our Government that destruction which they </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">dreaded only from the adverse powers of terrible </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">and secluded nature ? It is not probable that </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">this is the only instance of such neglect, nor the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">only case in which officials thus accustomed to </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">rely on the good faith of contractors have been </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">deceived. We shudder to think of the shipwrecked </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">crews who may have perished by a slow and </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">lingering death, of the wind-bound which may </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">be enduring all the agonies of famine, simply </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">because some official is too indolent or too corrupt </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">to investigate the state of the provisions on the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">soundness of which sailors unhesitatingly risked </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">their lives. Our humane legislation forces </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">every merchant ship to carry with her the re-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">medies against scurvy, and subjects the con-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">veyance of the poorest outcast of society to sani-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">tary regulation, while nobody can be found to take </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the trouble of securing the crews of our ships-of-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">war against provisions which carry with them the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">double evil of famine and pestilence.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> We have had occasion to remark lately on the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">absurdities of our military system, and to point </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">out how sedulously our soldiers are unfitted for the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">discharge of the duties required from them. As </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">far as we can provide by aimless muskets and scar-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">let coats, "they always miss and they are never </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"missed." But what an insight does such </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">an occurrence as this of the provisions afford </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">into the management of the sister service of </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the navy ! Can any one the least acquainted </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">with human nature believe that this scandalous </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">neglect is confined to the single case of pre-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">served meats? Is it not perfectly clear that the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">same carelessness of inspection, the same laxity and </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">listlesshess which have rendered such a thing possible, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">must be daily and hourly rendering possible other </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">omissions and commissions equally ruinous, if not </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">equally revolting? Can a department convicted of </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the enormous default of providing provisions for </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the navy the very sight of which is infection be </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">reasonably supposed to be administering with the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">most common care and diligence the millions </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">which pass through its hands for the purposes of </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">building and equipping our navy? What better </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">proof do we ask of the ruinous extravagance which </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">we are so constantly told prevails in our dock-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">yards than such a case as this? Such a thing </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">could never have happened in a well-managed </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">department, and we have a perfect right to </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">reason from the abuses which we know to those </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">we cannot trace. The height of negligence, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">like the height of vice, is not reached at once. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Such an occurrence is but the natural climax of a </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">long series of neglect permitted and encouraged. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">A sound system of management does not bring </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">forth such rotten results as those which have </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">been poisoning the air of Portsmouth. The </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">case of the soldier is hard enough; he is ex-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">pected to fight and conquer with tools unfitted </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">for the purpose, and of which he is never </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">thoroughly taught the use. But the case of the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">sailor is still harder. He is expected to contend </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">with the rage of the elements as well as the broad-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">sides of the enemy; but in order to conquer he </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">must live, and those to whom a grateful country </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">delegates the care of his subsistence are content to </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">leave that subsistence to blind chance or interested </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">cupidity.</span></blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi30gVVD-eOxwUwJ23Fjs-iWcZsxQLM5GBbQ26pqbDGKG9cVzEcXCuPPTwO_zVEc1nHuhl9B54Dct19_Ma-jK98gVeyId0IoOr1HalyJk2we8hfIcMY8RZ8MP-LMYTRzan0t8CRDTt5aVEf/s1600/Jan+10+Times+Head.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="269" data-original-width="1600" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi30gVVD-eOxwUwJ23Fjs-iWcZsxQLM5GBbQ26pqbDGKG9cVzEcXCuPPTwO_zVEc1nHuhl9B54Dct19_Ma-jK98gVeyId0IoOr1HalyJk2we8hfIcMY8RZ8MP-LMYTRzan0t8CRDTt5aVEf/s640/Jan+10+Times+Head.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> If disasters are destined for this country in its </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">military and naval operations, they will, at least, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">not arrive without warning. The visitations of </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the last year have been absolutely ominous. As if </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">to show us the futility of the resources on which </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">we are relying, our ships have broken down, our </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">stores have been condemned, our firearms have </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">proved useless, and our soldiers are found incapaci-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">tated by their equipments from encountering half </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">their number of naked savages. It would be hard </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">to overlook such tokens of evil, if, with all our </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">vaunted wealth and skill, we cannot send reinforce-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">ments to the Cape without miscarriages, or victual </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">our vessels without peril of pestilence, what is to </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">become of us in the face of such hostilities as men </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">now living can well remember, and may see again?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> The war at the Cape is, or at least was, reputed </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">to be almost beneath the dignity of so powerful a </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">State as Great Britain. It was a mere colonial em-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">broilment manufactured between Lord GREY, the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">settlers, and the Caffres. Even as things are now </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">going, we have but 10,000 men there, and, though </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">this is a prodigious force for its presumptive </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">duties, yet it is not a large army to feed with men and </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">munitions. The detachments sent to Sir </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">HARRY SMITH are not above 600 or 700 strong, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">and these are only forwarded at intervals of some</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">months. Certainly such duties ought not to </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">weigh oppressively on "establishments" like ours. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">We have been at a monstrous expense to create </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">a "steam navy" of the highest character and </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">power. Year after year, when the estimates pro-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">voked the expostulations of even reasonable re-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">formers, we were met by the assertion, that the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">element of steam was altogether new, and that the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">whole work had to be done from the beginning. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">We built new steam docks, new steam factories, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">and new steam yards. We built steamers of wood </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">and steamers of iron, and lavished enormous sums </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">on experimentalising with engines, funnels, swivel </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">guns, and fuel. At last we were told that the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">outlay was approaching its close, and that we had </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">fairly established a splendid steam marine. We have </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">now put this marine to a trial, and under circumstances </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">of the easiest kind. As we are at peace with all </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the world except native Africans, our transport </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">ships are not incumbered with any means of de-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">fence or compelled to assemble in convoys. We </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">want only a single steamer at a time, to carry about </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">two-thirds of the living load for which she is nomi-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">nally constructed, and for this purpose she might </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">disembark those heavy guns which were invariably </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">made the scapegoats of Admiralty mishaps. These </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">are no very arduous duties, but, such as they are, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">they cannot be properly performed. It will be </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">said, perhaps, that we are making rather too much </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">of an accident. If the Megaera did break </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">down on Saturday, she was fit for sea </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">again by Wednesday; and what is there </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">outrageous in a casualty like this? The remark </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">might have some force if the failure of the Megaera </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">was the only failure, or if it had manifestly pro-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">ceeded from nothing but the violence of the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">weather. But the Vulcan fared no better, and </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">with such difficulty, after all, did she make her </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">voyage that, as the reader will remember, rumours </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">were actually current of her total loss. Moreover </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the condition of the Megaera at starting has been </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">described by eye witnesses as such that what oc-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">curred might almost have been matter of predic-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">tion. As if, even in this time of peace </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">our navy were too small for the exigencies of </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the service, the steamer in question was made </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">a store ship as well as a troop ship; and </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">all the space which should have been devoted </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">to the accommodation and security of the soldiers </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">was bespoken for heavy stores despatched by the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Ordnance. The vessel, in consequence, was so </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">overladen and incumbered as to exhibit a scene of </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the most perfect confusion, notwithstanding the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">excellent discipline of the corps, and if she en-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">counter such weather as seems most probable, it </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">may be necessary to throw the cargo overboard for </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the sake of the crew. Such is our "steam navy." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">One steamer is charged with the work of two, and </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">breaks down under the trial.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> Our "establishments" are even worse - worse </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">in cost and worse in returns. Some person or persons, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">not having the fear of the "First Lord" before </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">their eyes, have been "indiscreet" enough to cer-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">tify that a very large consignment of provisions, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">stowed away in our victualling stores, was abso-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">lutely unfit for human consumption. Matters </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">have even proceeded so far that the fact is proved </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">beyond denial, and 6,000 canisters of "preserved" </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">meats, Laid up for the sustenance of our sailors in </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">time of need, are found to be nothing but so </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">many cases of the most horrible garbage. No </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">doubt the unlucky officer who made this discovery </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">will forfeit all "claim to confidence" and be held </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">incapable of future employment. But after </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the Admiralty has pronounced its own sentence </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the public at Large will pronounce theirs, and </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">they will demand an inquiry upon those officials </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">through whose neglect, incapacity, or corruption </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">such an abominable fraud was successfully per-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">petrated. Who advised or sanctioned the pur-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">chase of this "meat ?" Who received it, ex-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">amined it, and sent it into the stores ? Is there </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">any officer whose duty it is to see that biscuit is </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">biscuit and beef is beef? Who compared the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">consignment with the samples ? and on whose </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">report did the "contractor" receive good money </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">for his garbage ? The answer to these questions </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">must be given without evasion or delay.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> And now that the "indiscretion" of this ex-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">posure has been actually committed, we must take </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the liberty of suggesting that the warning is too </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">signal to be lost. Who is to certify that in our </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">enormous accumulation of stores there are no other </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">provisions or materials in the same state of "pre-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"servation" as these delectable "meats?" Who </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">will stand surety for our flour, our tea, our coffee, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">our sugar, our rice, our cocoa, our beef, our pork, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">or any of those goods which the "Commissioners </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"for executing the office of Lord High Admiral" </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">periodically lay in by contract? For the value of </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">these stores we do not see that we have any other </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">security than that which has just been tested </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">in the case of "GOLDNER'S preserves," and </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">we insist, therefore, that an examination of </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the most rigorous kind shall be instituted in </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the track of that which has now produced such </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">startling results. This is not a subject on which </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">we can afford to be tender with official dignitaries. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">It may involve the very salvation of the country, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">for when the time of need arrives - a time which </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">by making these very provisions we profess to an-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">ticipate - there may be little opportunity of </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">amending an error or replacing a loss. At the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">present moment a stock of 100,000lb. of meat is </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">not absolutely indispensable to the efficiency of our </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">fleet, but it might possibly have supplied the only </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">stores of this kind at hand for a squadron proceeding </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">to sea. Let us make the best of our warning, and </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">ascertain forthwith, by unsparing scrutiny, the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">actual state of our "establishments" in all par-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">ticulars. Nobody can doubt, it will be said, the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">merits of our superintendents. Very likely not; </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">but nobody doubted, till the other day, that Mr. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">GOLNER'S canisters contained sweet and wholesome </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">meats.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> Now that the suspicions of the country have </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">been fairly aroused, they must be met by a prompt </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">and rigorous investigation. Perhaps it will be no </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">easy matter to discover why our Government </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">steamers are often unseaworthy and always </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">slow; why they always break down, and </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">invariably are twice as long as they should </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">be on their voyages; but we may at any rate </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">assure ourselves that all the articles we have </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">bought and paid for are what they pretend to be. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Not a day must be lost in extending to every </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">department of Admiralty and Ordnance stores the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">inquiry which has proved so fruitful at the Ports-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">mouth Victualling-office during the past week. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Let us know our position without further uncer-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">tainty or disguise. If all is as it ought to be, well </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">and good; if not, let us right ourselves while </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">there is yet time, let us punish the guilty, and </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">exercise a greater vigilance for the future.</span></blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht9u8BMpNjZymwE0ebm56w6qss1WmyclAZu1McYGWey8PoUQZRGzAcdrZqt0TM656x15YQUbW-2EWbiG-AjpN07tYyHWZ9cmImq7nrcfhTK9dKVl1_pgGaipAJbYD_0M2BXBrhFgwp61PN/s1600/Jan+11+Observer+Head.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="324" data-original-width="1586" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht9u8BMpNjZymwE0ebm56w6qss1WmyclAZu1McYGWey8PoUQZRGzAcdrZqt0TM656x15YQUbW-2EWbiG-AjpN07tYyHWZ9cmImq7nrcfhTK9dKVl1_pgGaipAJbYD_0M2BXBrhFgwp61PN/s640/Jan+11+Observer+Head.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> THE CONDEMNED PRESERVED MEATS AT PORTSMOUTH.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> The following explanation of the circumstances under which pre-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">served meats were issued to sea-going ships, and likewise of the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">causes which led to the recent condemnation of those meats, which </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">had been contracted for by the Admiralty at Portsmouth, demands </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">attention, as much for the temperate and judicious manner in which </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the subject is treated, and for the great information displayed, as </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">for the authoritative quarter from which it emanates. It will be per-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">ceived that in no case are ships at sea or on foreign stations confined to </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">those preserved meats for more than one day per week; and it does not </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">appear, since 1850, when they came into extended use, that there have </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">been any serious complaints made of them. At all events, the wrong</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">that has been done is the work of the contractor, upon whom, doubtless,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the full penalty of breach of contract will be levied; and it does not seem </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">that the Admiralty are in the slightest degree to blame in the matter.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> It is well known to every one conversant with the practice of yacht </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">owners, that noblemen and gentlemen, who have all the means of </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">luxury at their command, and who are their own masters, never go to </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">sea without a supply of those provisions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> The subjoined statement will go far to place the question in a just and</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">proper light before the public, and to simplify and facilitate those fur-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">ther proceedings, which the Government is fully prepared to take.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> Much misunderstanding appears to have arisen respecting the con-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">demnation of preserved meat at the Clarence Yard.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> The preserved meat is supplied in tin canisters of a certain dimension </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">and strength, hermetically sealed. The supply is obtained by contract, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">and subject to examination - any canister once opened, becomes unser-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">viceable within twenty-four hours - it is, therefore, impossible to examine </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">every canister, but a certain proportion, about five per cent, is usually </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">opened. In this examination it can be ascertained, in the canisters </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">actually opened, whether improper parts of the animal have been </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">used; but where the proportion of improper meat in the whole supply </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">is very small, it must happen that on some occasions breaches of the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">contract in this respect will escape notice, from the impossibility of </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">examining every canister; but this is not the usual cause of the meat </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">becoming unserviceable.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> If the air has penetrated into the canister, or was not originally </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">entirely exhausted, or if there was a defect in the original curing, meat </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">which on examination appears perfectly good and is properly passed, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">would corrupt and become unserviceable.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> Preserved meat was first issued to the navy as an article of comfort </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">for the sick in the year 1815.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> It was also supplied in a limited quantity to Captain Parry on his </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Arctic voyage in 1819, and again to Captain Trotter's ships in the Niger </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">expedition in 1840.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> The reports in these instances were favourable; still as the article, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">from its comparative scarcity and cost, could only be considered as one </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">of luxury, its general use in the, navy was not then contemplated.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> In 1840 a patent for preserved meat was taken out by Mr. Goldner, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">and from this time considerable improvement was made in the art of </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">manufacture, and in the cost at, which it could be supplied, and in con-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">sequence of this the Board of Admiralty were induced in 1846 to </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">authorize the issue of preserved meat experimentally on a more ex-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">tensive. scale.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> The trial thus made appearing to be successful, the Board of Admiralty, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">by a circular of the 29th of April, 1847, directed that preserved meat </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">should be introduced as an article of victualling into the navy, and issued </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">to ships on, foreign stations one day in each week, with preserved </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">potatoes, in lieu of a salt beef ration.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">About the end of 1848, or in the beginning of 1849, it was reported </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">to the Admiralty that, in addition to such occasional condemnations of </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">preserved meat as are common to salted provisions, parts of the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">animal not fit for use had, in a few instances, been found mixed with </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the meat, and immediate steps were ait once taken to remedy the evil.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> In the following year (1850) a new contract was entered into with Mr. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Goldner, and in 1851, increased quantities of preserved meat being </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">required for the navy, a further contract was made with that gentleman </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">for a large additional supply. It was in the course of examining the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">first deliveries under this contract that an improper substance was dis-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">covered in one of the canisters, and upon this the whole quantity under </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">delivery, amounting to 22,325lb., was at once rejected; and complaints </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">at the same time reached the Admiralty of the nature and quality of the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">preserved meat then being served out in ships abroad, orders were </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">immediately sent to the commanders-in-chief on foreign stations to </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">stop the issue of such provisions, and to return the supply into store.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> The contract with Mr. Goldner was then immediately cancelled; and, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">in order that the exact amount of penalty to which he as contractor is </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">liable may be ascertained, every canister in store, as well as those </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">returned from ships abroad, is now being subjected to examination.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> In justice to the contractor, however blameable his conduct, we are </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">bound to state that a very small proportion of the canisters examined is </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">objectionable on the ground that improper parts of the animal have </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">been employed. The principal proportion of those condemned may </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">have become unserviceable from the other causes before stated.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> It appears, therefore, that the use of preserved meat generally was </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">adopted after much experience - that on the first complaints immediate </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">measures were taken to supply a remedy; and that this last extensive </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">examination and condemnation has been occasioned by the determina-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">tion of the Admiralty not to permit improper meat to be supplied for </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the use of the navy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> It is much to be regretted that this failure of the proper supply should </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">have taken place; and in issuing the preserved meat the Admiralty </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">were not swayed by any motive of economy, but were desirous of </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">substituting a change for the salt meat ration - a change which those </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">only who have served long at sea can sufficiently value.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> The supply was obtained by contract - a mode which is generally pre-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">ferred - but such instances as the one now under consideration show </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">some of the inconveniences to which the system of contract is liable.</span></blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHKW7B0i8RUq2FrHg6gftTb2mDtUKW1JVUpVD308V9B4PrWF8iWPzXnOs6T0nxfPEDOl1jJ6HR2X2RJmpV96PH3hbm-8TndIA_TnnKePOKd80fs4cH-Ix5K4IOAf_kxqsIZJTiNDMz-KZ2/s1600/Jan+13+Times+Head.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="391" data-original-width="1600" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHKW7B0i8RUq2FrHg6gftTb2mDtUKW1JVUpVD308V9B4PrWF8iWPzXnOs6T0nxfPEDOl1jJ6HR2X2RJmpV96PH3hbm-8TndIA_TnnKePOKd80fs4cH-Ix5K4IOAf_kxqsIZJTiNDMz-KZ2/s640/Jan+13+Times+Head.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> We published yesterday from a weekly contem-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">porary a statement, purporting to "emanate </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"from an authoritative quarter," respecting the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">edifying disclosures at the Gosport Victualling-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">yard. This official apology we have perused </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">with great attention, and we have now to state </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">our opinion that in the parts where it is not </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">superfluous it is wholly insufficient. No excuse</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">was needed for the introduction, under pro-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">per circumstances, of "preserved" meat into </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the provision-list of the navy. As sailors require </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">animal food, and cattle cannot be pastured at sea, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">it becomes necessary to preserve dead meats by </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">artificial methods. Salting is only one of those </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">methods, and has been hitherto adopted exclu-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">sively for no other reason than that it seemed </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the most reliable. But salt provisions, even </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">with the corrective of lime-juice, are, as is </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">well known, unwholesome for a long con-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">tinuance, and if therefore any means were dis-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">covered of keeping provisions without salt it was </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">not only optional with the Admiralty, but became </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">their bounden duty, to give the navy the benefit of </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the invention. The simple question is whe-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">ther the invention itself was generally practicable, and whe-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">ther, in such case, due precautions were used in </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">laying in supplies.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> In the explanation now, as our neighbours would </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">term it, "communicated," we are informed that </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"preserved meat was introduced as an article of </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"naval victualling" in the month of April, 1847, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">it being directed that vessels on foreign stations </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">should be served with a weekly ration of such food </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">in lieu of salt beef. We are next told that towards </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the beginning of 1849 reports were made, not </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">only of the occasional condemnation of these </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">meats, but of the discovery of improper substances </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">in the tins. Immediate steps, it is said, "were </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"taken to remedy this evil," but the nature of </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the measures remains to be learnt. It is not </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">stated, otherwise than by implication, of whom </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">these meats were purchased, but, as we learn that </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">in 1850 a "new," and in 1851 a " further" </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">contract, was entered into with Mr. GOLDNER, we </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">presume "this gentleman" was also the contractor </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">for the original supplies. "It was in the course," </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">proceeds the apology, "of examining the first </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"deliveries under <i>this</i> contract (of 1851) that </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"an improper substance was first discovered </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"in one of the canisters," on which the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">whole quantity then under delivery was at </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">once rejected, and, "<i>complaints at the same time</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i>"reaching home from ships abroad</i>," orders were </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">given to stop the issue of these provisions, to can-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">cel the contract with Mr.GOLDNER, and to examine </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">every canister in store, that the amount of his </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">liabilities in the way of penalty might be ascer-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">tained. Such is the Admiralty defence.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> Now, we must first remark, that as far as can </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">be inferred from this not very perspicuous state-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">ment, every supply obtained from Mr. GOLDNER, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">without exception, appears to have been suspi-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">ciously constituted. The "reports" which reached </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"the Admiralty" about the end of 1848, or begin-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">ning of 1849, must necessarily have referred to </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the meats which were issued under the circular of </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">1847, and these reports distinctly specified the ad-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">mixture of "improper substances" - a fact pointing </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">not to accident or oversight, but to direct and unmis-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">takeable fraud. Nevertheless, a "new contract" was </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">made in 1850, and a "further contract" in 1851; </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">and while the meats furnished under the latter were </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">being condemned by the authorities themselves, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">complaints arrived <i>at the same moment</i> from abroad </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">which could only have reference to earlier supplies, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">and, as we imagine, those of 1850. Thus all the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">dealings on the part of the contractor appear to </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">have furnished matter for complaint.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> But we have now to ascertain some points which </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">are not elucidated in the statement before us. Pray, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">under what contract or contracts were those </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">6,000 particular canisters supplied which have </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">been found so atrociously bad ? <i>The first delivery </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i>of </i>1851, we learn, was wholly rejected, and the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"contract," meaning, we suppose, that of 1851, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">immediately cancelled. None of these meats, there-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">fore, found their way into the warehouses. What, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">then, were those meats now discovered? They </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">must have passed the ordeal of Government in-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">spection, for they were actually in store - that </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">is to say, they had been approved and laid </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">up for use. Now, we desire to know </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">under what contract these were taken, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">when and by whom they were tested, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">and what report was made upon the sub-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">ject ? Further, the defence of the Admiralty seems </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">to insinuate that the examination at last instituted </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">into the quality of the "stores" was the result of </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">suspicions conceived from the character of the first </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">delivery of 1851. Was this the case? or were </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the authorities roused to action by a somewhat </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">more forcible appeal ? We seem to recollect a re-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">port that the stench issuing from the place in </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">which these meats were stored became so frightful </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">as to alarm the whole neighbourhood, and that it </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">was upon this summons, and not on any prede-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">termined resolution, that the investigation took </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">place.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> The apologist of the Admiralty sums up his case </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">with remarkable complacency. "It appears," </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">says he, "that the use of preserved meats gene-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"rally was adopted after much experience; that on</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"the first complaints immediate measures were </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"taken to supply a remedy; and that this last </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"extensive examination and condemnation has </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"been occasioned by the determination of the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"Admiralty not to permit improper meat to be </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"supplied for the use of the navy." We humbly </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">submit to the opinion of the public that no such </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">conclusions are warranted by the explanation sup-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">plied. To us, on the contrary, "it appears" </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">that the contracts from first to last gave evidence </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">of improper dealing. By the showing of the Ad-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">miralty itself complaints occurred on the very first </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">issue of these provisions, and continued without </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">intermission to the present moment. The "mea-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"sures taken to supply a remedy" are left to be </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">conjectured; but, whatever they were, they were </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">manifestly of not the slightest effect, for the com-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">plaints got worse and worse, and when a thorough </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">inquiry was at length set on foot the state of </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">things proved more horrible than it was possible to </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">conceive. With what face can the Admiralty offi-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">cials affirm that they "took immediate measures to</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"remedy the evil" in 1849, when the evil is </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">proved to be more inveterate than ever in </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">1851 ? Before 1849 the supplies were "oc-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"casionally" bad; in that year the authorities </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"remedied the evil," and since that time they </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">have been so abominably foul that not 60 cases </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">out of 6,000 are fit for human consumption. Is </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">not this a strange sort of defence ?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> All this disclosure, however, it seems, "has </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"been occasioned by the determination of the Ad-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"miralty not to permit improper meat to be sup-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"plied for the use of the navy." The navy is infi-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">nitely obliged to them for their consideration, but </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">who permitted improper meat to be put into the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">stores, there to be discovered or not, as ac-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">cident might determine ? Who lodged in </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the victualling-houses 6,000 canisters of meat </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">supplied by a contractor whose goods had </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">been previously so complained of ? Was this </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">stock, in the main, that furnished under the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"new contract" of 1850 ? and if, as we suspect, it </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">was so, how came such stuff to be passed after the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">acknowledged warnings of 1849, and how came a</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"further contract" to be made in 1851? No </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">wonder the "first deliveries" of this contract were </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">bad, considering what had previously passed </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">muster. The contractor introduces "improper </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"substances" in 1847, in 1850 he supplies the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">garbage which is now polluting the sea at </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Spithead; and what wonder, then, when such </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">wares had found a good market, if he furnished a </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">still cheaper article in 1851 ? There never seems </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">to have been a period at which "complaints" </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">were not made of these preserved meats, and yet </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the Admiralty continue their dealings with the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">same contractor, and enlarge their orders every </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">successive year.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> The authorities, however, put in a word or two </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">for their old caterer, and "feel bound to state </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"that a very small proportion of the canisters ex-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"amined" (we should like to hear what proportion) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"is objectionable on the ground that improper </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"parts of the animal have been employed. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"The principal portion of those condemned may </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"have become unserviceable from other causes." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">These causes are premised to be defects in the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">curing or the canister, by which meat, originally </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">good, might become corrupt. But these defects </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">though evincing, perhaps, less positive criminality </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">than the introduction of the filthy offal described </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">in our reports, are nevertheless iniquitous viola-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">tions of a contract under which meats were to be </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">furnished consumable for a given number of years. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">We do not choose, however, to enter upon the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">discrimination suggested. Every person who pe-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">ruses the accounts of the investigation now pending </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">must feel perfectly convinced that the contract was </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">so executed as to leave not the slightest room for </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">exculpation on the ground of accident. No casualty </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">or oversight could have brought about such results </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">as are now disclosed, and we again demand that a </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">scrutiny which has proved so unexpectedly fruitful </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">shall not stop at this point, but be extended, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">while there is yet time for amendment, to every </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">branch of our "establishments."</span></blockquote>
Peter Carneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11720739633773324546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7460851571985771047.post-89117378114546663242020-04-30T10:11:00.000-07:002020-04-30T10:11:06.906-07:00J'Accuse! - The case of Stephan Goldner - Britain's Dreyfus<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpH3pgRUwOezG03WoiyZnGwVKnC7vcr6la0iCyoAaSVM8kAm5ietr_gm5c_CD11gR10rvKGU9Eq884lwvYPYdV5gPaSc66FEeRwR6TYqfEZghgjAg-9bjgNTevkWqn2qaa7ex3MV5MR51M/s1600/Goldner+low+bidder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="887" data-original-width="1600" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpH3pgRUwOezG03WoiyZnGwVKnC7vcr6la0iCyoAaSVM8kAm5ietr_gm5c_CD11gR10rvKGU9Eq884lwvYPYdV5gPaSc66FEeRwR6TYqfEZghgjAg-9bjgNTevkWqn2qaa7ex3MV5MR51M/s640/Goldner+low+bidder.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifZ4MWzcgncWGcx-CjdN3_3s_4dAjzRINIyIVTdAJBXBpKhLcaY9spCy2VZk1kiQ0-gwlPOKVrJbG9tuu9elm6v5PDy9URarXccBw-PC0BxgXtZVRZbK63ViusseNqGCqNkbzSUDvuRD3y/s1600/Run+the+man+through.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="902" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifZ4MWzcgncWGcx-CjdN3_3s_4dAjzRINIyIVTdAJBXBpKhLcaY9spCy2VZk1kiQ0-gwlPOKVrJbG9tuu9elm6v5PDy9URarXccBw-PC0BxgXtZVRZbK63ViusseNqGCqNkbzSUDvuRD3y/s640/Run+the+man+through.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Images from the wonderful <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07KX62PQS?">AMC's The Terror</a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
I shamelessly appropriate the language of Émile Zola's celebrated exposé of the notorious <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreyfus_affair">Dreyfus Affair</a> to emphasize the injustice meted out by history to Stephan Goldner.<br />
<br />
Alfred Dreyfus was a French army captain of Jewish descent who was wrongfully accused and convicted of treason in late 1894. He suffered five years harsh imprisonment but was eventually exonerated and promoted in July 1906.<br />
<br />
Stephan Goldner was an Hungarian born industrialist of Jewish descent who was accused of fraud, almost immediately exonerated, yet strangely he was still condemned and demonised by the court of public opinion for 150 years.<br />
<br />
Goldner built a successful business supplying canned food for the Royal Navy and the civilian market but when defective products caused the collapse of the venture and a public scandal in January 1852, the question was raised as to whether a similar failure may have caused the disappearance of Sir John Franklin's expedition which had departed for the Arctic seven years earlier.<br />
<br />
The Times article had phrased the question quite neutrally, "Suppose, for instance, Franklin and his party to have been supplied with such food as that condemned...", it did not pretend to have the answer. Nonetheless, within a few years, the supposed poisoning of the Franklin expedition was being treated as established fact, and it grew from there.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> ... but worst of all they were supplied with Goldner's canisters of meat, which were (as subsequently proved to be) putrid and unfit for human food<br /><br /> John Ross, 1856, <i>Rear Admiral Sir John Franklin: a narrative of the circumstances &c.</i><br /><br /> ... it was now proved beyond doubt that their lives were sacrificed by the accursed cupidity of the contractors who supplied them with putrid provisions.<br /><br /> Alexander Bryson, 1859, <i>Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh</i><br /><br /> It seems probable that the men of the expedition might have survived for a longer period but for the fact that the animal food which they were supposed to carry with them in the shape of preserved meats had actually rotted in its cases. ... To supply putrid poison for naval men engaged upon a public duty is to play the part of the enemy and the traitor.<br /><br /> <i> The Spectator</i>, November 19, 1859<br /><br /> To me one of the most awful things in connection with the Franklin catastrophe was the discovery afterwards of tins professing to be filled with preserved meat, but which were only packed with stones. These had been supplied by a contractor Named Goldner in England. When the poor unfortunate explorers came to open them, what must have been their horror on discovering the fiendish act - I call it nothing else - that had been perpetrated? These tins were eventually found by one of the searching parties; but of course on their return to England the man - who deserved hanging several times over - had disappeared.<br /><br /> Albert Hastings Markham, 1895, <i>The Windsor Magazine</i><br /><br /> Like most evil men, Stephen Goldner would have passed unnoticed in a crowd.<br /><br /> Cookman, 2000, Ice Blink</span></blockquote>
<br />
John Barrow, The Admiralty's archivist and son of the long serving Admiralty Second Secretary who had set the expedition in motion, was the first to try to set the record straight, his letter appearing in the Times just two days after the scandal broke.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCFbCw9aZh2urcZOWx_8iQVUKLG3kKRkgyJo3BScZhIve9ngN3pDSo0Rf2XVBDH_HSXv_CFhIWVWUQjiiumtYj7tnTH2Uxt4ZassV_PKGbjMnLwoPez1OOGoc3jGiBcQIamigrVSBCssbc/s1600/Barrow+Times%252C+18520105+The+Preserved+Meat+Of+The+Navy%252C+5+Jan+1852%252C+JOHN+BARROW+-+merely+because+his+tender+was+lower.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="679" data-original-width="290" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCFbCw9aZh2urcZOWx_8iQVUKLG3kKRkgyJo3BScZhIve9ngN3pDSo0Rf2XVBDH_HSXv_CFhIWVWUQjiiumtYj7tnTH2Uxt4ZassV_PKGbjMnLwoPez1OOGoc3jGiBcQIamigrVSBCssbc/s640/Barrow+Times%252C+18520105+The+Preserved+Meat+Of+The+Navy%252C+5+Jan+1852%252C+JOHN+BARROW+-+merely+because+his+tender+was+lower.JPG" width="272" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> THE PRESERVED MEAT OF THE NAVY<br /><br /> TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES<br /><br /> Sir,— Having read in The Times of to-day the account of<br /> the examination of the preserved meats at the Royal<br /> Clarence-yard, supplied under Goldner’s contract, and of<br /> the contents of the tin canisters, you will oblige me by in-<br /> serting these few lines, which I trust may in some measure<br /> counteract the alarm which the concluding paragraph from<br /> your Portsmouth correspondent cannot fail to have created<br /> in the minds of the family and friends of the officers and<br /> seamen of Sir John Franklin’s expedition. Your corre-<br /> spondent very reasonably supposes, and very naturally too,<br /> "that if Franklin and his party have been supplied with<br /> such food as that condemned, and relied upon it as their<br /> mainstay in time of need, the very means of saving their<br /> lives may have bred a pestilence or famine among them,<br /> and have been their destruction."<br /> No one can dispute this. If it be so, it is a fearful thing<br /> to contemplate; but I do not myself feel much misgiving<br /> on the subject. I think I am right in asserting that the<br /> first supply of preserved meats under Goldner’s contract<br /> was to Sir John Franklin’s ships. This, of course, can<br /> easily be ascertained. It is not probable that in his first<br /> supply anything but the very best provisions would have<br /> been issued. From that period (1845) Goldner’s preserved<br /> meats have been in constant use in the navy, and it is only,<br /> I believe, latterly that they have been found to consist of such<br /> disgusting material. Disgusting, however, as the material is,<br /> the state of putrefaction is certainly infinitely worse; but in<br /> a cold climate this is fortunately not likely to have occurred.<br /> Had any of the preserved meats, supplied to Sir John<br /> Franklin’s ships been of a bad description I think it would<br /> have been known, inasmuch as Capt. Fitzjames remarked<br /> to me, that "it was not wise to take a new contract for<br /> preserved meats from a man who was unknown, merely<br /> because his tender was lower, while another was willing<br /> to supply the provisions whose meat had been universally<br /> approved in the navy."<br /> Captain Fitzjames was alive to the importance of the sub-<br /> ject, and would doubtless have discovered and made known<br /> the fact, had it been so, on the return of the transport<br /> which accompanied them to Disco; but so far from it, I<br /> possess a letter from that brave officer — the beloved of all —<br /> in which he speaks to the very contrary of the provisions<br /> they were consuming.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Barrow makes several excellent points.<br /><br />He wasn't completely correct in that Goldner’s first government contract wasn't for Franklin’s ships in 1845. There had been a small contract (less than £250) for Henry Dundas Trotter's Niger expedition of 1841. However, the supply for Franklin's ships was a much larger and far more important contract which carried with it the prospect of future sales on a vastly different scale. Barrow's point that Goldner would have been motivated to provide only the very best provisions is perfectly valid as to do otherwise would have been business suicide.<br /><br />The product had been in use on a large scale for a long time without complaint. The recent report of disgusting material could not be reasonably used to imply a problem with goods provided six or seven years previously.<br /><br />Commander Fitzjames was an experienced officer very alert to the possibility that a contractor might supply inferior goods. It was after all an everyday occurrence. In fact he was not correct that the preserved provisions had been supplied on the basis of lowest bidder in this case. If there had been a problem with any of the provisions then reports to that effect would certainly have been sent back with the Barretto Junior. On the contrary, Fitzjames' report of the provisions was positive. We also know from a letter of James Thompson, Engineer of HMS Terror, that preserved meat was served out three times per week.<br /><br />Barrow's final point refers to the empty tin canisters carefully piled up Cape Riley. Actually they were on Beechey Island - the other side of Erebus and Terror Bay. Standard practice was to throw condemmed stores over the side of the ship so the the fact that these cans were all perfectly empty is suggestive that their contents was serviceable and had been consumed. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Good as these arguments are, Barrow is not speaking in any official capacity. To fully acquit Golder would require the authority of the State. The subject would soon be raised in the House of Commons.</span></span>Peter Carneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11720739633773324546noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7460851571985771047.post-36954738674227283132020-04-24T05:23:00.000-07:002020-04-24T05:29:00.238-07:00The Newspaper Column Which damned Goldner<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp4rZc9dsOchdwflLFwqL2TyHWGeUEFKTyrCrFGnFLVMbxKpiIU27COah9yrVUSQuUSRqdMQ1R-SzxLBbP0AD6Fondvfd1l4B7-IqOFz2UR5W6QxFcT121UwgbFw0eTl_nwADFIAyKT6Px/s1600/Times+Jan+1852+3+columns.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1236" data-original-width="1480" height="534" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp4rZc9dsOchdwflLFwqL2TyHWGeUEFKTyrCrFGnFLVMbxKpiIU27COah9yrVUSQuUSRqdMQ1R-SzxLBbP0AD6Fondvfd1l4B7-IqOFz2UR5W6QxFcT121UwgbFw0eTl_nwADFIAyKT6Px/s640/Times+Jan+1852+3+columns.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
The Times newspaper of the mid-Victorian era carried, on page 7, a column titled "Naval Intelligence". As might be expected, the column reported all manner of snippets of news on subjects connected with Her Majesty's Navy.<br />
<br />
From Saturday, January 3, 1852, the column began a series of items detailing, in lurid detail, the condemnation of stores which had begun the previous Tuesday (December 30) at the Royal Clarence victualling establishment at Gosport near Portsmouth.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Times, January 3, 1852</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> NAVAL INTELLIGENCE<br /> PORTSMOUTH FRIDAY,</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">THE PRESERVED MEAT OF THE NAVY.<br /><br /> A board of examination, consisting of Mr. John Davies, <br />R.N., master-attendant of the Royal Clarence Victualling <br />Establishment, Gosport; Mr. Joseph Pinhorn, R.N., <br />storekeeper; and Dr. Alexander M'Kechnie, surgeon and <br />medical storekeeper of the Royal Naval Hospital, Haslar, <br />has been employed since Tuesday last in examining the <br />cases of preserved meats supplied by contract to the <br />Navy, the Admiralty having cause to suspect their <br />purity. The examination has disclosed some horrible <br />facts. The canisters containing the meat are, upon the average, <br />about 10lb canisters. On Tuesday, 643 of them were opened, <br />out of which number no fewer than 573 were condemned, <br />their contents being masses of putrefaction. On Wednesday, <br />779 canisters were opened, out of which number, 734 were <br />condemned. On Thursday, 791 canisters were opened, <br />out of which number, 744 were condemned. On Friday <br />(this day), 494 canisters were opened, out of which, <br />459 were condemned. Thus, out of 2707 canisters of meat <br />opened, only 197 have proved fit for human food, those <br />condemned for the most part containing such substances as <br />pieces of heart, roots of tongue, pieces of palates, pieces of <br />tongues, coagulated blood, pieces of liver, ligaments of <br />the throat, pieces of intestines— in short, garbage and <br />putridity in a horrible state, the stench arising from which <br />is most sickening, and the sight revolting. The examining <br />board and party were compelled to use profusely Sir W. <br />Burnett's disinfecting fluid, to keep off, or in the hope of <br />keeping off, pestilence. To-day, however, they deemed it <br />prudent to desist from further exposure for a time, to guard <br />against danger, and will consequently not proceed with <br />the examination until next week, the greater part of which will <br />be taken up with the filthy investigation, as there were up-<br />wards of 6000 canisters to examine at the commencement. <br />This stuff was supplied to the Admiralty, and delivered into <br />store at the Clarence yard last November twelvemonth, <br />warranted equal to sample, and to keep sound and consuma-<br />ble for five years. We are informed it came from Galatz, <br />in Moldavia. The few canisters containing meat fit for human <br />beings to eat have been distributed, under the direction of <br />Captain Superintendent Parry, to the deserving poor of the <br />neighbourhood, and those containing the putrid stock have <br />been conveyed to Spithead in lighters, and thrown overboard. <br />The consequences of such frauds as this cannot be too seriously <br />estimated. Suppose, for instance, Franklin and his party to <br />have been supplied with such food as that condemned, <br />and relying upon it as their mainstay in time of need, the <br />very means furnished for saving their lives may have <br />bred a pestilence or famine among them, and been their <br />destruction.<br /><br />Times, January 7, 1852</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> NAVAL INTELLIGENCE<br /> PORTSMOUTH Tuesday,</span></span><br /><br /> The examination of the remaining stock of "preserved <br />meat" in store at Clarence-yard was resumed by the officers <br />forming the board this morning; but they were again <br />obliged to leave off prematurely, owing to the nausea en-<br />gendered by their unwholesome task. They opened 497 <br />canisters, varying in the amount of their contents from <br />10lb. to 10½lb. each, 466 of which were condemned and <br />thrown overboard at Spithead, and 31 only considered fit to <br />let pass for distribution among the poor. Each day brings <br />to light some item of disgust in the matter of the com-<br />modity sealed up as "preserved meat" To-day we have <br />inspected clots of hair, a piece of intestine with the manure <br />in it, a huge lump of gangrenous kidney, and such like filthy <br />items. But for the great efficacy of the disinfecting solution of <br />Dr. Sir William Burnett, the Director-General of the Medical <br />Department of the Navy, which is profusely used in the <br />store where the examination is going on, it would be im-<br />possible for the officers to prosecute their investigation for <br />long together, owing to the sickening stench arising from <br />the stuff around them. There remain about 2,600 more <br />cases to open, which will occupy the rest of the week.<br />This afternoon Dr. Twynam, an experimental agriculturalist, <br />applied to purchase a quantity of the offal condemned, with <br />the view of its forming the matrix of ammoniacal manure, <br />but no item of it was allowed thus to escape, and the gen-<br />tleman was recommended by the authorities to make his<br />application to the Lords of the Admiralty.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Times, January 8, 1852</span> </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> NAVAL INTELLIGENCE<br /> PORTSMOUTH Wendesday,</span></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> This morning the examination of the canisters of "pre-<br />served meats" was resumed at the Royal Clarence Victualling<br />Establishment, and so far from the investigation exhibiting <br />any improvement in the stock, as the board progressed with <br />their labour, the result showed a realization of still worse <br />delinquency. Out of 300 canisters, of the respective size <br />of 10lbs., 10½lb., 10¾lbs., and 11 lbs. each, only one was <br />suffered to pass as consumable, the rest were condemned, <br />and thrown overboard at sea. The contents exposed <br />to-day were chiefly loosc putrid matter, now and then <br />varied with a few stones, entrails with the excrement in <br />them, kidneys green with decomposition, lumps of heart, <br />and in many cases whole hearts festering with putridity, <br />coagulated blood in great abundance, tallow, lumps <br />of tendons, garbage, grease, and offal. After three <br />hours' labour the officers forming the board were com-<br />pelled to leave off, the stench was so great; indeed, it would <br />have overpowered them, but that a man was ever and anon <br />employed in well saturating the floor about them with Sir <br />William Burnett's disinfecting fluid, with the extra<br />precaution of a blanket saturated with it being hung up imme-<br />diately contiguous to the bench whereon the contents of <br />the canisters were emptied. After standing for an hour, I <br />was compelled to quit the store from the overpowering <br />stench, and Dr. M'Kechnie (the medical officer of the <br />Board of Examination) also felt sick from the influence of the <br />noxious odour, soon after commencing his labours in the <br />morning. The examination of the contents of the canisters <br />is conducted upon the fairest principle—the top part and <br />the bottom part of each canister being alternately selected <br />to commence upon, and the contents of the whole are <br />gradually exposed and brought under inspection. Due notice <br />of the intended examination was given to the contractor's agent <br />and his sureties, requesting their attendance, but no one <br />has appeared, and the contractor himself is not to be found. <br />At the commencement of this investigation, on Tuesday week, <br />there were 6,660 canisters, varying in size from 4 lbs. to 12lbs., <br />and some of 32 lbs. each. and about three months ago, when <br />the stench arising from the store in which they were kept <br />made the authorities of the Clarence-yard suspect some-<br />thing was wrong, the agents to the contractor came down <br />and took away 2,000 canisters (containing 17.000 lbs. of <br />stuff) without opening them. This contract has long since <br />been paid for. The goods are warranted to last sound and <br />wholesome for five years after delivery into Admiralty store. <br />After the 300 canisters above mentioned were examined to-<br />day, one of the canisters of 32 lbs. was opened, labelled "Gold-<br />ner's patent stewed beef," and bearing the following direc-<br />tions :—"The canister to be put into a saucepan with warm<br />water and boiled about 15 minutes, then the meat to be taken <br />out, and add to the gravy a portion of water, rice, or any <br />vegetables, and an admirable dish will be obtained." This <br />"admirable dish," without the aid of the saucepan, rice,<br />and vegetables, presented a sickening mass of revolting de-<br />composition. It was intended as the food of 40 seamen,<br />marines, or boys of Her Majesty's fleet. The examining offi- <br />cers intend to take rest to morrow from their disgusting <br />task, and will not resume it until Friday. About 2,000 <br />more canisters remain to be examined. That "pre-<br />served meat" from this stock had been issued to sea-going <br />ships we know, as Commodore Lambert, of the Fox, on the <br />East India station, returned a lot, with the report that <br />after partaking of some of it those who had done so had <br />been seized with sickness, &c.; and we believe Commodore <br />Martin, of the Prince Regent, 90, on the Lisbon station, <br />also had some of it, and returned it ; and so doubtless <br />have many other ships.</span></blockquote>
<br />
These three paragraphs amount to a nauseating tally of putrid garbage which disgusted the readership and roused a hue and cry that something must be done to root out the evil of crooked contractors and incompetent victualling officials.<br />
<br />
It certainly destroyed Goldner's reputation and cemented him in the role of an almost pantomime villain and bogeyman for the next 150 years or more.<br />
<br />
What interests me is the fact that it wasn't the cans of preserved meat but actually the newspaper reports reproduced above which had the greater proportion of garbage. There can be no doubt that Goldner was falsely accused. This point will be expanded in future posts.<br />
<br />Peter Carneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11720739633773324546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7460851571985771047.post-21504220818546639522019-12-30T01:42:00.000-08:002019-12-30T01:42:32.845-08:00Cannibalism: Charles Dickens v. Dr. John Rae, Part 4.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjTQyRFwos8nnmUYN0qTerVEWQM4Nu7riseIqB3d_p5n7rybmL1Gcn01IylYwIN-0oKKCW7T-EneP3OgAv6ak5a5pEDdFeRBlyHxcBba7_A6xB6o9xF4K6k7zbYLEnbUkf1TIx-CgT_FMM/s1600/Header+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="264" data-original-width="658" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjTQyRFwos8nnmUYN0qTerVEWQM4Nu7riseIqB3d_p5n7rybmL1Gcn01IylYwIN-0oKKCW7T-EneP3OgAv6ak5a5pEDdFeRBlyHxcBba7_A6xB6o9xF4K6k7zbYLEnbUkf1TIx-CgT_FMM/s640/Header+4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
The concluding installment of the exchange between Charles Dickens and Dr John Rae was published 165 years ago today. Your comments are welcome below or on the Facebook group <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/11434844549/">Remembering the Franklin Expedition</a>.<br />
<br />
Transcription and original page images at<a href="http://www.djo.org.uk/household-words/volume-x/page-457.html"> http://www.djo.org.uk/household-words/volume-x/page-457.html</a><br />
<b><br /></b>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>HOUSEHOLD WORDS<br /><br />No. 248 Saturday, December 30, 1854 457</b></div>
<br /><br />DR. RAE'S REPORT.<br /><br />DR. RAE'S communication to us on the<br />subject of his Report, which was begun last<br />week, resumes and concludes as follows:<br /><br />When the Esquimaux have an object to<br />gain, they will not hesitate to tell a falsehood,<br />but they cannot lie with a good grace;<br />"they cannot lie like truth," as civilised men<br />do. Their fabrications are so silly and<br />ridiculous, and it is so easy to make them<br />contradict themselves by a slight cross-<br />questioning, that the falsehood is easily<br />discovered. I could give a number of instances<br />of this, but shall confine myself to two.<br /><br />When Sir John Richardson descended the<br />M‘Kenzie in 1848, a great number of Esquimaux<br />came off in their canoes ; they told us<br />that on an island to which they pointed, a<br />number of white people had been living for<br />some time ; that they had been living there<br />all winter, and that we ought to land to see<br />them. Their story was altogether so incredible,<br />that we could not have a moment's<br />doubt or difficulty in tracing its object. They<br />wished to get us on shore in order to have a<br />better opportunity of pillaging our boats, as<br />they did those of Sir John Franklin; for it<br />must be remembered that the Esquimaux at<br />the M‘Kenzie and to the westward are<br />different from any of those to the eastward.<br />The former, notwithstanding the frequent<br />efforts of the Hudson's Bay Company to<br />effect a peace, are at constant war with the<br />Louchoux Indians, and consequently with<br />the "white men," as they think the latter,<br />by supplying guns and ammunition to the<br />Louchoux, are their allies.<br /><br />Another instance excited much interest<br />in England when it was first made known<br />here. It was reported to Captain M‘Clure<br />by an Esquimaux, that one of a party of<br />white men had been killed by one of his<br />tribe near Point Warren. That the white<br />men built a house there, but nobody knew<br />how they came, as they had no boat; and<br />that they went inland. When asked "when<br />this took place?" the reply was, that "it<br />might be last year or when I was a child."<br /><br />How any one could place any faith in such<br />a report as this, I am at a loss to discover.<br />Any man at all acquainted with the native<br />character, would in a moment set down this<br />tale at its proper value; at least Sir John Rich-<br />ardson and I did—and the first is high autho-<br />rity. Indeed, throughout the whole of Captain<br />or Commander M‘Clure's communication<br />with the natives in the neighbourhood of the<br />M‘Kenzie, he appears to have been admirably<br />imposed upon by them. Let us again get at<br />a fact or two.<br /><br />He is told by a chief that the Esquimaux<br />go so far to the westward to trade, instead of<br />to the M‘Kenzie, "because, at the latter<br />place, the white man had given the Indians<br />very bad water, which killed many and made<br />others foolish (drunk), and that they would<br />not have any such water. From this it<br />evidently appears that the Company lose<br />annually many valuable skins, which find<br />their way to the Colvill instead of to the<br />M‘Kenzie."<br /><br />Let us quietly examine the above<br />statements. It is well known that since the<br />M‘Kenzie has been discovered, ardent spirits<br />have not been admitted within the district, for<br />the natives. At present, and for many years<br />back spirits or wines have not been allowed to<br />enter the M‘Kenzie or its neighbouring<br />district of Athabasca, as allowances for either<br />officers or men in the Hudson's Bay<br />Company's service, so that the natives might not<br />have it to say that we took for ourselves<br />what we would not give to them. We do not<br />know, nor do I think that there are, any<br />Russian trading posts on the Colvill. The true<br />reason that these Esquimaux do not trade<br />with the Hudson's Bay Company is, that the<br />former are constantly at war with the<br />Louchoux. Frequent attempts have been made to<br />effect a reconciliation between these tribes,<br />but hitherto without success.<br /><br />Captain M‘Clure tells us that the Esquimaux<br />informed him that "they had no communication<br />with any person belonging to the<br />Great River" (M‘Kenzie); yet, strange to say,<br />he intrusts the very despatches in which this<br />is mentioned, to natives of the same tribe,<br />and indulges the hope that his "letter may<br />reach the Hudson's Bay Company this year,"<br />(one thousand eight hundred and fifty). In<br />another case, Captain M‘Clure mentions<br />that he gave a gun and ammunition to an<br />Esquimaux chief, to deliver a despatch into<br />the hands of the Hudson's Bay Company. In<br />any case, prepayment is acknowledged to be<br /> <br />[458]<br />a bad plan, but worst of all in that of a<br />savage with whom you are unacquainted, and<br />on whom you have no hold. Had the pay<br />depended upon the performance of the<br />service, the despatch might have had some<br />chance of reaching its destination.<br /><br />I have had some opportunities of studying<br />Esquimaux character; and, from what I have<br />seen, I consider them superior to all the tribes<br />of red men in America. In their domestic<br />relationship they show a bright example to<br />the most civilised people. They are dutiful<br />sons and daughters, kind brothers and sisters,<br />and most affectionate parents. So well is the<br />first of these qualities understood among<br />them, that a large family is considered wealth<br />by a father and mother—for, the latter well<br />know that they will be carefully tended by<br />their offspring, well clothed and fed, whilst a<br />scrap of skin or a morsel of food is to be<br />obtained, as long as a spark of life remains;<br />and, after death, that their bodies will be<br />properly placed either on or under the ground,<br />according to the usage of the tribe.<br /><br />I do not stand alone in the high opinion I<br />have formed of the Esquimaux character.<br />At the Hudson's Bay Company's establishments<br />of Fort George on the east, and<br />Churchill on the west, coast of Hudson's<br />Bay, where the Esquimaux visit, they are<br />looked upon in an equally favourable light.<br />The Moravian missionaries on the Labrador<br />coast find the Esquimaux honest and<br />trustworthy, and employ them constantly<br />and almost exclusively as domestic servants.<br />The report of the residents in the Danish<br />settlements on the west shores of Greenland,<br />is no less favourable; and although I have no<br />special authority for saying so, I believe<br />that Captain Perring's opinions are similar.<br />During the two winters I passed at Repulse<br />Bay, I had men with me who had been, at<br />some time of their lives, in all parts of the<br />Hudson's Bay Company's territories. These<br />men assured me that they had never seen<br />Indians so decorous, obliging, unobtrusive,<br />orderly, and friendly, as the Esquimaux.<br /><br />Oh! some one may remark, perhaps they<br />have some private reason for this.<br /><br />Now, my men had not any "private reason"<br />for saying so. I firmly believe, and can<br />almost positively assert, that no case of<br />improper intercourse took place between them<br />and the natives of Repulse Buy during the<br />two seasons I remained there—which is more,<br />I suspect, than most of the commanders of<br />parties to the Arctic Sea can truthfully affirm.<br />A number of instances (principally<br />shipwrecks), are brought forward to show that<br />cannibalism has not been usually resorted to<br />in cases of extreme want; that it is the exception,<br />not the rule. Yet not one of those<br />properly represent the probable position of Sir<br />John Franklin's party. In all the cases<br />above alluded to, the parties suffering were<br />deprived of water as well as of food. We all<br />know that when any one suffers from two<br />painful sensations, but painful in different<br />degrees, the more severe of the two prevents<br />the lesser from being felt.<br /><br />Thirst causes a far more painful sensation<br />than hunger, and consequently, whilst the<br />first remains unappeased, the pangs of the<br />other are very slightly, if at all, felt. In<br />the case of Franklin's party, their thirst<br />could be easily assuaged, and consequently<br />the pangs of hunger would be felt the more<br />intensely. Even Franklin's former disastrous<br />journey (from the narrative of which large<br />extracts have been made) is not a parallel case.<br />In it the suffering party had generally<br />something or other every few days to allay<br />the cravings of hunger. They had pieces of<br />old leather, tripe de roche, and an infusion of<br />the tea-plant. Unfortunately, near the mouth<br />of Back's Fish River, there are none of<br />the above named plants,—nothing but a<br />barren waste with scarcely a blade of<br />grass upon it. Much stress is laid on the<br />moral character and the admirable discipline<br />of the crews of Sir John Franklin's ships.<br />What their state of discipline may have<br />been I cannot say, but their conduct at the<br />very last British port they entered was not<br />such as to make those who knew it, consider<br />them very deserving of the high eulogium<br />passed upon them in Household Words.<br />Nor can we say that the men, in extreme<br />cases of privation, would maintain that state<br />of subordination so requisite in all cases,<br />but more especially during danger and<br />difficulty.<br /><br />We have, I am sorry to say, but too many<br />recent instances of disagreement and differences<br />among the officers employed on the<br />Arctic service. It is well known in naval<br />circles that, in one vessel which has not yet<br />arrived from the north, there will be two<br />or three courts martial as soon as she reaches<br />home. To place much dependence on the<br />obedience and good conduct of the comparatively<br />uneducated seamen, if exposed to the<br />utmost extremes of distress, when their<br />superiors, without having any such excuse,<br />have forgotten themselves on a point of such<br />vital importance, would be very unreasonable.<br />Besides, seamen generally consider<br />themselves, when they have lost their ship<br />and set foot on shore, as being freed from<br />that strict discipline to which they would<br />readily submit themselves when on board.<br /><br />As these observations have already attained<br />a much greater length than I at first anticipated,<br />I shall refrain from mentioning, as I<br />intended, one or two instances of persons fully<br />as well educated as the generality of picked<br />seamen usually are, and brought up as<br />Christians, having, in cases of extreme want,<br />had recourse to the "last resource," as a<br />means of maintaining life.<br /><br />I am aware of the difficulties I have to<br />encounter in replying to the article on the<br />"Lost Arctic Voyagers." That the author<br />of that article is a writer of very great ability<br /><br />[459]<br />and practice, and that he makes the best<br />use of both to prove his opinions, is very<br />evident. Besides, he takes the popular view of<br />the question, which is a great point in his favour.<br />To oppose this, I have nothing but a small<br />amount of practical knowledge of the question<br />at issue, with a few facts to support my<br />views and opinions; but, I can only throw<br />them together in a very imperfect and<br />unconnected form, as I have little experience in<br />writing, and, like many men who have led a<br />wandering and stirring life, have a great<br />dislike to it. It is seldom that a man can do<br />well what is disagreeable to him.<br /><br />That my opinions remain exactly the same<br />as they were when my report to the Admiralty<br />was written, may be inferred from all I<br />have now stated.<br /><br />That twenty or twenty-five Esquimaux<br />could, for two months together, continue to<br />repeat the same story without variation in<br />any material point, and adhere firmly to it, in<br />spite of all sorts of cross-questioning, is to me<br />the clearest proof that the information they<br />gave me was founded on fact.<br /><br />That the " white men" were not<br />murdered by the natives, but that they died of<br />starvation, is, to my mind, equally beyond a<br />doubt.<br /><br />In conclusion, let me remark, that I fully<br />appreciate the kind, courteous, and flattering<br />manner in which my name is mentioned by<br />the writer on the subject of the lost Arctic<br />Voyagers.<br /><br />Peter Carneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11720739633773324546noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7460851571985771047.post-28814516521071861272019-12-23T01:31:00.000-08:002019-12-23T01:37:09.563-08:00Cannibalism: Charles Dickens v. Dr. John Rae, Part 3.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5_UkOlGnyhHY-Rm5vyFVutqMfyB3pogDhWlMHtEYIuovn-5J08gc0vScPRiZe1iyM87uaySFtBO4s63FeI2jI9K4adYvgBYmDDtSAGxA89mLvbH9ikT2nZXo4OBb-AsA0P3HqYtNNZwY5/s1600/Header+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="258" data-original-width="657" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5_UkOlGnyhHY-Rm5vyFVutqMfyB3pogDhWlMHtEYIuovn-5J08gc0vScPRiZe1iyM87uaySFtBO4s63FeI2jI9K4adYvgBYmDDtSAGxA89mLvbH9ikT2nZXo4OBb-AsA0P3HqYtNNZwY5/s640/Header+3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
After a gap of two weeks: John Rae's reply.<br />
<br />
Transcription and original page images at <a href="http://www.djo.org.uk/household-words/volume-x/page-433.html">http://www.djo.org.uk/household-words/volume-x/page-433.html</a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>HOUSEHOLD WORDS</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>No. 248 Saturday, December 23, 1854 433</b></div>
<br />
<br />
THE LOST ARCTIC VOYAGERS.<br />
<br />
<br />
WE have received the following communication<br />
from DR. RAE. It can have no<br />
better commendation to the attention of our<br />
readers than the mention of his name:—<br />
<br />
Observing, in the numbers of this journal<br />
dated the second and ninth of this month, a<br />
very ably-written article on the lost Arctic<br />
voyagers, in which an attempt is made to<br />
prove that Sir John Franklin's ill-fated<br />
party did not die of starvation, but were<br />
murdered by the Esquimaux; and consequently<br />
that they were not driven to the last<br />
dread alternative as a means of protracting<br />
life, permit me to make a few remarks in<br />
support of my information on this painful subject<br />
—information received by me with the<br />
utmost caution, and not one material point of<br />
which was published to the world without<br />
my having some good reason to support it.<br />
<br />
First, as regards my interpreter. To compare<br />
either Augustus or Ouligback (who<br />
accompanied Sir John Franklin and Sir John<br />
Richardson in their overland journeys) with<br />
William Ouligback, my interpreter, would be<br />
very unfair to the latter. Neither of the<br />
first two could make themselves understood<br />
in the English language, and did not very perfectly<br />
comprehend the dialect of the natives of<br />
the coast westward of the Coppermine River.<br />
<br />
William Ouligback speaks English fluently;<br />
and, perhaps, more correctly than one half of<br />
the lower classes in England or Scotland.<br />
<br />
As I could not, from my ignorance of<br />
the Esquimaux tongue, test William Ouligback's<br />
qualifications, I resorted to the only<br />
means of doing so I possessed. There is<br />
an old servant of the company at Churchill,<br />
an honest, trustworthy man, who has acquired<br />
a very fair knowledge of both the<br />
Esquimaux character and the Esquimaux<br />
language. This man informed me that young<br />
Ouligback could be perfectly relied on; that<br />
he would tell the Esquimaux exactly what<br />
was said, and give the Esquimaux reply with<br />
equal correctness; that when he had any<br />
personal object to gain, he would not scruple<br />
to tell a falsehood to attain it, but in such a<br />
case the untruth was easily discovered by a<br />
little cross-questioning. This description I<br />
found perfectly true.<br />
<br />
Again: the natives of Repulse Bay speak<br />
precisely the same language as those of<br />
Churchill, where young Ouligback was<br />
brought up.<br />
<br />
The objection offered that my information<br />
was received second-hand, I consider much<br />
in favour of its correctness. Had it been<br />
obtained from the natives who had seen the<br />
dead bodies of our countrymen, I should have<br />
doubted all they told me, however plausible<br />
their tale might have appeared; because had<br />
they, as they usually do, deposited any property<br />
under stones in the neighbourhood,<br />
they would have had a very excellent cause<br />
for attempting to mislead me.<br />
<br />
That ninety-nine out of a hundred interpreters<br />
are under a strong temptation<br />
to exaggerate, may be true. If so, my<br />
interpreter is the exception, as he did not<br />
like to talk more than he could possibly<br />
help. No doubt had I offered him a premium<br />
for using his tongue freely he might<br />
have done so; but not even the shadow of a<br />
hope of a reward was held out.<br />
<br />
It is said that part of the information<br />
regarding cannibalism was conveyed to me<br />
by gestures. This is another palpable mistake,<br />
which is likely to mislead. I stated<br />
in one of my letters to the Times that the<br />
natives had preceded me to Repulse Bay;<br />
and, by signs, had made my men left in<br />
charge of the property there (none of whom<br />
spoke a word of Esquimaux) comprehend<br />
what I had already learnt through the interpreter.<br />
<br />
I do not infer that the officer who lay upon<br />
his double-barrelled gun defended his life to<br />
the last against ravenous seamen; but that<br />
he was a brave, cool man, in the full possession<br />
of his mental faculties to the last; that<br />
he lay down in this position as a precaution,<br />
and, alas! was never able to rise again; and<br />
that he was among the last, if not the very<br />
last, of the survivors.<br />
<br />
The question is asked, was there any fuel<br />
in that desolate place for cooking the contents<br />
of the kettles? I have already mentioned<br />
in a letter to the Times how fuel<br />
might have been obtained. I shall repeat<br />
my opinion with additions:—When the<br />
Esquimaux were talking with me on the<br />
subject of the discovery of the men, boats,<br />
tents, &c., several of them remarked that<br />
<br />
[434]<br />
it was curious no sledges were found at<br />
the place. I replied that the boat was<br />
likely fitted with sledge-runners that screwed<br />
on to it. The natives answered, that sledges<br />
were noticed with the party of whites<br />
when alive, and that their tracks on the ice<br />
and snow were seen near the place where<br />
the bodies were found. My answer then<br />
was, That they must have burnt them for<br />
fuel; and I have no doubt but that the kegs<br />
or cases containing the ball and shot must<br />
have shared the same fate.<br />
<br />
Had there been no bears thereabouts to<br />
mutilate those bodies—no wolves, no foxes? is<br />
asked; but it is a well-known fact that, from instinct,<br />
neither bears, wolves, nor foxes, nor that<br />
more ravenous of all, the glutton or wolverine,<br />
unless on the verge of starvation, will touch<br />
a dead human body; and the carnivorous<br />
quadrupeds near the Arctic sea are seldom<br />
driven to that extremity.<br />
<br />
Quoting again from the article on the lost<br />
Arctic voyagers. "Lastly, no man can with<br />
any show of reason undertake to affirm that<br />
the sad remnant of Franklin's gallant band<br />
were not set upon and slain by the Esquimaux<br />
themselves?"<br />
<br />
This is a question which like many<br />
others is much more easily asked than<br />
answered; yet I will give my reasons<br />
for not thinking, even for a moment,<br />
that some thirty or forty of the bravest<br />
class of one of the bravest nations in the<br />
world, even when reduced to the most<br />
wretched condition, and having firearms and<br />
ammunition in their hands, could be<br />
overcome by a party of savages equal in<br />
number to themselves. I say equal in number,<br />
because the Esquimaux to the eastward<br />
of the Coppermine, seldom, if ever, collect<br />
together in greater force than thirty men,<br />
owing to the difficulty of obtaining the<br />
means of subsistence. When Sir John Ross<br />
wintered three years in Prince Regent's<br />
Inlet, the very tribe of Esquimaux who<br />
saw Sir John Franklin's party were<br />
constantly or almost constantly in the<br />
neighbourhood. In the several springs he<br />
passed there, parties of his men were travelling<br />
in various directions; yet no violence was<br />
offered to them, although there was an immense<br />
advantage to be gained by the savages<br />
in obtaining possession of the vessels and their<br />
contents.<br />
<br />
In eighteen hundred and forty-six-seven<br />
I and a party of twelve persons wintered at<br />
Repulse Bay. In the spring my men were<br />
divided and scattered in all directions; yet<br />
no violence was offered, although we were<br />
surrounded by native families, among whom<br />
there were at least thirty men. By murdering<br />
us they would have put themselves in<br />
possession of boats and a quantity of cutlery<br />
of great value to them. In the same spring,<br />
when perfectly alone and unarmed, except<br />
with a common clasp knife, which could<br />
have been of no use, I met on the ice four<br />
Esquimaux armed with spear and bow and<br />
arrow. I went up to them, made them<br />
shake hands; and, after exchanging a few<br />
words and signs, left them. In this case<br />
no violence was used; although I had a<br />
box of astronomical instruments on my back,<br />
which might have excited their cupidity.<br />
Last spring, I, with seven men, was almost<br />
in constant communication with a party<br />
four times our number. The savages<br />
made no attempt to harm us. Yet wood,<br />
saws, daggers, and knives were extremely<br />
scarce with them, and by getting possession<br />
of our boat, its masts and oars, and the<br />
remainder of our property, they would have<br />
been independent for years.<br />
<br />
What appears to me the most conclusive<br />
reason for believing the Esquimaux report, is<br />
this: the natives of Repulse Bay, although<br />
they visit and communicate for mutual advantage<br />
with those further west, both dislike<br />
and fear their neighbours, and not without<br />
cause; as they have behaved treacherously<br />
to them on one or two occasions. So<br />
far do they carry this dislike, that they<br />
endeavoured, by every means in their power,<br />
to stimulate me to shoot several visitors to<br />
Repulse Bay, from Pelly Bay, and from near<br />
Sir John Ross's wintering station in Prince<br />
Regent's Inlet.<br />
<br />
Now, is it likely that, had they possessed<br />
such a powerful argument to excite—as they<br />
expected to do—my anger and revenge as the<br />
murder of my countrymen, would they not<br />
have made use of it by acquainting me with<br />
the whole circumstances, if they had any such<br />
to report?<br />
<br />
Again, what possible motive could the<br />
Esquimaux have for inventing such an awful<br />
tale as that which appeared in my report to<br />
the secretary of the Admiralty. Alas! these<br />
poor people know too well what starvation is,<br />
in its utmost extremes, to be mistaken on<br />
such a point. Although these uneducated<br />
savages—who seem to be looked upon by<br />
those who know them not, as little better<br />
than brutes—resort to the "last resource"<br />
only when driven to it by the most dire<br />
necessity. They will starve for days before<br />
they will even sacrifice their dogs to satisfy<br />
the cravings of their appetites.<br />
<br />
One or two facts are worth a hundred<br />
theories on any subject. On meeting some<br />
old acquaintances among the natives at<br />
Repulse Bay, last spring, I naturally enquired<br />
about others that I had seen there in eighteen<br />
hundred and forty-six and forty-seven.<br />
The reply was, that many of them had died<br />
of starvation since I left, and some from a<br />
disease which, by description, resembled influenza.<br />
Among the party that died of<br />
starvation was one man whom I well knew<br />
—Shi-makeck—and for whom I enquired by<br />
name. I learnt that this man, rather than<br />
endure the terrible spectacle of his children<br />
pining away in his presence, went out and<br />
strangled himself. Another, equally well<br />
<br />
[435]<br />
known to me, being unable, I suppose, to<br />
support the panics of hunger, stripped<br />
off his clothes, and exposed himself to<br />
cold, until he was frozen to death. In<br />
several instances, on this occasion, cannibalism<br />
had been resorted to, and two<br />
women were pointed out to me as having had<br />
recourse to this "last resource." It may be,<br />
I have only the words of "babbling and false<br />
savages who are, without exception, in heart,<br />
covetous, treacherous, and cruel," in support<br />
of what I say.<br />
<br />
Let us enquire slightly into that want of<br />
truthfulness so frequently and indiscriminately<br />
charged against savages in general,<br />
and the Esquimaux in particular:—When<br />
that most distinguished of Arctic navigators—<br />
Sir Edward Parry—wintered at<br />
Winter Island, not Winter Harbour, and at<br />
Igloolik, in the Straits of the Fury and<br />
Hecla, he met many of the very tribe of<br />
Esquimaux that I saw at Repulse Bay.<br />
From these Sir Edward received information<br />
and tracings of the coast west of Melville<br />
Peninsula, surrounding a bay named by the<br />
natives—Akkoolee.<br />
<br />
This Esquimaux tracing or delineation of<br />
coast was entered in the charts in dotted<br />
lines, until my survey of eighteen hundred<br />
and forty-seven showed that, in all material<br />
points, the accounts given by the natives<br />
were perfectly correct. When Sir John Ross<br />
wintered three years in Prince Regent's<br />
Inlet, the natives drew charts of the coast<br />
line to the southward of his position, and<br />
informed him that, in that direction, there<br />
was no water communication leading to the<br />
western sea.<br />
<br />
Sir John Ross's statements, founded on<br />
those of the natives were not believed at the<br />
Admiralty, nor my own, in eighteen hundred<br />
and forty-seven, although I saw the land all<br />
the way, and in which I was supported by<br />
Esquimaux information. The authorities at<br />
the Admiralty would still have Boothia an<br />
Island. Last spring I proved beyond the<br />
possibility of a doubt, the correctness of my<br />
former report, and consequently the truthfulness<br />
of the Esquimaux; for, where parties of<br />
high standing at home would insist on having<br />
nothing but salt water, I travelled over a<br />
neck of land or isthmus only sixty miles broad.<br />
<br />
On conversing with the natives about the<br />
different parties of whites, and the ships and<br />
boats they had seen, they described so perfectly<br />
the personal appearance of Sir John<br />
Ross and Sir James Ross—although the men<br />
spoken with had not seen these gentlemen—<br />
that any one acquainted with these officers<br />
could have recognised them. The natives on<br />
one point set me right, when they thought I<br />
had made a mistake. I told them that the<br />
two chiefs (Sir J. and Sir J. C. Ross) and<br />
their men had all got home safe to their own<br />
country. They immediately remarked, "that<br />
this was not true, for some of the men had<br />
died at the place where the vessel was left."<br />
I, of course, alluded only to that portion of<br />
the party who had got away from Regent's<br />
Inlet in safety. It must be remembered that<br />
this circumstance occurred upwards of twenty<br />
years ago, and consequently is an instance of<br />
correctness of memory and truthfulness that<br />
would be considered surprising among people<br />
in an advanced state of civilisation.<br />
<br />
The peculiarities of the Great Fish River,<br />
and of the coast near its mouth, has been so<br />
minutely described by Sir George Back, and<br />
so beautifully illustrated by his admirable<br />
drawings, that they can easily be understood<br />
by any one. The Esquimaux details on this<br />
subject agreed perfectly with those of Sir<br />
George Back: the river was desciibed as full<br />
of falls and rapids, and that many Esquimaux<br />
dwelt on or near its banks. They described<br />
the land about a long day's journey (which,<br />
with dogs and sledges, is from thirty-five to<br />
forty miles) to the north-west of the<br />
mouth of the river, as low and flat, without<br />
hills of any kind, agreeing in every particular<br />
with the descriptions of Sir George Back and<br />
Simpson.<br />
<br />
They told me that the top of the cairn<br />
erected by Dease and Simpson at the Castor<br />
and Pollux River had fallen down. This I<br />
found to be true; and afterwards, on asking<br />
them in which direction it had fallen, they<br />
said towards the east. True again. I showed<br />
two men, who said they had been along the<br />
coast which I had traced, my rough draft of<br />
a chart. They immediately comprehended<br />
the whole; examined and recognised the<br />
several points, islands, &c., laid down upon<br />
it; gave me their Esquimaux names, showed<br />
me where they had had "caches;" which I<br />
actually saw.<br />
<br />
Another Esquimaux, on learning that we<br />
had opened a "cache," in which we found a<br />
number of wings and heads of geese which<br />
had lain long there, and were perfectly denuded<br />
of flesh, said that the "cache"<br />
belonged to him. Thinking that he was<br />
stating a falsehood so as to obtain some<br />
reward for having interfered with his property,<br />
I produced my chart, and told him to<br />
show me the island, among a number of<br />
similar ones all small, on which his "cache"<br />
was; he, without a moment's hesitation,<br />
pointed to the right island.<br />
<br />
Having dwelt thus much on the trustworthiness<br />
of the Esquimaux, I shall next<br />
touch on their disposition and aptitude to<br />
falsehood; but this I must defer for the<br />
present.<br />
<br />
We will merely append, as a commentary<br />
on the opinion of our esteemed friend,<br />
DR. RAE, relative to the probabilities of the<br />
Esquimaux besetting a forlorn and weak<br />
party, the speciality of whose condition that<br />
people are quite shrewd enough to have perceived;<br />
an extract from Sir John Barrow's<br />
account of Franklin's and Richardson's second<br />
journey:—<br />
<br />
[436]<br />
''Thus far all went on well; but an accident<br />
happened while the crowd was pressing<br />
round the boats, which was productive of<br />
unforeseen and very annoying consequences:<br />
<br />
"'A kaiyack being overset by one of the<br />
Lion's oars, its owner was plunged into the<br />
water with his head in the mud, and apparently<br />
in danger of being drowned. We<br />
instantly extricated him from his unpleasant<br />
situation, and took him into the boat until<br />
the water could be thrown out of his<br />
kaiyack; and Augustus, seeing him shivering<br />
with cold, wrapped him up in his own<br />
great coat. At first he was exceedingly<br />
angry, but soon became reconciled to his<br />
situation; and, looking about, discovered that<br />
we had many bales, and other articles in the<br />
boat, which had been concealed from the<br />
people in the kaiyacks, by the coverings<br />
being carefully spread over all. He soon<br />
began to ask for everything he saw, and<br />
expressed much displeasure on our refusing<br />
to comply with his demands; he also, we<br />
afterwards learned, excited the cupidity of<br />
others by his account of the inexhaustible<br />
riches in the Lion, and several of the younger<br />
men endeavoured to get into both our boats,<br />
but we resisted all their attempts.'<br />
<br />
"They continued, however, to press, and<br />
made many efforts to get into the boats,<br />
while the water had ebbed so far that it was<br />
not knee-deep at the boats, and the younger<br />
men, waiting in crowds around them, tried to<br />
steal everything they could reach. The Reliance<br />
being afloat, was dragged by the<br />
crowd towards the shore, when Franklin<br />
directed the crew of the Lion (which was<br />
aground and immoveable) to endeavour to<br />
follow her, but the boat remained fast until<br />
the Esquimaux lent their aid and dragged<br />
her after the Reliance. One of the Lion's<br />
men perceived that the man who was upset<br />
had a pistol under his shirt, which it was<br />
discovered had been stolen from Lieutenant<br />
Back, and the thief, seeing it to be noticed,<br />
leaped out of the boat and joined his countrymen,<br />
carrying with him the great coat which<br />
Augustus had lent him.<br />
<br />
"'Two of the most powerful men, jumping<br />
on board at the same time, seized me by the<br />
wrists and forced me to sit between them;<br />
and as I shook them loose two or three times,<br />
a third Esquimaux took his station in front<br />
to catch my arm whenever I attempted to<br />
lift my gun, or the broad dagger which hung<br />
by my side. The whole way to the shore they<br />
kept repeating the word 'teyma,' beating<br />
gently on my left breast with their hands,<br />
and pressing mine against their breasts. As<br />
we neared the beach, two oomiaks, full of<br />
women, arrived, and the 'teymas' and vociferation<br />
were redoubled. The Reliance was<br />
first brought to the shore, and the Lion close<br />
to her a few seconds afterwards. The three<br />
men who held me now leaped ashore, and<br />
those who remained in their canoes, taking<br />
them out of the water, carried them to a<br />
little distance. A numerous party then<br />
drawing their knives, and stripping themselves<br />
to the waist, ran to the Reliance, and<br />
having first hauled her as far up as they<br />
could, began a regular pillage, handing the<br />
articles to the women, who, ranged in a row<br />
behind, quickly conveyed them out of sight.'<br />
<br />
"In short, after a furious contest, when<br />
knives were brandished in a most threatening<br />
manner, several of the men's clothes cut<br />
through, and the buttons of others torn from<br />
their coats, Lieutenant Back ordered his<br />
people to seize and level their muskets, but<br />
not to fire till the word was given. This had<br />
the desired effect, the whole crowd taking to<br />
their heels and hiding themselves behind the<br />
drift-timber on the beach. Captain Franklin<br />
still thought it best to temporise so long as<br />
the boats were lying aground, for armed as<br />
the Esquimaux were with long knives, bows,<br />
arrows, and spears, fire-arms could not have<br />
been used with advantage against so numerous<br />
a host; Franklin, indeed, states his conviction,<br />
'considering the state of excitement to<br />
which they had worked themselves, that the<br />
first blood which his party might unfortunately<br />
have shed, would instantly have been<br />
revenged by the sacrifice of all their lives.'<br />
<br />
"As soon as the boats were afloat and<br />
making to a secure anchorage, seven or eight<br />
of the natives walked along the beach, entered<br />
into conversation with Augustus, and<br />
invited him to a conference on shore. 'I was<br />
unwilling to let him go,' says Franklin, 'but<br />
the brave little fellow entreated so earnestly<br />
that I would suffer him to land and reprove<br />
the Esquimaux for their conduct, that I at<br />
length consented.' On his return, being desired<br />
to tell what he had said to them, 'he<br />
had told them,' he said—<br />
<br />
"'Your conduct has been very bad, and<br />
unlike that of all other Esquimaux. Some of<br />
you even stole from me, your countryman<br />
but that I do not mind,—I only regret that<br />
you should have treated in this violent<br />
manner the white people, who came solely to<br />
do you kindness. My tribe were in the same<br />
unhappy state in which you now are, before<br />
the white people came to Churchill, but at<br />
present they are supplied with everything<br />
they need, and you see that I am well<br />
clothed; I get all that I want, and am very<br />
comfortable. You cannot expect, after the<br />
transactions of this day, that these people<br />
will ever bring goods to your country again,<br />
unless you show your contrition by restoring<br />
the stolen goods. The white people love the<br />
Esquimaux, and wish to show them the same<br />
kindness that they bestow upon the Indians.<br />
Do not deceive yourselves, and suppose they are<br />
afraid of you; I tell you they are not; and<br />
that it is entirely owing to their humanity<br />
that many of you were not killed to-day; for<br />
they have all guns, with which they can<br />
destroy you either when near or at a distance.<br />
I also have a gun, and can assure<br />
you, that if a white man had fallen, I would<br />
<br />
[437]<br />
have been the first to have revenged his<br />
death.'<br />
<br />
"The language of course is that of Franklin,<br />
who however gives it as the purport of<br />
Augustus's speech, and adds, 'his veracity is<br />
beyond all question with the party.' 'We<br />
could perceive,' says Franklin, 'by the shouts<br />
of applause, with which they filled the pauses<br />
in his language, that they assented to his<br />
arguments;' [that is, to his representation of<br />
the superior power of those white men]; 'and<br />
he told us they had expressed great sorrow<br />
for having given so much cause of offence.'<br />
He said, moreover, that they pleaded ignorance,<br />
having never before seen white men;<br />
that they had seen so many fine things<br />
entirely new to them, that they could not<br />
resist the temptation of stealing; they promised<br />
never to do the like again; and gave<br />
a proof of their sincerity by restoring the<br />
articles that had been stolen. And thus<br />
in an amicable manner was the affray concluded."<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
Peter Carneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11720739633773324546noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7460851571985771047.post-52112702268099390642019-12-09T04:40:00.000-08:002019-12-23T01:29:28.352-08:00Cannibalism: Charles Dickens v. Dr. John Rae, Part 2.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk1_n0rfM5nVaSOOF5-20GRnBfoOKn8orMJPDfm3irk5R1_3zDkitD2SuwT-DnDnhAUXH-vjw85381EHosxEvFpxNq7V69WeNd3voixz-YZm7x2_1g82glrcrtioxVtw8sPFIMXKclrb9h/s1600/Header+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="260" data-original-width="661" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk1_n0rfM5nVaSOOF5-20GRnBfoOKn8orMJPDfm3irk5R1_3zDkitD2SuwT-DnDnhAUXH-vjw85381EHosxEvFpxNq7V69WeNd3voixz-YZm7x2_1g82glrcrtioxVtw8sPFIMXKclrb9h/s640/Header+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Here is the second part of the argument between Dickens and Rae, published 165 years ago today. Clearly the writer has some nineteenth century attitudes and goes on for around 7900 words! What though would a reader of the day make of it? Does the writer make his case? Rae's reply will come out on the 23rd.<br /><br />Transcription and original page images at <a href="http://www.djo.org.uk/household-words/volume-x/page-385.html">http://www.djo.org.uk/household-words/volume-x/page-385.html</a></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">HOUSEHOLD WORDS</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">No. 246 Saturday, December 9, 1854 385</span></b><br />
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">THE LOST ARCTIC VOYAGERS.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />We resume our subject of last week.<br /><br />The account of the sufferings of the<br />shipwrecked men, in DON JUAN, will rise into<br />most minds as our topic presents itself.<br />It is founded (so far as such a writer<br />as BYRON may choose to resort to facts, in aid<br />of what he knows intuitively), on several real<br />cases. BLIGH'S undecked-boat navigation,<br />after the mutiny of the Bounty; and the<br />wrecks of the Centaur, the Peggy, the<br />Pandora, the Juno, and the Thomas; had<br />been, among other similar narratives,<br />attentively read by the poet.<br /><br />In Bligh's case, though the endurances of<br />all on board were extreme, there was no<br />movement towards the " last resource." And<br />this, though Bligh in the memorable voyage<br />which showed his knowledge of navigation to<br />be as good as his temper was bad (which is<br />very high praise), could only serve out, at the<br />best, " about an ounce of pork to each person,"<br />and was fain to weigh the allowance of<br />bread against a pistol bullet, and in the most<br />urgent need could only administer wine or<br />rum by the teaspoonful. Though the<br />necessities of the party were so great, that when a<br />stray bird was caught, its blood was poured<br />into the mouths of three of the people who<br />were nearest death, and "the body, with the<br />entrails, beak, and feet, was divided into<br />eighteen shares." Though of a captured<br />dolphin there was " issued about two ounces,<br />including the offals, to each person;" and<br />though the time came, when, in Bligh's<br />words, " there was a visible alteration for<br />the worse in many of the people which<br />excited great apprehensions in me.<br />Extreme weakness, swelled legs, hollow and<br />ghastly countenances, with an apparent<br />debility of understanding, seemed to me the<br />melancholy presages of approaching<br />dissolution."<br /><br />The Centaur, man-of-war, sprung a leak at<br />sea in very heavy weather; was perceived,<br />after great labour, to be fast settling down<br />by the head; and was abandoned by the<br />captain and eleven others, in the pinnace.<br />They were " in a leaky boat, with one of the<br />gunwales stove, in nearly the middle of the<br />Western Ocean; without compass, quadrant,<br />or sail: wanting great coat or cloak; all very<br />thinly clothed, in a gale of wind, and with a<br />great sea running." They had "one biscuit<br />divided into twelve morsels for breakfast,<br />and the same for dinner; the neck of a<br />bottle, broke off with the cork in it, served<br />for a glass; and this filled with water was<br />the allowance for twenty-four hours, to each<br />man." This misery was endured, without<br />any reference whatever to the last resource,<br />for fifteen days: at the expiration of which<br />time, they happily made land. Observe the<br />captain's words, at the height. " Our sufferings<br />were now as great as human strength<br />could bear; but, we were convinced that<br />good spirits were a better support than<br />great bodily strength; for on this day<br />Thomas Mathews, quartermaster, perished<br />from hunger and cold. On the day before, he<br />had complained of want of strength in his<br />throat, as he expressed it, to swallow his<br />morsel, and in the night grew delirious and<br />died without a groan." What were their<br />reflections? That they could support life on<br />the body? " As it became next to certainty<br />that we should all perish in the same manner<br />in a day or two, it was somewhat comfortable<br />to reflect that dying of hunger was not<br />so dreadful as our imaginations had<br />represented."<br /><br />The Pandora, frigate, was sent out to<br />Otaheite, to bring home for trial such of the<br />mutineers of the Bounty as could be found<br />upon the island. In Endeavour Straits, on<br />her homeward voyage, she struck upon a<br />reef; was got off, by great exertion; but had<br />sustained such damage, that she soon heeled<br />over and went down. One hundred and ten<br />persons escaped in the boats, and entered on<br />"a long and dangerous voyage." The daily<br />allowance to each, was a musket-ball weight<br />of bread, and two small wineglasses of water.<br />"The heat of the sun and reflexion of the<br />sand became intolerable, and the quantity of<br />salt water swallowed by the men created the<br />most parching thirst; excruciating tortures<br />were endured, and one of the men went mad<br />and died." Perhaps this body was devoured?<br />No. " The people at length neglected weighing<br />their slender allowance, their mouths becoming<br />so parched that few attempted to eat;<br />and what was not claimed, was returned to<br />the general stock." They were a fine crew<br />(but not so fine as Franklin's), and in a state<br /><br /><br />[386]<br />of high discipline. Only this one death<br />occurred, and all the rest were saved.<br /><br />The Juno, a rotten and unseaworthy ship,<br />sailed from Rangoon for Madras, with a cargo<br />of teak-wood. She had been out three weeks,<br />and had already struck upon a sandbank and<br />sprung a leak, which the crew imperfectly<br />stopped, when she became a wreck in a<br />tremendous storm. The second mate and<br />others, including the captain's wife, climbed<br />into the mizen-top, and made themselves fast<br />to the rigging. The second mate is the narrator<br />of their distresses, and opens them with<br />this remarkable avowal. "We saw that we<br />might remain on the wreck till carried off by<br />famine, the most frightful shape in which<br />death could appear to us. I confess it was<br />my intention, as well as that of the rest, to<br />prolong my existence by the only means that<br />seemed likely to occur—eating the flesh of<br />any whose life might terminate before my<br />own. But this idea we did not communicate,<br />or even hint to each other, until long afterwards;<br />except once, that the gunner, a<br />Roman Catholic, asked me if I thought there<br />would be a sin in having recourse to such an<br />expedient." Now, it might reasonably be<br />supposed, with this beginning, that the wreck<br />of the Juno furnishes some awful instances<br />of the "last resource" of the Esquimaux<br />stories. Not one. But, perhaps no unhappy<br />creature died, in this mizen-top where the<br />second mate was? Half a dozen, at least,<br />died there; and the body of one Lascar<br />getting entangled in the rigging, so that the<br />survivors in their great weakness could not<br />for some time release it and throw it<br />overboard—which was their manner of disposing<br />of the other bodies—hung there, for two or<br />three days. It is worthy of all attention,<br />that as the mate grew weaker, the terrible<br />phantom which had been in his mind at first<br />(as it might present itself to the mind of any<br />other person, not actually in the extremity<br />imagined), grew paler and more remote. At<br />first, he felt sullen and irritable; on the<br />night of the fourth day he had a refreshing<br />sleep, dreamed of his father, a country clergyman,<br />thought that he was administering<br />the Sacrament to him, and drew the cup<br />away when he stretched out his hand to take<br />it. He chewed canvas, lead, any substance<br />he could find—would have eaten his shoes,<br />early in his misery, but that he wore none.<br />And yet he says, and at an advanced stage of<br />his story too, "After all that I suffered, I<br />believe it fell short of the idea I had formed<br />of what would probably be the natural<br />consequence of such a situation as that to which<br />we were reduced. I had read or heard that<br />no person could live without food, beyond a<br />few days; and when several had elapsed, I<br />was astonished at my having existed so long,<br />and concluded that every succeeding day<br />must be the last. I expected, as the agonies<br />of death approached, that we should be<br />tearing the flesh from each other's bones."<br />Later still, he adds: "I can give very little<br />account of the rest of the time. The sensation<br />of hunger was lost in that of weakness;<br />and when I could get a supply of fresh water<br />I was comparatively easy." When land was<br />at last descried, he had become too indifferent<br />to raise his head to look at it, and continued<br />lying in a dull and drowsy state, much as<br />Adam the interpreter lay, with Franklin at<br />his side.<br /><br />The Peggy was an American sloop, sailing<br />home from the Azores to New York. She<br />encountered great distress of weather, ran<br />short of provision, and at length had no food<br />on board, and no water, " except about two<br />gallons which remained dirty at the bottom<br />of a cask." The crew ate a cat they had on<br />board, the leather from the pumps, their<br />buttons and their shoes, the candles and the<br />oil. Then, they went aft, and down into the<br />captain's cabin, and said they wanted him to<br />see lots fairly drawn who should be killed to<br />feed the rest. The captain refusing with<br />horror, they went forward again, contrived to<br />make the lot fall on a negro whom they had<br />on board, shot him, fried a part of him for<br />supper, and pickled the rest, with the exception<br />of the head and fingers which they threw<br />overboard. The greediest man among them,<br />dying raving mad on the third day after this<br />event, they threw his body into the sea—it<br />would seem because they feared to derive a<br />contagion of madness from it, if they ate it.<br />Nine days having elapsed in all since the<br />negro's death, and they being without food<br />again, they went below once more and<br />repeated their proposal to the captain (who<br />lay weak and ill in his cot, having been<br />unable to endure the mere thought of touching<br />the negro's remains), that he should see<br />lots fairly drawn. As he had no security but<br />that they would manage, if he still refused,<br />that the lot should fall on him, he consented.<br />It fell on a foremast-man, who was the<br />favourite of the whole ship. He was quite<br />willing to die, and chose the man who had<br />shot the negro, to be his executioner. While<br />he was yet living, the cook made a fire in the<br />galley; but, they resolved, when all was ready<br />for his death, that the fire should be put out<br />again, and that the doomed foremast-man<br />should live until an hour before noon<br />next day; after which they went once more<br />into the captain's cabin, and begged him to<br />read prayers, with supplications that a sail<br />might heave in sight before the appointed<br />time. A sail was seen at about eight<br />o'clock next morning, and they were taken<br />off the wreck.<br /><br />Is there any circumstance in this case to<br />separate it from the others already described,<br />and from the case of the lost Arctic voyagers?<br />Let the reader judge. The ship was laden<br />with wine and brandy. The crew were<br />incessantly drunk from the first hour of their<br />calamities fulling upon them. They were<br />not sober, even at the moment when they<br /><br />[387]<br />proposed the drawing of lots. They were<br />with difficulty restrained from making<br />themselves wildly intoxicated while the strange<br />sail bore down to their rescue. And the<br />mate, who should have been the exemplar and<br />preserver of discipline, was so drunk after<br />all, that he had no idea whatever of<br />anything that had happened, and was rolled into<br />the boat which saved his life.<br /><br />In the case of the Thomas, the surgeon<br />bled the man to death on whom the lot fell,<br />and his remains were eaten ravenously. The<br />details of this shipwreck are not within our<br />reach; but, we confidently assume the crew<br />to have been of an inferior class.<br /><br />The useful and accomplished SIR JOHN<br />BARROW, remarking that it is but too well<br />established " that men in extreme cases have<br />destroyed each other for the sake of appeasing<br />hunger," instances the English ship the<br />Nautilus and the French ship the Medusa.<br />Let us look into the circumstances of these<br />two shipwrecks.<br /><br />The Nautilus, sloop of war, bound for<br />England with despatches from the Dardanelles,<br />struck, one dark and stormy January<br />night, on a coral rock in the Mediterranean,<br />and soon broke up. A number of the crew<br />got upon the rock, which scarcely rose above<br />the water, and was less than four hundred<br />yards long, and not more than two hundred<br />broad.On the fourth day—they having been in<br />the meantime hailed by some of their comrades<br />who had got into a small whale-boat which<br />was hanging over the ship's quarter when<br />she struck; and also knowing that boat to<br />have made for some fishermen not far off—<br />these shipwrecked people ate the body of a<br />young man who had died some hours before:<br />notwithstanding that Sir John Barrow's<br />words would rather imply that they killed<br />some unfortunate person for the purpose.<br />Now, surely after what we have just seen<br />of the extent of human endurance under<br />similar circumstances, we know this to<br />be an exceptional and uncommon case. It<br />may likewise be argued that few of the<br />people on the rock can have eaten of<br />this fearful food; for, the survivors were<br />fifty in number, and were not taken off<br />until the sixth day and the eating of no<br />other body is mentioned, though many<br />persons died.<br /><br />We come then, to the wreck of the Medusa,<br />of which there is a lengthened French account<br />by two surviving members of the crew, which<br />was very indifferently translated into English<br />some five and thirty years ago. She sailed<br />from France for Senegal, in company with<br />three other vessels, and had about two<br />hundred and forty souls on board, including<br />a number of soldiers. She got among shoals<br />and stranded, a fortnight after her<br />departure from Aix Roads. After scenes of<br />tremendous confusion and dismay, the people<br />at length took to the boats, and to a raft<br />made of topmasts, yards, and other stout<br />spars, strongly lashed together. One hundred<br />and fifty mortals were crammed together on<br />the raft, of whom only fifteen remained to<br />be saved at the end of thirteen days. The<br />raft has become the ship, and may always be<br />understood to be meant when the wreck of<br />the Medusa is in question.<br /><br />Upon this raft, every conceivable and<br />inconceivable horror, possible under the<br />circumstances, took place. It was shamefully<br />deserted by the boats (though the land was<br />within fifteen leagues at that time), and it<br />was so deep in the water that those who<br />clung to it, fore and aft, were always<br />immersed in the sea to their middles, and it<br />was only out of the water amidships. It had<br />a pole for a mast, on which the top-gallant<br />sail of the Medusa was hoisted. It rocked<br />and rolled violently with every wave, so that<br />even in the dense crowd it was impossible to<br />stand without holding on. Within the first<br />few hours, people were washed off by dozens,<br />flung themselves into the sea, were stifled in<br />the press, and, getting entangled among the<br />spars, rolled lifeless to and fro under foot.<br />There was a cask of wine upon it which was<br />secretly broached by the soldiers and sailors,<br />who drank themselves so mad, that they<br />resolved to cut the cords asunder, and send the<br />whole living freight to perdition. They were<br />headed by "an Asiatic, and soldier in a<br />colonial regiment: of a colossal stature, with<br />short curled hair, an extremely large nose,<br />an enormous mouth, a sallow complexion,<br />and a hideous air." Him, an officer cast into the<br />sea; upon which, his comrades made a charge<br />at the officer, threw him into the sea, and, on<br />his being recovered by their opponents who<br />launched a barrel to him, tried to cut out his<br />eyes with a penknife. Hereupon, an incessant<br />and infernal combat was fought between the<br />two parties,with sabres, knives, bayonets, nails,<br />and teeth, until the rebels were thinned and<br />cowed, and they were all ferociously wild<br />together. On the third day, they " fell upon the<br />dead bodies with which the raft was covered,<br />and cut off pieces, which some instantly<br />devoured. Many did not touch them; almost all<br />the officers were of this number." On the fourth<br />"we dressed some fish (they had fire on the raft)<br />which we devoured with extreme avidity;<br />but, our hunger was so great, and our portion<br />of fish so small, that we added to it some<br />human flesh, which dressing rendered less<br />disgusting; it was this which the officers<br />touched for the first time. From this day<br />we continued to use it; but we could not<br />dress it any more, as we were entirely de-<br />prived of the means,'' through the accidental<br />extinction of their fire, and their having no<br />materials to kindle another. Before the<br />fourth night, the raving mutineers rose<br />again, and were cut down and thrown<br />overboard until only thirty people remained<br />alive upon the raft. On the seventh day,<br />there were only twenty-seven; and twelve of<br />these, being spent and ill, were every one cast<br /><br />[388]<br />into the sea by the remainder, who then, in<br />an access of repentance, threw the weapons<br />away too, all but one sabre. After that,<br />"the soldiers and sailors" were eager to<br />devour a butterfly which was seen fluttering<br />on the mast; after that, some of them<br />began to tell the stories of their lives;<br />and thus, with grim joking, and raging<br />thirst and reckless bathing among the<br />sharks which had now begun to follow the<br />raft, and general delirium and fever, they<br />were picked up by a ship: to the number,<br />and after the term of exposure, already<br />mentioned.<br /><br />Are there any circumstances in this frightful<br />case, to account for its peculiar horrors?<br />Again, the reader shall judge. No discipline<br />worthy of the name had been observed aboard<br />the Medusa from the minute of her weighing<br />anchor. The captain had inexplicably delegated<br />his authority " to a man who did not belong to<br />the staff. He was an ex-officer of the marine,<br />who had just left an English prison, where<br />he had been for ten years." This man held<br />the ship's course against the protest of the<br />officers, who warned him what would come<br />of it. The work of the ship had been so ill<br />done, that even the common manoeuvres<br />necessary to the saving of a boy who fell<br />overboard, had been bungled, and the boy<br />had been needlessly lost. Important signals<br />had been received from one of the ships in<br />company, and neither answered nor reported<br />to the captain. The Medusa had been on<br />fire through negligence. When she struck,<br />desertion of duty, mean evasion and fierce<br />recrimination, wasted the precious moments. "It<br />is probable that if one of the first officers had<br />set the example, order would have been<br />restored; but every one was left to himself." The<br />most virtuous aspiration of which the soldiers<br />were sensible, was, to fire upon their officers,<br />and, failing that, to tear their eyes out and<br />rend them to pieces. The historians compute<br />that there were not in all upon the raft<br />—before the sick were thrown into the sea—<br />more than twenty men of decency, education,<br />and purpose enough, even to oppose<br />the maniacs. To crown all, they describe<br />the soldiers as "wretches who were not<br />worthy to wear the French uniform. They<br />were the scum of all countries, the refuse<br />of the prisons, where they had been collected<br />to make up the force. When, for the sake<br />of health, they had been made to bathe in<br />the sea (a ceremony from which some of<br />them had the modesty to endeavour to excuse<br />themselves), the whole crew had had ocular<br />demonstration that it was not upon their<br />breasts these heroes wore the insignia of the<br />exploits which had led to their serving the<br />state in the ports of Toulon. Brest, or<br />Rochefort." And is it with the scourged<br />and branded sweepings or the galleys<br />of France, in their debased condition of<br />eight-and-thirty years ago, that we shall<br />compare the flower of the trained<br />adventurous spirit of the English Navy, raised<br />by Parry, Franklin, Richardson, and<br />Back?<br /><br />Nearly three hundred years ago, a<br />celebrated case of famine occurred in the<br />Jacques, a French ship, homeward-bound<br />from Brazil, with forty-five persons on board,<br />of whom twenty-five were the ship's company.<br />She was a crazy old vessel, fit for nothing but<br />firewood, and had been out four months, and<br />was still upon the weary seas far from land,<br />when her whole stock of provisions was<br />exhausted. The very maggots in the dust of<br />the bread-room had been eaten up, and<br />the parrots and monkeys brought from<br />Brazil by the men on board had been killed<br />and eaten, when two of the men died. Their<br />bodies were committed to the deep. At least<br />twenty days afterwards, when they had had<br />perpetual cold and stormy weather, and were<br />grown too weak to navigate the ship; when<br />they had eaten pieces of the dried skin of the<br />wild hog, and leather jackets and shoes, and<br />the horn-plates of the ship-lanterns, and all the<br />wax-candles; the gunner died. His body<br />likewise, was committed to the deep. They<br />then began to hunt for mice, so that it became<br />a common thing on board, to see skeleton-men<br />watching eagerly and silently at mouse-holes,<br />like cats. They had no wine and no water;<br />nothing to drink but one little glass of cider,<br />each, per day. When they were come to this<br />pass, two more of the sailors " died of hunger."<br />Their bodies likewise, were committed to the<br />deep. So long and doleful were these<br />experiences on the barren sea, that the people<br />conceived the extraordinary idea that another<br />deluge had happened, and there was no land<br />left. Yet, this ship drifted to the coast of<br />Brittany, and no " last resource " had ever<br />been appealed to. It is worth remarking<br />that, after they were saved, the captain<br />declared he had meant to kill somebody,<br />privately, next day. Whosoever has been<br />placed in circumstances of peril, with<br />companions, will know the infatuated pleasure<br />some imaginations take in enhancing<br />them and all their remotest possible<br />consequences, after they are escaped from, and<br />will know what value to attach to this<br />declaration.<br /><br />In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, a ship's<br />master and fifteen men escaped from a wreck<br />in an open boat, which they weighed down<br />very heavy, and were at sea, with no fresh-<br />water, and nothing to eat but the floating<br />sea-weed, seven days and nights. " We will<br />all live or die together," said the master on<br />the third day, when one of the men proposed<br />to draw lots—not who should become the<br />last resource, but who should be thrown<br />overboard to lighten the boat. On the fifth<br />day, that man and another died. The rest<br />were ''very weak and praying for death;"<br />but these bodies also, were committed to<br />the deep.<br /><br />In the reign of George the Third, the Wager,<br /><br />[389]<br />man-of-war, one of a squadron badly found<br />and provided in all respects, sailing from<br />England for South America, was wrecked on<br />the coast of Patagonia. She was commanded<br />by a brutal though bold captain, and manned<br />by a turbulent crew, most of whom were<br />exasperated to a readiness for all mutiny by<br />having been pressed in the Downs, in the<br />hour of their arrival at home from long and<br />hard service. When the ship struck, they<br />broke open the officers' chests, dressed themselves<br />in the officers' uniforms, and got drunk<br />in the old, Smollett manner. About a<br />hundred and fifty of them made their way ashore,<br />and divided into parties. Great distress was<br />experienced from want of food, and one of the<br />boys, " having picked up the liver of one of<br />the drowned men whose carcase had been<br />dashed to pieces against the rocks, could be<br />with difficulty withheld from making a meal<br />of it." One man, in a quarrel, on a spot<br />which, in remembrance of their sufferings<br />there, they called Mount Misery, stabbed<br />another mortally, and left him dead on the<br />ground. Though a third of the whole number<br />were no more, chiefly through want, in eight or<br />ten weeks; and though they had in the meantime<br />eaten a midshipman's dog, and were now<br />glad to feast on putrid morsels of seal that<br />had been thrown away; certain men came<br />back to this Mount Misery, expressly to give<br />this body (which throughout had remained<br />untouched), decent burial: assigning their<br />later misfortunes " to their having neglected<br />this necessary tribute." Afterwards, in an<br />open-boat navigation, when rowers died<br />at their oars of want and its attendant<br />weakness, and there was nothing to serve out<br />but bits of rotten seal, the starving crew went<br />ashore to bury the bodies of their dead<br />companions, in the sand. At such a condition did<br />even these ill-nurtured, ill-commanded, ill-<br />used men arrive, without appealing to the<br />"last resource," that they were so much<br />emaciated " as hardly to have the shape of<br />men," while the captain's legs " resembled<br />posts, though his body appeared to be<br />nothing but skin and bone," and he had<br />fallen into that feeble state of intellect<br />that he had positively forgotten his own<br />name.<br /><br />ln the same reign, an East Indiaman, bound<br />from Surat to Mocha and Jidda in the Dead<br />Sea, took fire when two hundred leagues<br />distant from the nearest land, which was the<br />coast of Malabar. The mate and ninety-five<br />other people, white, brown, and black, found<br />themselves in the long-boat, with this voyage<br />before them, and neither water nor provisions<br />on board. The account of the mate who<br />conducted the boat, day and night, is, " We were<br />never hungry, though our thirst was extreme.<br />On the seventh day, our throats and tongues<br />swelled to such a degree, that we conveyed<br />our meaning by signs. Sixteen died on that<br />day, and almost the whole people became<br />silly, and began to die laughing. I earnestly<br />petitioned God that I might continue in my<br />senses to my end, which He was pleased to<br />grant: I being the only person on the eighth<br />day that preserved them. Twenty more<br />died that day. On the ninth I observed land,<br />which overcame my senses, and I fell into a<br />swoon with thankfulness of joy." Again no<br />last resource, and can the reader doubt that<br />they would all have died without it?<br /><br />In the same reign, and within a few years<br />of the same date, the Philip Aubin, bark<br />of eighty tons, bound from Barbadoes to<br />Surinam, broached-to at sea, and foundered.<br />The captain, the mate, and two seamen, got<br />clear of the wreck and into " a small boat<br />twelve or thirteen feet long." In<br />accomplishing this escape, they all, but particularly<br />the captain, showed great coolness, courage,<br />sense, and resignation. They took the<br />captain's dog on board, and picked up thirteen<br />onions which floated out of the ship, after she<br />went down. They had no water, no mast,<br />sail, or oars; nothing but the boat, what they<br />wore, and a knife. The boat had sprung a<br />leak, which was stopped with a shirt. They<br />cut pieces of wood from the boat itself, which<br />they made into a mast; they rigged the mast<br />with strips of the shirt; and they hoisted a<br />pair of wide trousers for a sail. The little<br />boat being cut down almost to the water's edge,<br />they made a bulwark against the sea, of their<br />own backs. The mate steered with a top-<br />mast he had pushed before him to the boat,<br />when he swam to it. On the third day,<br />they killed the dog, and drank his blood out<br />of a hat. On the fourth day, the two men<br />gave in, saying they would rather die than<br />toil on; and one persisted in refusing to do his<br />part in baling the boat, though the captain<br />implored him on his knees. But, a very<br />decided threat from the mate to steer him<br />into the other world with the topmast by<br />bringing it down upon his skull, induced him<br />to turn-to again. On the fifth day, the mate<br />exhorted the rest to cut a piece out of his<br />thigh, and quench their thirst; but, no one<br />stirred. He had eaten more of the dog than<br />any of the rest, and would seem from this<br />wild proposal to have been the worse for it,<br />though he was quite steady again next day,<br />and derived relief (as the captain did), from<br />turning a nail in his mouth, and often<br />sprinkling his head with salt-water. The<br />captain, first and last, took only a few<br />mouthfuls of the dog, and one of the seamen<br />only tasted it, and the other would not touch<br />it. The onions they all thought of small<br />advantage to them, as engendering greater<br />thirst. On the eighth day, the two seamen,<br />who had soon relapsed and become delirious<br />and quite oblivious of their situation, died,<br />within three hours of each other. The<br />captain and mate saw the Island of Tobago<br />that evening, but could not make it until late<br />in the ensuing night. The bodies were<br />found in the boat, unmutilated by the last<br />resource. <br /><br />[390]<br />ln the same reign still, and within three<br />years of this disaster, the American brig,<br />Tyrel, sailed from New York for the Island<br />of Antigua. She was a miserable tub,<br />grossly unfit for sea, and turned bodily over<br />in a gale of wind, five days after her departure.<br />Seventeen people took to a boat,<br />nineteen feet and a half long, and less than<br />six feet and a half broad, They had half a<br />peck of white biscuit, changed into salt dough<br />by the sea-water; and a peck of common<br />ship-biscuit. They steered their course by<br />the polar-star. Soon after sunset on the<br />ninth day, the second mate and the carpenter<br />died very peacefully. "All betook themselves<br />to prayers, and then after some little<br />time stripped the bodies of their two<br />unfortunate comrades, and threw them overboard."<br />Next night, a man aged sixty-four who had<br />been fifty years at sea, died, asking to the<br />last for a drop of water; next day, two more<br />died, in perfect repose; next night, the<br />gunner; four more in the succeeding four<br />and twenty hours. Five others followed in<br />one day. And all these bodies were quietly<br />thrown overboard—though with great<br />difficulty at last, for the survivors were now<br />exceeding weak, and not one had strength<br />to pull an oar. On the fourteenth or fifteenth<br />morning, when there were only three left<br />alive, and the body of the cabin boy, newly<br />dead, was in the boat, the chief mate<br />'' asked his two companions whether they<br />thought they could eat any of the boy's<br />flesh? They signified their inclination to try;<br />whence, the body being quite cold, he cut a<br />piece from the inside of its thigh, a little<br />above the knee. Part of this he gave to the<br />captain and boatswain, and reserved a small<br />portion to himself. But, on attempting to<br />swallow the flesh, it was rejected by the<br />stomachs of all, and the body was therefore<br />thrown overboard." Yet that captain, and<br />that boatswain both died of famine in the<br />night, and another whole week elapsed<br />before a schooner picked up the chief mate,<br />left alone in the boat with their unmolested<br />bodies, the dumb evidence of his story. Which<br />bodies the crew of that schooner saw, and<br />buried in the deep.<br /><br />Only four years ago, in the autumn of<br />eighteen hundred and fifty, a party of British<br />missionaries were most indiscreetly sent out<br />by a Society, to Patagonia. They were seven<br />in number, and all died near the coast (as<br />nothing but a miracle could have prevented<br />their doing), of starvation. An exploring<br />party, under Captain Moorshead of her<br />Majesty's ship Dido, came upon their traces,<br />and found the remains of four of them, lying<br />by their two boats which they had hauled up<br />for shelter. CAPTAIN GARDINER, their super-<br />intendent, who had probably expired the last,<br />had kept a journal until the pencil had<br />dropped from his dying hand. They had<br />buried three of their party, like Christian<br />men, and the rest had faded away in quiet<br />resignation, and without great suffering. They<br />were kind and helpful to one another, to the<br />last. One of the common men, just like Adam<br />with Franklin, was " cast down at the loss of<br />his comrades, and wandering in his mind"<br />before he passed away.<br /><br />Against this strong case in support of our<br />general position, we will faithfully set<br />four opposite instances we have sought<br />out.<br /><br />The first is the case of the New Horn,<br />Dutch vessel, which was burnt at sea and<br />blew up with a great explosion, upwards of<br />two hundred years ago. Seventy-two people<br />escaped in two boats. The old Dutch captain's<br />narrative being rather obscure, and<br />(as we believe) scarcely traceable beyond a<br />French translation, it is not easy to understand<br />how long they were at sea, before the<br />people fell into the state to which the ensuing<br />description applies. According to our<br />calculation, however, they had not been ship-<br />wrecked many days—we take the period to<br />have been less than a week—and they had<br />had seven or eight pounds of biscuit on board.<br />"Our misery daily increased, and the rage of<br />hunger urging us to extremities, the people<br />began to regard each other with ferocious<br />looks. Consulting among themselves, they<br />secretly determined to devour the boys on<br />board, and after their bodies were consumed,<br />to throw lots who should next suffer death,<br />that the lives of the rest might be preserved."<br />The captain dissuading them from this with<br />the utmost loathing and horror, they reconsidered<br />the matter, and decided " that should<br />we not get sight of land in three days, the<br />boys should be sacrificed." On the last of<br />the three days, the land was made; so,<br />whether any of them would have executed<br />this intention, can never be known.<br /><br />The second case runs thus. In the last year<br />of the last century, six men were induced to<br />desert from the English artillery at St. Helena<br />—a deserter from any honest service is not a<br />character from which to expect much—and<br />to go on board an American ship, the only<br />vessel then lying in those roads. After they<br />got on board in the dark, they saw lights<br />moving about on shore, and, fearful that they<br />would be missed and taken, went over the<br />side, with the connivance of the ship's people,<br />got into the whale boat, and made off:<br />purposing to be taken up again by and by,<br />when the ship was under weigh. But, they<br />missed her, and rowed and sailed about for<br />sixteen days, at the end of which their<br />provisions were all consumed. After chewing<br />bamboo, and gnawing leather, and eating a<br />dolphin, one of them proposed, when ten days<br />more had run out, that lots should be drawn<br />which deserter should bleed himself to death,<br />to support life in the rest. It was agreed to,<br />and done. They could take very little of<br />this food.<br /><br />The third, is the case of the Nottingham<br />Galley, trading from Great Britain to America,<br /><br />[391]<br />which was wrecked on a rock called Boon<br />Island, off the coast of Massachusetts. About<br />two days afterwards—the narrative is not<br />very clear in its details—the cook died on<br />the rock. "Therefore," writes the captain,<br />"we laid him in a convenient place for the<br />sea to carry him away. None then proposed<br />to eat his body, though several afterwards<br />acknowledged that they, as well as myself,<br />had thoughts of it." They were "tolerably<br />well supplied with fresh-water throughout."<br />But, when they had been upon the rock about<br />a fortnight, and had eaten all their provisions,<br />the carpenter died. And then the captain<br />writes: " We suffered the body to remain<br />with us till morning, when I desired those<br />who were best able to remove it. I crept out<br />myself to see whether Providence had yet<br />sent us anything to satisfy our craving appetites.<br />Returning before noon, and observing<br />that the dead body still remained, I asked<br />the men why they had not removed it: to<br />which they answered, that all were not able.<br />I therefore fastened a rope to it, and, giving<br />the utmost of my assistance, we, with some<br />difficulty, got it out of the tent. But the<br />fatigue and consideration of our misery<br />together, so overcame my spirits, that, being<br />ready to faint, I crept into the tent and was<br />no sooner there, than, as the highest aggravation<br />of distress, the men began requesting<br />me to give them the body of their lifeless<br />comrade to eat, the better to support their<br />own existence." The captain ultimately<br />complied. They became brutalised and<br />ferocious; but they suffered him to keep<br />the remains on a high part of the rock: and<br />they were not consumed when relief arrived.<br /><br />The fourth and last case, is the wreck of the<br />St. Lawrence, bound from Quebec for New<br />York. An ensign of foot, bringing home<br />despatches, relates how she went ashore on a<br />desolate part of the coast of North America,<br />and how those who were saved from the wreck<br />suffered great hardships, both by land and<br />sea, and were thinned in their numbers<br />by death, and buried their dead. All this<br />time they had some provisions, though they<br />ran short, but at length they were reduced to<br />live upon weeds and tallow and melted snow.<br />The tallow being all gone, they lived on<br />weed and snow for three days, and then<br />the ensign came to this: " The time was now<br />arrived when I thought it highly expedient<br />to put the plan before mentioned (casting<br />lots who should be killed) into execution;<br />but on feeling the pulse of my companions,<br />I found some of them rather averse<br />to the proposal. The desire of life still<br />prevailed above every other sentiment,<br />notwithstanding the wretchedness of our condition,<br />and the impossibility of preserving it by any<br />other method. I thought it an extraordinary<br />instance of infatuation, that men should prefer<br />the certainty of a lingering and miserable<br />death, to the distant chance of escaping one<br />more immediate and less painful. However,<br />on consulting with the mate what was to be<br />done, I found that although they objected to<br />the proposal of casting lots for the victim,<br />yet all concurred in the necessity of some<br />one being sacrificed for the preservation of<br />the rest. The only question was how it<br />should be determined; when by a kind of<br />reasoning more agreeable to the dictates of<br />self-love than justice, it was agreed, that as<br />the captain was now so exceedingly reduced<br />as to be evidently the first who would sink<br />under our present complicated misery; as he<br />had been the person to whom we considered<br />ourselves in some measure indebted for all<br />our misfortunes; and further, as he had<br />ever since our shipwreck been the most<br />remiss in his exertions towards the general<br />good—he was undoubtedly the person<br />who should be the first sacrificed." The<br />design of which the ensign writes with<br />this remarkable coolness, was not carried<br />into execution, by reason of their falling<br />in with some Indians; but, some of the<br />party who were afterwards separated from<br />the rest, declared when they rejoined them,<br />that they had eaten of the remains of their<br />deceased companions. Of this case it is to be<br />noticed that the captain is alleged to have<br />been a mere kidnapper, sailing under false<br />pretences, and therefore not likely to have<br />had by any means a choice crew; that the<br />greater part of them got drunk when the<br />ship was in danger; and that they had not a<br />very sensitive associate in the ensign, on his<br />own highly disagreeable showing.<br /><br />It appears to us that the influence of great<br />privation upon the lower and least disciplined<br />class of character, is much more bewildering<br />and maddening at sea than on shore.<br />The confined space, the monotonous aspect of<br />the waves, the mournful winds, the<br />monotonous motion, the dead uniformity of colour,<br />the abundance of water that cannot be drunk<br />to quench the raging thirst (which the<br />Ancient Mariner perceived to be one of his<br />torments)—these seem to engender a diseased<br />mind with greater quickness and of a worse<br />sort. The conviction on the part of the<br />sufferers that they hear voices calling for them;<br />that they descry ships coming to their aid;<br />that they hear the firing of guns, and see the<br />flash; that they can plunge into the waves<br />without injury, to fetch something or to meet<br />somebody; is not often paralleled among<br />suffering travellers by land. The mirage<br />excepted—a delusion of the desert, which<br />has its counterpart upon the sea, not included<br />under these heads—we remember nothing<br />of this sort experienced by BRUCE, for<br />instance, or by MUNGO PARK: least of all<br />by Franklin in the memorable book we<br />have quoted. Our comparison of the<br />records of the two kinds of trial, leads us<br />to believe, that even man who might be in<br />danger of the last resource at sea, would be<br />very likely to pine away by degrees, and<br />never come to it, ashore. <br /><br />[392]<br />In his published account of the ascent of<br />Mont Blanc, which is an excellent little<br />book, Mr. ALBERT SMITH describes, with very<br />humorous fidelity, that when he was urged<br />on by the guides, in a drowsy state when he<br />would have given the world to lie down and<br />go to sleep for ever, he was conscious of being<br />greatly distressed by some difficult and<br />altogether imaginary negotiations respecting<br />a non-existent bedstead; also, by an impression<br />that a familiar friend in London came<br />up with the preposterous intelligence that<br />the King of Prussia objected to the party's<br />advancing, because it was his ground. But,<br />these harmless vagaries are not the present<br />question, being commonly experienced under<br />most circumstances where an effort to fix<br />the attention, or exert the body, contends<br />with a strong disposition to sleep. We have<br />been their sport thousands of times, and<br />have passed through a series of most<br />inconsistent and absurd adventures, while trying<br />hard to follow a short dull story related<br />by some eminent conversationalist after<br />dinner.<br /><br />No statement of cannibalism, whether<br />on the deep or the dry land, is to be<br />admitted supposititiously, or inferentially,<br />or on any but the most direct and positive<br />evidence: no, not even as occurring among<br />savage people, against whom it was in earlier<br />times too often a pretence for cruelty and<br />plunder. MR. PRESCOTT, in his brilliant<br />history of the Conquest of Mexico, observes<br />of a fact so astonishing as the existence of<br />cannibalism among a people who had attained<br />considerable advancement in the arts and<br />graces of life, that " they did not feed on<br />human flesh merely to gratify a brutish appetite,<br />but in obedience to their religion—a<br />distinction," he justly says, " worthy of<br />notice." Besides which, it is to be remarked,<br />that many of these feeding practices rest on<br />the authority of narrators who distinctly saw<br />St. James and the Virgin Mary fighting at<br />the head of the troops of Cortes, and who<br />possessed, therefore, to say the least, an<br />unusual range of vision. It is curious to<br />consider, with our general impressions on the<br />subject—very often derived, we have no doubt,<br />from ROBINSON CRUSOE, if the oaks of men's<br />beliefs could be traced back to acorns—how<br />rarely the practice, even among savages, has<br />been proved. The word of a savage is not<br />to be taken for it; firstly, because he is a<br />liar; secondly, because he is a boaster;<br />thirdly, because he often talks figuratively;<br />fourthly, because he is given to a superstitious<br />notion that when he tells you he has his<br />enemy in his stomach, you will logically<br />give him credit for having his enemy's<br />valour in his heart. Even the sight of<br />cooked and dissevered human bodies among<br />this or that tattoo'd tribe, is not proof. Such<br />appropriate offerings to their barbarous,<br />wide-mouthed, goggle-eyed gods, savages<br />have been often seen and known to make.<br />And although it may usually be held as<br />a rule, that the fraternity of priests lay<br />eager hands upon everything meant for<br />the gods, it is always possible that these<br />offerings are an exception: as at once<br />investing the idols with an awful character,<br />and the priests with a touch of disinterestedness,<br />whereof their order may occasionally<br />stand in need.<br /><br />The imaginative people of the East, in the<br />palmy days of its romance—not very much<br />accustomed to the sea, perhaps, but certainly<br />familiar by experience and tradition with<br />the perils of the desert—had no notion of<br />the " last resource " among civilised human<br />creatures. In the whole wild circle of the<br />Arabian Nights, it is reserved for ghoules,<br />gigantic blacks with one eye, monsters like<br />towers, of enormous bulk and dreadful<br />aspect, and unclean animals lurking on the<br />seashore, that puffed and blew their way into<br />caves where the dead were interred. Even<br />for SINBAD the Sailor, buried alive, the<br />story-teller found it easier to provide some<br />natural sustenance, in the shape of so many<br />loaves of bread and so much water, let down<br />into the pit with each of the other people<br />buried alive after him (whom he killed with<br />a bone, for he was not nice), than to invent<br />this dismal expedient.<br /><br />We are brought back to the position almost<br />embodied in the words of Sir John Richardson<br />towards the close of the former chapter.<br />In weighing the probabilities and improbabilities<br />of the " last resource," the foremost<br />question is—not the nature of the extremity;<br />but, the nature of the men. We submit that<br />the memory of the lost Arctic voyagers is<br />placed, by reason and experience, high above<br />the taint of this so easily-allowed connection;<br />and that the noble conduct and example of such<br />men, and of their own great leader himself,<br />under similar endurances, belies it, and<br />outweighs by the weight of the whole universe<br />the chatter of a gross handful of uncivilised<br />people, with a domesticity of blood and<br />blubber. Utilitarianism will protest "they<br />are dead; why care about this? " Our reply<br />shall be, " Because they ARE dead, therefore<br />we care about this. Because they served<br />their country well, and deserved well of her,<br />and can ask, no more on this earth, for her<br />justice or her loving-kindness; give them<br />both, full measure, pressed down, running<br />over. Because no Franklin can come back, to<br />write the honest story of their woes and<br />resignation, read it tenderly and truly in the<br />book he has left us. Because they lie<br />scattered on those wastes of snow, and are as<br />defenceless against the remembrance of<br />coming generations, as against the elements<br />into which they are resolving, and the winter<br />winds that alone can waft them home, now,<br />impalpable air; therefore, cherish them<br />gently, even in the breasts of children.<br />Therefore, teach no one to shudder without<br />reason, at the history of their end. Therefore,<br /><br />[393]<br />confide with their own firmness, in their<br />fortitude, their lofty sense of duty, their<br />courage, and their religion.</span>Peter Carneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11720739633773324546noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7460851571985771047.post-2154980761600221132019-12-02T01:42:00.001-08:002019-12-23T01:28:18.450-08:00Cannibalism: Charles Dickens v. Dr. John Rae, Part 1.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSHMZhaQAGAIbWy7aTUUBsPiYRNtVCYynxZ-FmcHQNKDhi_FtlIk2Yez8S97_FOcyUnIoUG2O24kdw6tOQ4XrAi-KeGGZiwVETWw4oxlZ5mTtECC9YRrmn9YKfnpbbpnJ64cFe_bkJA8gj/s1600/Header+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="260" data-original-width="661" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSHMZhaQAGAIbWy7aTUUBsPiYRNtVCYynxZ-FmcHQNKDhi_FtlIk2Yez8S97_FOcyUnIoUG2O24kdw6tOQ4XrAi-KeGGZiwVETWw4oxlZ5mTtECC9YRrmn9YKfnpbbpnJ64cFe_bkJA8gj/s640/Header+1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I noticed recently that we were approaching the anniversary of the publication of the dispute between Rae and Dickens on the subject of the reports of cannibalism which Rae had obtained from the Inuit.<br /><br />My purpose here is simply to post these lengthy articles on the same dates in the calendar that they were originally published and invite the public to read them and try to imagine what impressions would have been formed in the minds of the readership of 165 years ago.<br /><br />The transcription is from <a href="http://www.djo.org.uk/household-words/volume-x/page-361.html">http://www.djo.org.uk/household-words/volume-x/page-361.html</a></span></span></span><br />
<br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">HOUSEHOLD WORDS</span></span></span></b><br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">No. 245 Saturday, December 2, 1854 Page 361</span></span></span></b></div>
<br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">THE LOST ARCTIC VOYAGERS.<br /><br />DR. RAE may be considered to have established,<br />by the mute but solemn testimony<br />of the relics he has brought home, that<br />SIR JOHN FRANKLIN and his party are no<br />more. But, there is one passage in his<br />melancholy report, some examination into the<br />probabilities and improbabilities of which, we<br />hope will tend to the consolation of those who<br />take the nearest and dearest interest in the fate<br />of that unfortunate expedition, by leading to<br />the conclusion that there is no reason whatever<br />to believe, that any of its members prolonged<br />their existence by the dreadful expedient of<br />eating the bodies of their dead companions.<br />Quite apart from the very loose and<br />unreliable nature of the Esquimaux representations<br />(on which it would be necessary to<br />receive with great caution, even the commonest<br />and most natural occurrence), we believe we<br />shall show, that close analogy and the mass<br />of experience are decidedly against the reception<br />of any such statement, and that it is in the<br />highest degree improbable that such men as the<br />officers and crews of the two lost ships would,<br />or could, in any extremity of hunger, alleviate<br />the pains of starvation by this horrible means.<br /><br />Before proceeding to the discussion, we will<br />premise that we find no fault with Dr. Rae,<br />and that we thoroughly acquit him of any<br />trace of blame. He has himself openly<br />explained, that his duty demanded that he<br />should make a faithful report, to the Hudson's<br />Bay Company or the Admiralty, of every<br />circumstance stated to him; that he did so, as<br />he was bound to do, without any reservation;<br />and that his report was made public by the<br />Admiralty: not by him. It is quite clear that<br />if it were an ill-considered proceeding to<br />disseminate this painful idea on the worst of<br />evidence, Dr. Rae is not responsible for it. It<br />is not material to the question that Dr. Rae<br />believes in the alleged cannibalism; he does<br />so, merely "on the substance of information<br />obtained at various times and various<br />sources," which is before us all. At the same<br />time, we will most readily concede that he has<br />all the rights to defend his opinion which his<br />high reputation as a skilful and intrepid<br />traveller of great experience in the Arctic<br />Regions—combined with his manly,<br />conscientious, and modest personal character—can<br /><br />possibly invest him with. Of the propriety<br />of his immediate return to England with the<br />intelligence he had got together, we are fully<br />convinced. As a man of sense and humanity,<br />he perceived that the first and greatest<br />account to which it could be turned, was, the<br />prevention of the useless hazard of valuable<br />lives; and no one could better know in how<br />much hazard all lives are placed that follow<br />Franklin's track, than he who had made eight<br />visits to the Arctic shores. With these remarks<br />we can release Dr. Rae from this inquiry,<br />proud of him as an Englishman, and happy<br />in his safe return home to well-earned rest.<br /><br />The following is the passage in the report<br />to which we invite attention: "Some of the<br />bodies had been buried (probably those of the<br />first victims of famine); some were in a tent<br />or tents; others under the boat, which had<br />been turned over to form a shelter; and<br />several lay scattered about in different directions.<br />Of those found on the island, one was<br />supposed to have been an officer, as he had a<br />telescope, strapped over his shoulders, and his<br />double-barrelled gun lay underneath him.<br />From the mutilated state of many of the<br />corpses and the contents of the kettles, it is<br />evident that our wretched countrymen had<br />been driven to the last resource—cannibalism<br />—as a means of prolonging existence . . . .<br />None of the Esquimaux with whom I<br />conversed had seen the ' whites,' nor had they<br />ever been at the place where the bodies were<br />found, but had their information from those<br />who had been there, and who had seen the<br />party when travelling."<br /><br />We have stated our belief that the extreme<br />improbability of this inference as to the<br />last resource, can be rested, first on close<br />analogy, and secondly, on broad general<br />grounds, quite apart from the improbabilities<br />and incoherencies of the Esquimaux evidence:<br />which is itself given, at the very best, at<br />second-hand. More than this, we presume it<br />to have been given at second-hand through<br />an interpreter; and he was, in all probability,<br />imperfectly acquainted with the language he<br />translated to the white man. We believe that<br />few (if any) Esquimaux tribes speak one<br />common dialect; and Franklin's own<br />experience of his interpreters in his former voyage<br />was, that they and the Esquimaux they<br />encountered understood each other "tolerably"<br /><br />[362]<br /> —an expression which he frequently uses in<br />his book, with the evident intention of<br />showing that their communication was not<br />altogether satisfactory. But, even making the<br />very large admission that Dr. Rae's interpreter<br />perfectly understood what he was told,<br />there yet remains the question whether he<br />could render it into language of corresponding<br />weight and value. We recommend any<br />reader who does not perceive the difficulty of<br />doing so and the skill required, even when a<br />copious and elegant European language is in<br />question, to turn to the accounts of the trial<br />of Queen Caroline, and to observe the constant<br />discussions that arose—sometimes, very<br />important—in reference to the worth in English,<br />of words used by the Italian witnesses. There<br />still remains another consideration, and a<br />grave one, which is, that ninety-nine interpreters<br />out of a hundred, whether savage, half-savage,<br />or wholly civilised, interpreting to a<br />person of superior station and attainments, will<br />be under a strong temptation to exaggerate.<br />This temptation will always be strongest,<br />precisely where the person interpreted to is<br />seen to be the most excited and impressed<br />by what he hears; for, in proportion as he is<br />moved, the interpreter's importance is<br />increased. We have ourself had an<br />opportunity of inquiring whether any part of this<br />awful information, the unsatisfactory result<br />of "various times and various sources," was<br />conveyed by gestures. It was so, and the<br />gesture described to us as often repeated—<br />that of the informant setting his mouth to<br />his own arm—would quite as well describe a<br />man having opened one of his veins, and<br />drunk of the stream that flowed from it. If<br />it be inferred that the officer who lay upon<br />his double-barrelled gun, defended his life to the<br />last against ravenous seamen, under the boat<br />or elsewhere, and that he died in so doing,<br />how came his body to be found? That was<br />not eaten, or even mutilated, according to the<br />description. Neither were the bodies, buried<br />in the frozen earth, disturbed; and is it not<br />likely that if any bodies were resorted to as<br />food, those the most removed from recent life<br />and companionship would have been the first?<br />Was there any fuel in that desolate place for<br />cooking " the contents of the kettles"? If<br />none, would the little flame of the spirit-lamp<br />the travellers may have had with them, have<br />sufficed for such a purpose? If not, would<br />the kettles have been defiled for that purpose<br />at all? "Some of the corpses," Dr. Rae<br />adds, in a letter to the Times, "had been<br />sadly mutilated, and had been stripped by<br />those who had the misery to survive them,<br />and who were found wrapped in two or three<br />suits of clothes."Had there been no bears<br />thereabout, to mutilate those bodies; no<br />wolves, no foxes? Most probably the scurvy,<br />known to be the dreadfullest scourge of<br />Europeans in those latitudes, broke out<br />among the party. Virulent as it would<br />inevitably be under such circumstances, it<br />would of itself cause dreadful disfigurement—<br />woeful mutilation—but, more than that,<br />it would not only soon annihilate the desire<br />to eat (especially to eat flesh of any kind),<br />but would annihilate the power. Lastly, no<br />man can, with any show of reason, undertake<br />to affirm that this sad remnant of<br />Franklin's gallant band were not set upon<br />and slain by the Esquimaux themselves. It<br />is impossible to form an estimate of the<br />character of any race of savages, from their<br />deferential behaviour to the white man while<br />he is strong. The mistake has been made<br />again and again; and the moment the white<br />man has appeared in the new aspect of being<br />weaker than the savage, the savage has<br />changed and sprung upon him. There are<br />pious persons who, in their practice, with a<br />strange inconsistency, claim for every child<br />born to civilisation all innate depravity, and<br />for every savage born to the woods and wilds<br />all innate virtue. We believe every savage to<br />be in his heart covetous, treacherous, and cruel;<br />and we have yet to learn what knowledge<br />the white man—lost, houseless, shipless,<br />apparently forgotten by his race, plainly<br />famine-stricken, weak, frozen, helpless, and dying—<br />has of the gentleness of Esquimaux nature.<br /><br />Leaving, as we purposed, this part of the<br />subject with a glance, let us put a supposititious<br />case.<br /><br />If a little band of British naval officers,<br />educated and trained exactly like the officers<br />of this ill-fated expedition, had, on a former<br />occasion, in command of a party of men<br />vastly inferior to the crews of these two ships,<br />penetrated to the same regions, and been<br />exposed to the rigours of the same climate;<br />if they had undergone such fatigue, exposure,<br />and disaster, that scarcely power remained<br />to them to crawl, and they tottered and fell<br />many times in a journey of a few yards; if<br />they could not bear the contemplation of<br />their "filth and wretchedness, each other's<br />emaciated figures, ghastly countenances,<br />dilated eyeballs, and sepulchral voices"; if<br />they had eaten their shoes, such outer clothes<br />as they could part with and not perish of<br />cold, the scraps of acrid marrow yet<br />remaining in the dried and whitened spines<br />of dead wolves; if they had wasted away to<br />skeletons, on such fare, and on bits of putrid<br />skin, and bits of hide, and the covers of guns,<br />and pounded bones; if they had passed<br />through all the pangs of famine, had reached<br />that point of starvation where there is little<br />or no pain left, and had descended so far into<br />the valley of the shadow of Death, that they<br />lay down side by side, calmly and even cheerfully<br />awaiting their release from this world;<br />if they had suffered such dire extremity, and<br />yet lay where the bodies of their dead<br />companions lay unburied, within a few paces of<br />them; and yet never dreamed at the last<br />gasp of resorting to this said "last resource;"<br />would it not be strong presumptive evidence<br />against an incoherent Esquimaux story,<br /><br />[363]<br />collected at "various times" as it wandered from<br />"various sources"? But, if the leader of that<br />party were the leader of this very party too;<br />if Franklin himself had undergone those<br />dreadful trials, and had been restored to<br />health and strength, and had been—not for<br />days and months alone, but years—the Chief<br />of this very expedition, infusing into it, as<br />such a man necessarily must, the force of his<br />character and discipline, patience and fortitude;<br />would there not be a still greater and<br />stronger moral improbability to set against<br />the wild tales of a herd of savages?<br /><br />Now, this was Franklin's case. He had<br />passed through the ordeal we have described.<br />He was the Chief of that expedition, and he<br />was the Chief of this. In this, he<br />commanded a body of picked English seamen of<br />the first class; in that, he and his three<br />officers had but one English seaman to rely on;<br />the rest of the men being Canadian voyagers<br />and Indians. His Narrative of a Journey to<br />the Shores of the Polar Sea in 1819-22, is one<br />of the most explicit and enthralling in the<br />whole literature of Voyage and Travel. The<br />facts are acted and suffered before the reader's<br />eyes, in the descriptions of FRANKLIN,<br />RICHARDSON, and BACK: three of the greatest<br />names in the history of heroic endurance.<br /><br />See how they gradually sink into the depths<br />of misery.<br /><br />"I was reduced," says Franklin, long<br />before the worst came, "almost to skin and<br />bone, and, like the rest of the party,<br />suffered from degrees of cold that would have<br />been disregarded whilst in health and<br />vigour." " I set out with the intention of<br />going to Saint Germain, to hasten his<br />operations (making a canoe), but though he was<br />only three quarters of a mile distant, I spent<br />three hours in a vain attempt to reach him,<br />my strength being unequal to the labour of<br />wading through the deep snow; and I<br />returned quite exhausted, and much shaken by<br />the numerous falls I had got. My associates<br />were all in the same debilitated state. The<br />voyagers were somewhat stronger than<br />ourselves, but more indisposed to exertion, on<br />account of their despondency. The sensation<br />of hunger was no longer felt by any of us,<br />yet we were scarcely able to converse upon<br />any other subject than the pleasures of<br />eating.'' " We had a small quantity of this<br />weed (tripe de roche, and always the cause of<br />miserable illness to some of them) in the<br />evening, and the rest of our supper was made<br />up of scraps of roasted leather. The distance<br />walked to-day was six miles." ''Previous<br />to setting out, the whole party ate the<br />remains of their old shoes, and whatever scraps<br />of leather they had, to strengthen their<br />stomachs for the fatigue of the day's journey."<br />"Not being able to find any tripe de roche,<br />we drank an infusion of the Labrador<br />tea-plant, and ate a few morsels of burnt leather<br />for supper.'' " We were unable to raise the<br />tent, and found its weight too great to carry<br />it on; we therefore cut it up, and took a part<br />of the canvass for a cover.'' Thus growing<br />weaker and weaker every day, they reached,<br />at last, Fort Enterprise, a lonely and desolate<br />hut, where Richardson—then Dr. Richardson,<br />now Sir John—and Hepburn, the English<br />seaman, from whom they had been parted,<br />rejoined them. " We were all shocked at<br />beholding the emaciated countenances of the<br />Doctor and Hepburn, as they strongly<br />evidenced their extremely debilitated state. The<br />alteration in our appearance was equally<br />distressing to them, for, since the swellings had<br />subsided, we were little more than skin and<br />bone. The Doctor particularly remarked the<br />sepulchral tone of our voices, which he requested<br />us to make more cheerful, if possible, quite<br />unconscious that his own partook of the same<br />key." "In the afternoon Peltier was so<br />much exhausted, that he sat up with<br />difficulty, and looked piteously; at length he<br />slided from his stool upon the bed, as we<br />supposed to sleep, and in this composed state he<br />remained upwards of two hours without<br />our apprehending any danger. We were<br />then alarmed by hearing a rattling in his<br />throat, and on the Doctor's examining him<br />he was found to be speechless. He died in<br />the course of the night. Semandré sat up the<br />greater part of the day, and even assisted in<br />pounding some bones; but, on witnessing the<br />melancholy state of Peltier, he became very<br />low, and began to complain of cold, and stiffness<br />of the joints. Being unable to keep up<br />a sufficient fire to warm him, we laid him<br />down, and covered him with several blankets.<br />He did not, however, appear to get better,<br />and I deeply lament to add, he also died<br />before daylight. We removed the bodies of the<br />deceased into the opposite part of the house,<br />but our united strength was inadequate to the<br />task of interring them, or even carrying them<br />down to the river." "The severe shock<br />occasioned by the sudden dissolution of our two<br />companions, rendered us very melancholy.<br />Adam (one of the interpreters) became low and<br />despondent; a change which we lamented the<br />more, as we perceived he had been gaining<br />strength and spirits for the two preceding days.<br />I was particularly distressed by the thought<br />that the labour of collecting wood must now<br />devolve upon Dr. Richardson and Hepburn, and<br />that my debility would disable me from affording<br />them any material assistance; indeed both<br />of them most kindly urged me not to make the<br />attempt. I found it necessary, in their absence,<br />to remain constantly near Adam and to<br />converse with him, in order to prevent his reflecting<br />on our condition, and to keep up his spirits<br />as far as possible. I also lay by his side at<br />night." "The Doctor and Hepburn were<br />getting much weaker, and the limbs of the<br />latter were now greatly swelled. They came<br />into the house frequently in the course of the<br />day to rest themselves, and when once seated<br />were unable to rise without the help of one<br />another, or of a stick. Adam was for the<br /><br />[364]<br />most part in the same low state as yesterday,<br />but sometimes he surprised us by getting up<br />and walking with an appearance of increased<br />strength. His looks were now wild and<br />ghastly, and his conversation was often<br />incoherent." "I may here remark, that owing<br />to our loss of flesh, the hardness of the floor,<br />from which we were only protected by a<br />blanket, produced soreness over the body,<br />and especially those parts on which the<br />weight rested in lying; yet to turn ourselves<br />for relief was a matter of toil and difficulty.<br />However, during this period, and indeed all<br />along after the acute pains of hunger, which<br />lasted but a short time, had subsided, we<br />generally enjoyed the comfort of a few hours'<br />sleep. The dreams which for the most part<br />but not always accompanied it, were usually<br />(though not invariably) of a pleasant<br />character, being very often about the enjoyments<br />of feasting. In the daytime, we fell into the<br />practice of conversing on common and light<br />subjects, although we sometimes discoursed,<br />with seriousness and earnestness, on topics<br />connected with religion. We generally avoided<br />speaking, directly, of our present sufferings,<br />or even of the prospect of relief. I observed,<br />that in proportion as our strength decayed,<br />our minds exhibited symptoms of weakness,<br />evinced by a kind of unreasonable pettishness<br />with each other. Each of us thought<br />the other weaker in intellect than himself,<br />and more in need of advice and assistance.<br />So trifling a circumstance as a change of<br />place, recommended by one as being warmer<br />and more comfortable, and refused by the<br />other from a dread of motion, frequently<br />called forth fretful expressions, which were<br />no sooner uttered than atoned for, to be<br />repeated, perhaps, in the course of a few<br />minutes. The same thing often occurred when<br />we endeavoured to assist each other in carrying<br />wood to the fire; none of us were willing<br />to receive assistance, although the task was<br />disproportioned to our strength. On one of these<br />occasions, Hepburn was so convinced of this<br />waywardness, that he exclaimed, 'Dear me, if<br />we are spared to return to England, I wonder<br />if we shall recover our understandings!'"<br /><br />Surely it must be comforting to the<br />relatives and friends of Franklin and his brave<br />companions in later dangers, now at rest, to<br />reflect upon this manly and touching narrative;<br />to consider that at the time it so<br />affectingly describes, and all the weaknesses of<br />which it so truthfully depicts, the bodies of<br />the dead lay within reach, preserved by<br />the cold, but unmutilated; and to know it<br />for an established truth, that the sufferers<br />had passed the bitterness of hunger and were<br />then dying passively.<br /><br />They knew the end they were approaching<br />very well, as Franklin's account of the arrival<br />of their deliverance next day, shows. "Adam<br />had passed a restless night, being disquieted<br />by gloomy apprehensions of approaching<br />death, which we tried in vain to dispel. He<br />was so low in the morning as to be scarcely<br />able to speak. I remained in bed by his<br />side, to cheer him as much as possible. The<br />Doctor and Hepburn went to cut wood.<br />They had hardly begun their labour, when<br />they were amazed at hearing the report of a<br />musket. They could scarcely believe that<br />there was really any one near, until they<br />heard a shout, and immediately espied three<br />Indians close to the house. Adam and I<br />heard the latter noise, and I was fearful that<br />a part of the house had fallen upon one of my<br />companions; a disaster which had in fact<br />been thought not unlikely. My alarm was<br />only momentary. Dr. Richardson came in<br />to communicate the joyful intelligence that<br />relief had arrived. He and myself<br />immediately addressed thanksgiving to the throne<br />of mercy for this deliverance, but poor Adam<br />was in so low a state that he could scarcely<br />comprehend the information. When the<br />Indians entered, he attempted to rise, but<br />sank down again. But for this seasonable<br />interposition of Providence, his existence<br />must have terminated in a few hours, and<br />that of the rest probably in not many days."<br /><br />But, in the preceding trials and privations<br />of that expedition, there was one man,<br />MICHEL, an Iroquois hunter, who did<br />conceive the horrible idea of subsisting on the<br />bodies of the stragglers, if not of even<br />murdering the weakest with the express design<br />of eating them—which is pretty certain.<br />This man planned and executed his wolfish<br />devices at a time when Sir John Richardson<br />and Hepburn were afoot with him every<br />day; when, though their sufferings were<br />very great, they had not fallen into the weakened<br />state of mind we have just read of; and<br />when the mere difference between his bodily<br />robustness and the emaciation of the rest of<br />the party—to say nothing of his mysterious<br />absences and returns—might have engendered<br />suspicion. Yet, so far off was the<br />unnatural thought of cannibalism from their<br />minds, and from that of Mr. HOOD, another<br />officer who accompanied them—though they<br />were all then suffering the pangs of hunger,<br />and were sinking every hour—that no<br />suspicion of the truth dawned upon one of them,<br />until the same hunter shot Mr. Hood dead<br />as he sat by a fire. It was after the<br />commission of that crime, when he had become an<br />object of horror and distrust, and seemed to<br />be going savagely mad, that circumstances<br />began to piece themselves together in the<br />minds of the two survivors, suggesting a<br />guilt so monstrously unlikely to both of them<br />that it had never flashed upon the thoughts of<br />either until they knew the wretch to be a<br />murderer. To be rid of his presence, and<br />freed from the danger they at length<br />perceived it to be fraught with, Sir John<br />Richardson, nobly assuming the responsibility<br />he would not allow a man of commoner<br />station to bear, shot this devil through the<br />head—to the infinite joy of all the generations<br /><br />[365]<br />of readers who will honour him in his<br />admirable narrative of that transaction.<br /><br />The words in which Sir John Richardson<br />mentions this Michel, after the earth is rid<br />of him, are extremely important to our<br />purpose, as almost describing the broad general<br />ground towards which we now approach.<br />"His principles, unsupported by a belief in<br />the divine truths of Christianity, were unable<br />to withstand the pressure of severe distress.<br />His countrymen, the Iroquois, are generally<br />Christians, but he was totally uninstructed,<br />and ignorant of the duties inculcated by<br />Christianity; and from his long residence in<br />the Indian country, seems to have imbibed,<br />or retained, the rules of conduct which the<br />southern Indians prescribe to themselves."<br /><br />Heaven forbid that we, sheltered and fed,<br />and considering this question at our own<br />warm hearth, should audaciously set limits<br />to any extremity of desperate distress! It<br />is in reverence for the brave and enterprising,<br />in admiration for the great spirits who can<br />endure even unto the end, in love for their<br />names, and in tenderness for their memory,<br />that we think of the specks, once ardent<br />men, "scattered about in different directions"<br />on the waste of ice and snow, and plead for<br />their lightest ashes. Our last claim in their<br />behalf and honour, against the vague babble<br />of savages, is, that the instances in which this<br />"last resource" so easily received, has been<br />permitted to interpose between life and<br />death, are few and exceptional; whereas<br />the instances in which the sufferings of<br />hunger have been borne until the pain was<br />past, are very many. Also, and as the citadel<br />of the position, that the better educated the<br />man, the better disciplined the habits, the<br />more reflective and religious the tone of<br />thought, the more gigantically improbable<br />the "last resource" becomes.<br /><br />Beseeching the reader always to bear in<br />mind that the lost Arctic voyagers were<br />carefully selected for the service, and that<br />each was in his condition no doubt far above<br />the average, we will test the Esquimaux kettle-stories<br />by some of the most trying and famous<br />cases of hunger and exposure on record.<br /><br />This, however, we must reserve for<br />another and concluding chapter next week.</span></span></span>Peter Carneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11720739633773324546noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7460851571985771047.post-23398423651704612352019-11-26T06:03:00.000-08:002019-11-26T06:06:28.491-08:00Lecture at Rosses Point. Plus 'Lead from cans' blood tests.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFxEZJW5d-DgH1lKH1MzD0EOKds1EEUC76D0_XRT9DQG_SiCluJ5NtiRpTS8Ys9nbwzEgY7rNWG2CmozlX4mRG2xU0JNOUgYRH3OC259uVNp-pBEUuejMxzJDp_cj2nh6dP2ZGV8HcU-a7/s1600/Noel+Kilgallon+Copyright.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="639" data-original-width="960" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFxEZJW5d-DgH1lKH1MzD0EOKds1EEUC76D0_XRT9DQG_SiCluJ5NtiRpTS8Ys9nbwzEgY7rNWG2CmozlX4mRG2xU0JNOUgYRH3OC259uVNp-pBEUuejMxzJDp_cj2nh6dP2ZGV8HcU-a7/s640/Noel+Kilgallon+Copyright.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="_mh6 _wsc" id="cch_f20afe7ad39c2e2"><span class="_3oh- _58nk"> Photo credit: Noel Kilgallon</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
On Friday the 18th of October this year I was honoured to be a speaker at the annual <a href="https://www.facebook.com/rossespoint1/">Maritime Heritage Weekend</a> which takes place each autumn at Harry's Bar, Rosses Point, County Sligo, Ireland and which is superbly organised by the incomparable Medbh Gillard. <br />
<br />
The Weekend's place in the calendar is contrived to be the weekend before the Annual Shackleton Autumn School at Athy, which is now in its 19th year. While Ireland's polar heroes are well represented at Rosses Point, the focus encompasses the full gamut of maritime history as is appropriate for its location on Ireland's wild Atlantic coast.<br />
<br />
Aside from the event per se, the warmth of the hospitality, the sheer delight of the accommodation and of the victualling and watering locations, and the stunning scenery all need to be mentioned. Even the delightfully benign autumn weather played its part.<br />
<br />
My talk, scheduled for 45 minutes, was titled 'Victualling Victoria's Navy'. This was based on my 'Naval Diet Simulation' from earlier in the year and expanded to include wider aspects of the enormous organisation established to feed the nineteenth century Royal Navy, or as I call it "The Empire of Weevil". I had tremendous fun and the question and answer session with the engaged and well informed audience was a delight.<br />
<br />
All in all, the whole trip was intensely enjoyable and I'm already looking forward to next year!<br />
<br />
<br />
I had kept back some of the results of my dietary experiment (detailed previously in this blog) so they could be aired in public for the first time at this event.<br />
<br />
My experiment included provisions which were heat-treated after being sealed in lead-soldered cans to make as close a simulation to Goldner's original 1845 product as I could make. The solder used to make my cans was an alloy comprising of 60% tin and 40% lead. I have to admit that I don't know the composition of the solder actually used by Goldner - that is something I intend to check in the future.<br />
<br />
A samples of my blood was taken immediately before commencing the diet and another about ten days after completing the week. The results of analysis for blood Pb level and Zinc protoporphyrin (ZPP) are shown below.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisYSWWi5UYK_gercciH-XHazhPQfGv-BDjjNZ1jsoaQ-f5alp477WIHW_2rNnPaDP94tLDAE-WZhKd0Z3n24PNJFykDUd2B7nWAnJ0AyWRpCSmHWwDk74I90UQ5EnBwW8tQEW1dHSDLTdh/s1600/12a.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="663" data-original-width="1080" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisYSWWi5UYK_gercciH-XHazhPQfGv-BDjjNZ1jsoaQ-f5alp477WIHW_2rNnPaDP94tLDAE-WZhKd0Z3n24PNJFykDUd2B7nWAnJ0AyWRpCSmHWwDk74I90UQ5EnBwW8tQEW1dHSDLTdh/s640/12a.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
The slightly increased blood lead values speak for themselves. <br />
<br />
Elevated ZPP is used as an indicator both for lead exposure and iron deficiency. In this case it appears that I was very slightly iron deficient before the trail and the increased level afterwards is strongly suggestive of lead ingestion.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
So what does all this mean? I have long argued against the lead from cans theory but I have to admit that these results will surely give it a boost. <br />
<br />
It seems very likely that Franklin's men did absorb some lead from the canned food but what proportion of the lead found in the recovered bones and other tissues derives from this source compared with that from consumption of adulterated foodstuffs earlier in their lives remains to be proved.<br />
<br />
A further question which arises concerns which of my experimental canned foods is most to blame for the increased lead level detected?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDO-37FDs145spZGRvCBGTSZU717wdaWglQEtPJ0X7kyJ8ckP7R0BRgiOCIqzhdmV4uNnIsDQsaJFAuvv0NEr-9SgdYOipBS6C7J9eT1d2-ncqfSp_TbZHXNyvVfmpI4NOBjmr4Vy0y4em/s1600/14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDO-37FDs145spZGRvCBGTSZU717wdaWglQEtPJ0X7kyJ8ckP7R0BRgiOCIqzhdmV4uNnIsDQsaJFAuvv0NEr-9SgdYOipBS6C7J9eT1d2-ncqfSp_TbZHXNyvVfmpI4NOBjmr4Vy0y4em/s640/14.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Three cans were used in the trial, Boiled Beef, Boiled Carrots, and Vegetable Soup. It would be very surprising if the level contamination was identical in each of them. The soldered seams in the meat can were noticeably tarnished while those in the carrot can look pristine. My initial thought was that the tarnish was a sign that lead had dissolved into the food but on second thoughts it may be a surface layer of insoluble Lead Sulfide. On the other hand, the pristine seams of the carrot can may be a sign that lead has dissolved, leaving a clean and shiny surface behind. <br />
<br />
Samples of the meat and carrots have been preserved in my freezer. Hair samples were also taken, a month after the trial. Hopefully these will provide ammunition for further investigations in the future.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
All comments welcome, either here or on the 'Remembering the Franklin Expedition' <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/11434844549/?ref=group_header">Facebook page</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Peter Carneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11720739633773324546noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7460851571985771047.post-28294429908863921082019-09-16T07:52:00.001-07:002019-09-16T07:52:23.681-07:00The Spirits of Erebus and Terror<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOIecwQpfFNORPIVERY2ALkKEHlihOTL7vYKYoCLRmwjTuca56Uy8lJ58raYbuI02_xTzrj6iPwB2fkX9EnSj2ytvuZMyna0DRSSiInQxjJ4Qnq3pL83AFWsptU48BgQ_q_2NYCK7YuTjI/s1600/Rum+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOIecwQpfFNORPIVERY2ALkKEHlihOTL7vYKYoCLRmwjTuca56Uy8lJ58raYbuI02_xTzrj6iPwB2fkX9EnSj2ytvuZMyna0DRSSiInQxjJ4Qnq3pL83AFWsptU48BgQ_q_2NYCK7YuTjI/s640/Rum+pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
No discussion of the victualing of the Victorian era Royal Navy would be complete without mentioning the rum ration.<br />
<br />Beer, at a rate of one gallon per day, had long been a part of the sailors diet. The capture of Jamaica by the British in 1655 kicked off the gradual process of substituting rum - initially at a rate of half a pint daily. In 1740, for reasons of health and morals, it was ordered to be served out mixed with water (ie. Grog) in the ratio of 1 part rum to 2 parts water and split between morning and evening. In 1824 the evening serving was abandoned, halving the ration to a gill (0.25 pint), with better food and extra pay to compensate. Part of the reduction was almost immediately reversed by the new Imperial measures which increased the volume by a fifth and the evening serving was reintroduced. This was the regime under which Erebus and Terror sailed in 1845. The ration would be halved again in 1850 and finally abolished in 1970.<br /><br />The spirits used by the Royal Navy were normally shipped on board at a strength of 5% under proof (54.5% ABV), presumably to mitigate the fire hazard. On Arctic expeditions, where space was at a premium, the rum was supplied at a much higher cask strength and diluted to the standard strength when required.<br /><br />For my experiment I obtained a bottle of Pusser's Gunpowder Proof rum of the regulation 54.5% ABV, plus a larger quantity of the rather less expensive Lamb's Navy Rum at 40% ABV.<br />More often than not, I simulated the daily ration of 142ml, ie. an Imperial Gill, of the regulation strength Pusser's with 194 ml of the 40% ABV Lamb's. One half served before lunch and the other in the evening.<br /><br />Using spirits of the strength common today helps the mind to appreciate the quantities better. The daily rum ration of the 1840s was near enough four 50ml doubles by today's standards. The weekly consumption would amount to four times the current recommendation by the The UK's chief medical officer. Well, they had plenty else to worry about.<br /><br />Queen Victoria had a taste of 'Grog' in 1842 when she visited 110-gun first-rate '<i>HMS Queen</i>', the Navy's last battleship driven by sail alone.<br /><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
On her return to the quarter-deck, her Majesty expressed a wish to see the ship's company at their dinner. As soon as it and the grog were served out, the royal party went below. As her Majesty stepped on the lower deck, the men stood up, and although her Majesty kindly desired that they might be seated, they continued standing during the progress round the deck. On arriving opposite to the table abreast of the mainmast, her Majesty desired Captain Rich to let her taste the grog. The gallant Captain ordered a glass to be brought, but the Queen said, "No I wish to taste it as the men have it." A mess basin was filled from the grog can on the nearest table, and presented by Capt. Rich, on his knee; having tasted it, her Majesty smilingly remarked "that it was very good." (not as formerly stated in the daily papers - that it was very weak,) and taking a second sip, returned the basin. </blockquote>
<br />For my experiment, the jokes I made about reducing my gin consumption to make space for the rum fell slightly flat. I was obliged to go on a reduced ration part way through the week for reasons of health and morals. :-(Peter Carneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11720739633773324546noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7460851571985771047.post-81017361187013967572019-07-21T13:58:00.001-07:002019-07-21T13:58:58.435-07:00Naval rations: Day 7<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6QDp17LCdm8ZFZh76j93HHnuQBz4Ynm2Q3iLeX5TW0dwqA0hxsdHPele5fxp6KqHm-SfSHnayXFLAGNzvI9cW3gSDm2mST56YFES3XYQ7_9M66CZx1NXPptlEuHAhJetAatNvL__3bstf/s1600/peasoup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1289" data-original-width="1600" height="514" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6QDp17LCdm8ZFZh76j93HHnuQBz4Ynm2Q3iLeX5TW0dwqA0hxsdHPele5fxp6KqHm-SfSHnayXFLAGNzvI9cW3gSDm2mST56YFES3XYQ7_9M66CZx1NXPptlEuHAhJetAatNvL__3bstf/s640/peasoup.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
The meal to mark the end of the week was salt pork with pea soup. Long boiling of the pork left the meat tender but perfectly flavoursome. It also yielded a tasty but rather salty stock, which, diluted with the water in which the split peas had been steeped, plus some additional water from the ship's tanks (i.e. the kitchen tap), made the basis of the soup. <br /><br />Some authors have written approvingly of the technique of mashing the peas by putting a round-shot into the coppers "which from the constant motion of the vessel acts as a sort of crushing machine", but that was not resorted to in this case (I used a hand blender).<br /><br />The only condiment added was a sprinkling of ground black pepper. From the image it can be seen that the 'soup' is not entirely liquid, being more of a thick paste - somewhere in the middle ground between a soup and a pudding. That did not, however, impair the excellent flavour of the dish in any way. Either alone, or with the addition of meat that was easily shredded with the fork, this was a veritable treat and it is not surprising that it was one of Jack Tar's favourites.<br /><br />Additional liquid would have been a boon with regard to the shards of ship's biscuit employed as croutons. There being no surplus for them to absorb, they softened hardly at all, resolutely maintaining instead their fortress-like resistance to this diner's molars.<br /><br />However, that is indeed a minor gripe, which was no detriment to the enjoyment of the meal, and will easily be rectified as the embryonic ship's cook gains in experience.<br /><br />This was the seventh day of dining on the victuals of Queen Victoria's Royal Navy, and it marks the end of this particular voyage of discovery. The stock of lemon juice is almost expended, and although a dose of scurvy would convey incomparable bragging rights among the Arctic aficionados, the call of home has won through.<br />
<br />
This may, however, be reckoned as just a preliminary excursion. A sort of training expedition as it were. Certainly, much of the fare reported on these pages will be revisiting the writer's table in the future. But for now, there will be a period of revelling in the comforts of home cooking and all the luxuries of the life ashore.<br />Peter Carneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11720739633773324546noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7460851571985771047.post-36448501457537332802019-07-20T02:22:00.000-07:002019-07-20T02:27:02.141-07:00Naval rations: Day 6<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhW8QvesGKEotEXENPLLISm50Wn24rPz8PsDXCrBu_1Bimx3BHPfLLeT3zeUz0g_SUk37gf2oCbtsRF1vD5uzo5ptReQYmEqJKcrx83gpibiV8SMromNdbpdEkda4DP86jc1-HdrZGLIZT/s1600/carrot1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhW8QvesGKEotEXENPLLISm50Wn24rPz8PsDXCrBu_1Bimx3BHPfLLeT3zeUz0g_SUk37gf2oCbtsRF1vD5uzo5ptReQYmEqJKcrx83gpibiV8SMromNdbpdEkda4DP86jc1-HdrZGLIZT/s640/carrot1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Day 6 brought the welcome addition of (simulated) Goldner's Patent preserved carrots to the table. The bright, natural, colour and pleasant aroma raised the prospect of a most pleasant meal. It has to be said that these hopes were not entirely realised as, although the flavour of the carrots was all that could be asked for, they were decidedly overcooked. This information will be passed on to the contractor immediately the voyage is completed.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWGDMrBW-RzcXX34hmV92GzlJPwuxMeB1lgJFTvkF2cjoN2YU97gVGvyd0_l4NLvan8osGN_av_9_vssrzm80v2M_WvGyQKfYOLgMogEu4QHHXwUh6bem7pjQEHSFq0aR6vUNr_ab6IqkR/s1600/carrot2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1315" data-original-width="1600" height="524" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWGDMrBW-RzcXX34hmV92GzlJPwuxMeB1lgJFTvkF2cjoN2YU97gVGvyd0_l4NLvan8osGN_av_9_vssrzm80v2M_WvGyQKfYOLgMogEu4QHHXwUh6bem7pjQEHSFq0aR6vUNr_ab6IqkR/s640/carrot2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Setting aside that small criticism, the day's dinner was exceedingly well received. The combination of three preserved ingredients, combined with broken biscuits to soak up the gravy, made for a most harmonious gastro-nautical experience.Peter Carneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11720739633773324546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7460851571985771047.post-37031459248997224112019-07-19T14:19:00.001-07:002019-07-19T14:19:49.560-07:00Naval rations: Day 5<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqdNQbdcSf50HcWKYJ7OIjJSOn_6pkr2AJrlDC8_UX4KJvM5Z0azMrRIrJk3sZbtp4WBplALCci28Dv6d7_VEkbe88KN4kRNkkN4ojgb3wOcTYy7dBM9_6zcjndP1DXBwdgoljYAOdd3LB/s1600/duff1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqdNQbdcSf50HcWKYJ7OIjJSOn_6pkr2AJrlDC8_UX4KJvM5Z0azMrRIrJk3sZbtp4WBplALCci28Dv6d7_VEkbe88KN4kRNkkN4ojgb3wOcTYy7dBM9_6zcjndP1DXBwdgoljYAOdd3LB/s640/duff1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
On Day 5 dinner was salt beef again, which this time was properly cooked. It was tender and tasty enough yet it still didn't fare too highly in the flavour stakes in comparison with the excellent preserved meat served the day before. The plum duff which accompanied the beef was this time a triumph - a notable improvement on the ship's cook's previous attempt.<br />
<br />
In the absence of a properly sewn pudding bag, a linen tea towel was called to serve in its stead. The specified allowance of nine ounces of flour was thoroughly mixed with an ounce and a half of raisins and three quarters of an ounce of suet. Sugar was added plus a couple of ground allspice berries and a splash of rum before mixing with water to create a sticky mass which was rolled in the wetted and floured cloth.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOTFKFrvFwjdvbF8rM_8rffv5UhFqVaArT65aJIgznB60NB02p0eBmGE24Ogo0SgK2n3G57KnqX5eVcnQRuSWMtvigzmkR4JnsTdK-9rtqjmbhyphenhyphen5-JdXrOi7xprT2ozgXJliConPvBt9dB/s1600/duff2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="873" data-original-width="1274" height="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOTFKFrvFwjdvbF8rM_8rffv5UhFqVaArT65aJIgznB60NB02p0eBmGE24Ogo0SgK2n3G57KnqX5eVcnQRuSWMtvigzmkR4JnsTdK-9rtqjmbhyphenhyphen5-JdXrOi7xprT2ozgXJliConPvBt9dB/s640/duff2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
After an hour's boiling the package was opened and pronounced to the finest example of a (simulated) mid nineteenth century Royal Naval plum duff known to history. In the photos the raisins appear somewhat sparsely distributed, after all they only account for one sixth the mass of the flour. However, the delicious essence of the fruit, was found to permeate throughout the whole to create a very well balanced and satisfying pudding. The quantity was sufficiently generous to provide a slice each to two visitors to the mess table, both of whom pronounced it to be first rate.Peter Carneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11720739633773324546noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7460851571985771047.post-87284060228377219012019-07-18T07:49:00.000-07:002019-07-18T07:49:05.435-07:00Naval rations: Day 4<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZMIvr3dbgGJnXiI7EYcGE8BASC7Wj7_TPFMeqYHVXHD9Kx1K-G0jV46OnI50JLZKc9HuVG6gGkDfWiEoIgimKLPd40o5fS-zGzUpWgCM8oiEeRbEs4C7eEoqeFCps0E0XPc3JwjSEH2Pv/s1600/A+can.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1171" data-original-width="1600" height="467" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZMIvr3dbgGJnXiI7EYcGE8BASC7Wj7_TPFMeqYHVXHD9Kx1K-G0jV46OnI50JLZKc9HuVG6gGkDfWiEoIgimKLPd40o5fS-zGzUpWgCM8oiEeRbEs4C7eEoqeFCps0E0XPc3JwjSEH2Pv/s640/A+can.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Dinner today was preserved meat and <span class="st">preserved potatoes once more, but this time enlivened with a can of (simulated) Goldner's Patent Vegetable Soup. This soup is made with carrots and parsnips boiled up in home made beef stock, then pureed. There is a certain amount of overlap, in the recipes of the time, between vegetable soup and gravy soup. Certainly it does look like gravy in the photo below. The can in question is of the 1 lb size, the smallest available. Only 456 cans of this size are recorded on the expedition's accounts, representing just 1 percent of the total of 32,000 lbs of canned foods. I suspect that these small cans were intended as 'medical comforts' for individuals in the sick bay.</span><br />
<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEholRSvXenEe14swRnJSqDQGlSbVun4KvYUK0G15hRfS_e2DuN-jor0BOg2UrJ76iPjjwBx2oBobo0ttsWAYL89sCjDoSbUrAADQgwuCw1tFtPzZX05cijO8VDHADrErBjZRAxyHxJ_AaYP/s1600/Croutons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="937" data-original-width="1371" height="435" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEholRSvXenEe14swRnJSqDQGlSbVun4KvYUK0G15hRfS_e2DuN-jor0BOg2UrJ76iPjjwBx2oBobo0ttsWAYL89sCjDoSbUrAADQgwuCw1tFtPzZX05cijO8VDHADrErBjZRAxyHxJ_AaYP/s640/Croutons.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Crunched up ship's biscuit served for croutons. This was a good move as the rock hard biscuits are hard work to eat by themselves, but softened by the soup, they were far more palatable. My verdict was "quite delicious, but slightly over-seasoned". Very welcome on a cold day.Peter Carneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11720739633773324546noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7460851571985771047.post-88344902209826324512019-07-16T14:26:00.001-07:002019-07-16T14:26:27.422-07:00Naval rations: Day 3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwzkr2NZ84ZSN0vHluGepAKdMTyQ6P6QbboyA8c3RvhsXiZIcisICdyAqSt1mSx_KTxWfbEBRvGuIfW-7wHew70YpQz3HpVODUoAGzbfUKRM5SjkZ4aY6YICCdjuxYuAR38fgeVG1K9_4d/s1600/Tuesday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1182" data-original-width="1600" height="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwzkr2NZ84ZSN0vHluGepAKdMTyQ6P6QbboyA8c3RvhsXiZIcisICdyAqSt1mSx_KTxWfbEBRvGuIfW-7wHew70YpQz3HpVODUoAGzbfUKRM5SjkZ4aY6YICCdjuxYuAR38fgeVG1K9_4d/s640/Tuesday.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Here's today's dinner. Salt pork and peas. The pork was certainly tasty, but a bit tough to chew. It looked quite grey when removed from the pickle but when cut up the meat was pink inside. I chopped it into lumps before steeping it in fresh water for 24 hours but it was still quite salty and, after 2 hours boiling, still too solid for my taste. The peas were rather bland but made a good contrast to the pork.<br />
<br />
Split peas were specified for the Arctic expeditions because they occupied just a little bit less storage space than whole ones normally issued. They became general issue in May 1856. <br />
<br />
I lead a sedentary lifestyle so it is no surprise that the full ration is way too much for me. On the other hand, the real Jack Tar in the age of sail led a working life will plenty of strenuous exercise so it is easy to understand his calorie requirements were much greater.<br />
<br />
Overall, my verdict on this dish is good, but could do with a bit more care from the cook, to make the meat a little more tender.Peter Carneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11720739633773324546noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7460851571985771047.post-83301080829185258472019-07-15T12:21:00.000-07:002019-07-15T12:21:46.149-07:00Naval rations: Day 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSDoacP51rumA0hezWxjEgDJkLLge_ZhsOfBkw4asibD3oF-_23FJECMAX0PpJS38VgC67kpAktyG7_6DUhQUX-9d-wjzcDgqrtbZCC3z3xrsNHq54VKmFSouShez-tfeVqHRXNf6Nmp1r/s1600/2+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="939" data-original-width="1407" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSDoacP51rumA0hezWxjEgDJkLLge_ZhsOfBkw4asibD3oF-_23FJECMAX0PpJS38VgC67kpAktyG7_6DUhQUX-9d-wjzcDgqrtbZCC3z3xrsNHq54VKmFSouShez-tfeVqHRXNf6Nmp1r/s640/2+1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Day 2 of my Naval diet experiment provided an historic event: The first can of <span class="st">(simulated) </span>Goldner's Preserved Provisions to be opened in the Twenty First Century. In fact it was probably the first can bearing the Goldner name to be opened for more than 150 years. I must admit I was a little nervous. Would I be greeted with the horrible sight and smell of a putrid abomination? No. the smell was as fresh and wholesome as anyone could have hoped for. The congealed fat at the top of the can did look a bit strange at first sight but it was perfectly good and was more a sign of successful processing than otherwise.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSMNWthfOrTJBguDwzpi_UXIMPVjm5KQ4EWdFq159C-E31ojmg6Z1GQ9dkhfhyphenhyphenxJUnTeJt0LjTs_d8YIKffqko7LNf9HWaazKS2kMEcRWbx_2u4_nL_7DGDjBBJY8AM4_eHwAdOte8hdOn/s1600/2+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="939" data-original-width="1459" height="409" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSMNWthfOrTJBguDwzpi_UXIMPVjm5KQ4EWdFq159C-E31ojmg6Z1GQ9dkhfhyphenhyphenxJUnTeJt0LjTs_d8YIKffqko7LNf9HWaazKS2kMEcRWbx_2u4_nL_7DGDjBBJY8AM4_eHwAdOte8hdOn/s640/2+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
The gravy which accompanied the meat made a small dish of tasty soup. As an accompaniment to the meat, a portion of <span class="st">(simulated) Edwards' Patent Preserved Potatoes was served. As may be seen above, the condiments salt, mustard, and pepper, were laid out, but the meal was tasty enough not to require them. This is the opposite of the case with yesterday's salt beef which really did need the extra help in the flavour department. With some ship's bread and a glass of grog, it really was a most satisfying meal.<br /><em></em></span>Peter Carneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11720739633773324546noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7460851571985771047.post-18718036431965294622019-07-14T13:03:00.000-07:002019-07-14T13:03:47.911-07:00Naval rations: Day 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQrSdKHZGfu-cIOpK109COeFqpIq1wFSRGGKZlKsLC3TG3-Px9z9NhdJhHH9d5l7UIZTga3cmfW6YJGSp_hZnfCQHPhyphenhyphenEy6rHt4WVFBqrzGYNVmJGKU56ek87cGnMldSzfjBnCl5HWmvSh/s1600/IMG_20190714_094546178.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQrSdKHZGfu-cIOpK109COeFqpIq1wFSRGGKZlKsLC3TG3-Px9z9NhdJhHH9d5l7UIZTga3cmfW6YJGSp_hZnfCQHPhyphenhyphenEy6rHt4WVFBqrzGYNVmJGKU56ek87cGnMldSzfjBnCl5HWmvSh/s320/IMG_20190714_094546178.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Day one of my experiment started with a breakfast of hot chocolate, ship's biscuit, and a pint of lemonade made with one ounce each of lemon juice and sugar. Perfectly satisfying although the cocoa was a bit lumpy.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6mMQ1Xb85AvR8U9ARJAOj9iFjyozT5bS3gKXx4GqCc0IlwRMQrJTqYhs3oeKMTJMEsm1depA_N8_-0fPtF5JGzst-TfExOr4R6nK2hDHl3Ep4SyooWYXn-brUrIUnGMJUBv701AwAGYeG/s1600/IMG_20190714_155657068.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6mMQ1Xb85AvR8U9ARJAOj9iFjyozT5bS3gKXx4GqCc0IlwRMQrJTqYhs3oeKMTJMEsm1depA_N8_-0fPtF5JGzst-TfExOr4R6nK2hDHl3Ep4SyooWYXn-brUrIUnGMJUBv701AwAGYeG/s400/IMG_20190714_155657068.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
For dinner, the salt beef was boiled for one hour in a net bag carrying a tag with my fictional mess number. It had previously been steeped in fresh water for 24 hours to re-hydrate it. </div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtuX2rDPUDLTQc6mh1WajG54bWfMkkBnDqxMzzj5TB5NjOSa8iu3ZD5DP8f0Q8xrlrhFIzt6vJkx8CQkuP-_uWcjP4eXVjlM_12z0en0TucZkpYnOP5kYUSaahqXUBWSp_P-aMHz9tBFqW/s1600/IMG_20190714_163228338.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtuX2rDPUDLTQc6mh1WajG54bWfMkkBnDqxMzzj5TB5NjOSa8iu3ZD5DP8f0Q8xrlrhFIzt6vJkx8CQkuP-_uWcjP4eXVjlM_12z0en0TucZkpYnOP5kYUSaahqXUBWSp_P-aMHz9tBFqW/s400/IMG_20190714_163228338.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
The beef was served with plum duff . Duff being a mixture of flour, suet, and raisins, wrapped in a cloth and boiled for an hour. There was also an ounce of pickles which worked out as a single onion.<br />
<br />
My verdict: The meat was a bit dry but reasonably tasty - a bit like pastrami. The duff had too much flour due to a measuring mistake but although the raisins were sparse, their flavour carried through. Not bad, perhaps just a bit dull. It would have been improved with some gravy. Overall a good start although I had a thick head for most of the afternoon due, I believe, to my not being acclimatised to drinking grog in the morning. Peter Carneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11720739633773324546noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7460851571985771047.post-36996869702915875842019-06-25T11:12:00.000-07:002019-06-25T11:18:58.489-07:00Victualling Victoria's Navy - 5. Goldner's Patent Preserved Provisions<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjONFZC8kRVl_aFzycLZC39r1ZYZs3jQ1Ao9XWtQcleLCH9xtSu30Fkm9lxcySr7QCQBDigO_l5yGqUvsanQaxm-Cet_cyaLE4pF9c7G7N7rucnxTcMGrZEs2jTheJyg8odLal0vLUsmcL2/s1600/four+cans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1052" data-original-width="1552" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjONFZC8kRVl_aFzycLZC39r1ZYZs3jQ1Ao9XWtQcleLCH9xtSu30Fkm9lxcySr7QCQBDigO_l5yGqUvsanQaxm-Cet_cyaLE4pF9c7G7N7rucnxTcMGrZEs2jTheJyg8odLal0vLUsmcL2/s640/four+cans.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
At last! That disreputable cut-price contractor has finally delivered the preserved provisions! The voyage can proceed! Erm, wait a minute, the dodgy contractor is me. These four cans are by far the best reproduction of Goldner's Preserved Provisions that I have achieved so far. Pictured above are two two-pound cans of boiled beef, a two-pound can of carrots, and a one-pound can of vegetable soup.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUjJj4CKX4PacR3szO6MBxeVDti4EkHj9y1c2jUm2l7NrhY58pjkX4fKGOmw74S3lOFAdJlx2ZeaMWJa8K2MQDN9wsRr0BiXmMBsZaFfadTe6MJ7P9mYVqUpP-3IjmCKwCg4t-08xJ0GYc/s1600/boiled+beef.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1098" data-original-width="1600" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUjJj4CKX4PacR3szO6MBxeVDti4EkHj9y1c2jUm2l7NrhY58pjkX4fKGOmw74S3lOFAdJlx2ZeaMWJa8K2MQDN9wsRr0BiXmMBsZaFfadTe6MJ7P9mYVqUpP-3IjmCKwCg4t-08xJ0GYc/s640/boiled+beef.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
The chunks of beef were boiled for about ten minutes before being threaded through the small hole in the top of the can. About three quarters of the liquid was then poured in. The meat wasn't fully cooked at this stage - most of the cooking, or more likely over-cooking, occurs in the can.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIoxRmfc9F1mmgNxNx3cToajd88lc_zIwlqco3vE5ENyzagaKw4ezQl2oY38T04Z1FvsSL-0ZCTAw2fkrsMvah1_dleOZwFX9geGGZCNTq1VXkY58Qqf05SI_9tzDuTGrGEclhwGfQPSZT/s1600/muriate+of+lime.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1165" data-original-width="1600" height="465" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIoxRmfc9F1mmgNxNx3cToajd88lc_zIwlqco3vE5ENyzagaKw4ezQl2oY38T04Z1FvsSL-0ZCTAw2fkrsMvah1_dleOZwFX9geGGZCNTq1VXkY58Qqf05SI_9tzDuTGrGEclhwGfQPSZT/s640/muriate+of+lime.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
Here's the sealed up can sitting in a pan of muriate of lime (Calcium Chloride). From the thermometer reading you can see that the temperature is approaching 130 Celsius yet the solution displays no obvious signs of boiling. The original recipe called for sealing the pin-hole in the lid while the can was being heated. I tried this but the jet of steam blew through the solder, so it was allowed to cool slightly first. After sealing, the can was heated again gently to check for leaks, then finished off in a pressure cooker. In the old days the can itself was the pressure cooker. You can be assured that I was wearing full protective gear throughout the more risky parts of the process. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhALkUnEvF-LYwSkkPQkdrDWj_oqhuuBMxCONU9OZdSlWIyCtEuZGC5l947NVXOYTJNSniRL9Q56WIs-Kxowbc0JB1Uywnh2-c0_csNQWg4GqEwAoJsIjSJxlfg-0eFeoYmVGeQxie2zB9W/s1600/hot+box.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1283" data-original-width="1600" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhALkUnEvF-LYwSkkPQkdrDWj_oqhuuBMxCONU9OZdSlWIyCtEuZGC5l947NVXOYTJNSniRL9Q56WIs-Kxowbc0JB1Uywnh2-c0_csNQWg4GqEwAoJsIjSJxlfg-0eFeoYmVGeQxie2zB9W/s640/hot+box.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
The final step in the process is to keep the filled can in a warm place for at least a week. This was achieved using a plastic crate and a 40 Watt heater. If there were any viable microorganisms left inside, this was their chance to show themselves by bulging out the ends of the can. Pleased to say that there was noting to report on this score. Painted up and labelled, the cans look almost too good to use for anything other than display, but opened they will be, and their contents tasted. Could they be anything other than delicious?<br />
<br />Peter Carneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11720739633773324546noreply@blogger.com7