EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 17, 1899_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

It will be remembered that in the month of October, 1897, reports were
received here of the probable loss of the whaling fleet in the Arctic
regions, and of the likelihood that nearly 300 men, composing the
officers and crews of the fleet, would perish from hunger unless succor
could reach them early in the spring.

The revenue cutter _Bear_ was known to be _en route_ from the
Arctic Ocean to Puget Sound, Washington. Her arrival was anxiously
awaited, as no other suitable Government vessel could be made available
for Arctic work. That ship arrived at Seattle, Wash., on the 6th of
November, after a six-months' cruise in the Arctic, and I at once
ordered an expedition prepared for the relief of the imperiled whalemen.

The preparation of the _Bear_ was commenced on the 11th of
November, under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury. Her
officers and men of the Revenue-Cutter Service all volunteered for the
perilous work, and the ship was completely fitted out, and, under the
command of Capt. Francis Tuttle, of the Revenue-Cutter Service, sailed
on her errand of mercy November 29, 1897, within nineteen days from the
inception of the movement.

The plan of the expedition was briefly as follows:

The ship was to be fully provided with rations for the ice-imperiled
whalemen, which were to be conveyed to them as soon as the ice
conditions in Bering Strait would permit the passage through. An