This text provides extensive excerpts from a book by Richard Parry, titled Trial by Ice: The True Story of Murder a -, focusing on the ill-fated Polaris Expedition led by Charles Francis Hall in the 1870s. The sources detail the political maneuvering required to fund the expedition, including President Grant's involvement, and the refitting of the ship, initially called the Periwinkle. A core narrative explores the deep divisions and personality conflicts among the crew, particularly between the experienced but unlettered commander, Captain Hall, and the haughty German chief scientist, Emil Bessel, along with the drinking and insubordination of First Mate Sidney Buddington. The excerpts describe the mysterious death of Hall, subsequent abandonment of the crew by the ship's remaining party, and the eventual survival and inquiry that led to accusations of arsenic poisoning and a government "whitewash" of the disaster.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.