The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1895-12-15
STRANGE TALE FROM THE
NORTH

Some half dozen lines in last Tues
days Astorian conveyed bit Of news
which. II confirmed, must be accounted
marvellous beyond all description. 1t was
stated that Mrs. Nansen, at her home at
Christiania, had received by carrier
pigeon a message from her husband, the
Arctic explorer, stating that his expedi-
tlon was doing WELL That was all. But
when we consider what II means, II true,
that simple item far transcends the ut
most fancylngs Of poet and romancer.
We do not mean that 1t is strange that
the Fran is safe and all her company
we'll. or that we have had no serious
doubt. But what is strange, mysterious
and lnexplicable is that the news should
have come to us in such manner.
1t is now about two years and half
since the Fran was fitted for her ventur-
Gus voyage, and her coopful Of carrier
pigeons put aboard. On June, a. 1893,
She left varanger Fjord and Dade adlcu
to Europe. on August 2 she reached
Yugorslh Strait, paused for brief space
that letters might be sent home, and
then plunged into the Black saa of the
North and vanished from human vision
and from human reach. From that day
to this she has not been seen nor heard
from 1t Is reckoned from our knowl-
edge OF Arctic currents, that she must
have passed to Lena Delta and the New
Siberian Islands by the end of Sep
tember 1898; then headed north on about
the 1s5th meridian, and slowly swept on
with the Ice pack toward the pole. liter
orally "the first that ever burst into that
silent sea-" But chat is mere specula-
tlon; and so is II that she has been drift
ing northward to or almost TO the POLE
and thence southwark again toward the
eastern coast Of Greenland.
But now, we are told, from out the
silence and darkness Of these two un-
known years, a vital message comes. A
carrier-pgeon, nnfy handful of feathers
and affection, is released from the cage
IN which 1t has all :his time been i'm
piisoned In that ice-bound ship. The
tiny missive is fastened to 1t, and It is
tossed gently into the Arctic air. Never
before was any message sent forth on
such an errand; or never since the re-
mote progenitor of this same bird flew
forth from the window OF the ark. For
a thousand miles ON every side IL utter
desolation. The ony sign OF life In all
the world Is on the Fran But the tiny
herald plunges unhesltatingly into that
dreadful realm, heading southwark as
truly as the needle points toward its pole.
over thousand miles Of drifting glaciers
and snow-shrouded islands II makes its
way; over another thousand miles OF
stormy sea and frozen plains and forest
wildernesses, and finally dptters to its
mIstress's window and delivers its mes
sage to her eager hand,
II this be true--we must say ''if" for
tho tale seems too marvellous for credence
until confirmed In the amplest manner
II is unsurpassed In the story book of the
worlds wonders. That so slight Great
ure should have the vital force, the phys-
cal endurance, for such task, is elmost
beyond comprehension That 1t should
have the intinct, or inspiration, or what
ever we may call 1t. TO lead Il over un-
tracked wastes straight to its home. after
thirty months of bewilderlng mprison-
ment, is mystery no philosopher can
venture to explain. Wonderful as will
be the tales the master OF the Fran win
tell on his homecoming, not one Of them
VIII be more wonderful or more heroic
than the silent story OF his winged mes
senger