The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-02-13

Said to Have Been
Discovered.
Story of the Great EXpe-
ditiOn in Detail.
Siberian Trader Reported to
Have Struck the Spot.
He Saw Land There and is Now
H0meward Bound.
He Saw Land There and is Now
HOmeward Bound.
Time of Starting of the Discoveries and
Description of the Men and Means.

ST. PETERSBURG, Feb. 13.-A tele-
graphic dispatch received here today from
~Irkutsk, Siberia, says that a Siberian
trader namemd ~KouchnaTeff, who is
agent OF d.. Fridtjof hansen, the Nor
wegian explorer who sailed in the Fran
June IA, 1893, for the Arctic regions, has
received information to the effect thai
DIR. Nansen has reached the North Pole,
has found land there and is now return
ing toward civilization.
In April last, the Figaro Of Paris, circu-
lated a rumor that DIR. Nansen had found
the North Pole and that il is situated ON
a chain of mountains. II was then added
that he mad planted the Norwegian flag
there. The story was generally regarded
as being without foundation. On Sep
tember IL OF last year advices were re-
ceived in London from the Danish trad
ing station OF A~ngmagsaliE on the east
coast of Greenland, that a snip supposed
to be DIR. Nansen's Fran, had been
sighted ar the end of july, stuck fast in
an ice drift.
Finally, on Dec. 6, a dispatch from
Christiana, Norway, stated that DIR. Nam
sens wife had received a letter by q
carrier pigeon, reporting that the expedi-
ton was doing well.
As 40 carrier pigeons were taken North
w AhS NaAioN Pdltl inA itDDEL ~.
ev IDENTIFY inaccurate, but it was published
for what it was worth
DIR. Fridtjof Nsnsen is a distinguished
scientist of Norway and an enthusiastic
believer in The possibility Of finding the
North Pole. he is about 35 years of age.
He entered the university Of Christiana
In 1880 and two years later went on "A seal
ing trip to Denmark straits, on the east
coast OF Greenland, in the Viking.
Later, in 1882, Nensen was appointed
curator OF the museum at Bergen, which
position he retained until 1885, when he
led a small expedition of six men to
Greenland, crossing the southern part of
that portion of the globe. 1t was prob
ably during this trip that Nansen con-
ceived the plan of making an attempt to
reach the North Pole IN a vessel con-
structed espec ally for such an undertake
ing. In any case, after his return TO Nor
way, Nansen took the preliminary steps
toward fitting out his ex. edition and the
Fran was planned and constructed. She
is generally classed as a three-masted sail
Ing schooner, but she had a 100 horse
power steam engine Ia addition to her
sails. Her displacement was 500 tons and
her sides Were SO constructed as to force
oil ice meeting the vessel to pass under
meath her, thus preventing ''pinching'
and "screwing."
The Norwegian parliament allowed
Manson about S52, 900 TO fit out his craft,
snd, IN addition, he was assisted in his
work by many private subscriptions, in
Guiding one of 5000 from King Oscar.
The Fran was launched October 20, 1892,
at Laurwik, near Christians.
"a Norwegian paper, describing the fit
ting out Of the Fran, said:
"Bread is the principal nourisbment OF
Nansen and his peorle. The bread Is a
kind of btscuft,- large and round, white
and very compact. The ration of each
man is TO consist OF four biscuits a day.
This, ct least, was given out when the
expedition left Norway. SILK is used as
the most suitable material for tents, as IL
shuts out the cold better than anything
else.
''The cabin OF Nansen's ship, the Fran
Uorward), Is heated by means of an En-
glish petroleum stove, which consumes
three litres of petroleum per day. As tie
explorer has taken along with him, n
sufficient supply of this fuel to last him
eight or iii years there will he no lack
OF burning material.
"The library of the expedition consists
of 1000 books, half of which are scientific
works and the other half novels, poetry,
etc.
"The crew hunters L. men and all
occupy the cabin, which measures only
10 feet square. there they dwell, eat n
work. The suits they we.r cannot be
penetrated by water"
The expedition sailed from Christina
June "a, 1872 a London dispatch, dated
March 4, of last year, announced that q
letter dated kjollefjord, Feb. "a, had
reached Hammerfe3t, NORWAY, ANNOUNCE
ing a telegraph inspector at q station in
the mountain between Lebesy and Lang
ford had seen a balloon moving in n
southerly direction aud believed that II
was possibly carrying dispatches from DIR.
Nansen, but no further news of the bal
loo or DIR. Nansen was received and by
many people competent 10 discuss the
subject he and his expedition had been
given up as lost.
DIR. Nansen's companions were: Cap
tain Otto Sverdrup, ships master ;Siguerd
Scott Hansen, lieutenant IN the Norwe-
gian navy, and director OF the astronom-
icol, meteorological and magnetic obser-
v%ations; Henrik blessing, surgeon and
botanist; Theodore {. jacobsen, mate;
Peter Hendrikssn, harpoonCr; Anton
Amundsen, chief engineer Hans Peterson,
second engineer; Hialmar Johansen, OFF,
Ger In the Norwegian army, fireman; Ber-
nard Nordahl, electrician: ivan Mogstad,
carpenter, and Adolp Juell, steward.
in September, 1889, Dr. Nansen married
Miss Eva Sars, youngest daughter of the
late Professor Sars, who held the chair OF
geology In the Christian University. Mrs.
Narsen was a professional singer In her
maiden days and is described a. having a
powerful musical voice. DR.. and Mfs.
Nansen have one child, a daughter.
Lieutenant Brainard, Il. ;. A., who