New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-02-18
FOUND THE POLE.


Washington. Feb. 17.-"Nansen hhe" 'l"' "O
Jesnnette relics had ever been found III "''"
land. and whatever thought he may nave eNo"
10 Arctic currents must have deinoHs"''eu -
h,,o chat drift across the Pole was utterly I'M
practicable" This was DR.. pan $ coIinie'' ~
dav when his attention was called TO the TACT
,ho, s,,rnr;sa had been expressed at his state
an1 Yesterday TO the United Press dfscreoltlns
tho ,one-accepted Jeanette relic theory. 1t
nall 10 the Arctic expert of the Smithsonian IN
st,tution and has devoted most Of a long lie TO
scientific research in the North Frozen ocean
He believes tina, should the reported return OF
Nansen by way of Siberia be verified IL VIII DE
found that he has not been TO the Pole ana 'ha'
his expedition was a failure, though 10 eo'ne
extent more successful than others entering 'he
too in the same region through the fact that
some one has returned to tell the tale In that
case II will be q repetition OF the Jeanette en-
petition.
That hansen would return in the FRAN Dr'
nail has never for an instan. believed, and in
this he IL supported by Melville. Greedy. Norden-
skiold and host of other explorers. He de-
c,ares that there are records Of more than
hundred ships going sinto the Ice between Point
Barrow and the Lena Delta, and not single
relic of one of them has ever been found. All
the wood that reaches Greenland, he says is
treasured as If 1t were gold. In that treeless
land the seds are frequently made Of small DTS
of wood pegged together with the most rigid
economy of material, and yet scientists exanin-
ing these sleds have found nothing from any
Siberian source. Records of unquestioned ac-
curacy demonstrate that no system of currents
exists in the North Polar Ocean such as are well
known in temperate or tropical waters
In regard to the Jeanette relic story DR.. Dali
gained currency, He had Associated with him in
the Smithsonian Institution DR.. Eni Bessel,
surgeon Of the Polaris Expedition under DR. Hall,
when the announcement came from Europe that
ffty-eght objects from the Jeanette had been
found on an icefloe on the southwest coast OF
Greenland and had been exhibited by the Danish
Government at Amsterdam. This was 50 totally
at variance with all knowledge Of Arctic mat
tiers that he and DR.. Besse proceeded to investi-
gate II. They questioned number of seamen
who had been the United States man-of-war
Yantic under Commander Wilde. to that portion
of Greenland at the time the relics were said to
have been discovered. Among them were Ninder-
man and Novos Of the Jeanette party The
Yantic had gone to the north looking for clews
of De Longs party. under the suppostion that
survivors might possibly make their way south
through Greenland These sailors united in the
statement that some of the younger officers on
the ship the midshipmen or ensiSns, had gotten
up lot Of alleged relics and put them on an Ice
foe near the ship to fool some Of their superior
officers. II was simply intended as Naval
Academy prank, a boyish Joke, and wholly with
out seriousness. The foe drfted off, the Yam
tics officers did not find the relies" but, as
subsequently appeared they fell into the hands
OF Esquimaus and passed thence to the Danish
Government.
After the joke miscarred, its seriousness be-
came apparent to the perpetrators and for their
own safety and to avoid probable court-martial
they pledged TO secrecy all the sailors who knew
ahout the affair. DR.. Dali and DR.. Bessel never
learned the names of these young officers, but
they wrote Nordenskiold about it. and DR.. Dali
gave a full account Of 1t to DR.. Rings, the Danish
official at Copenhagen having charge Of Green
land affairs This may account for the destruc-
tion OF the alleged relics as soon as they were re-
turned from Amsterdam to Denmark. their
worthlessness having been proved DR.. Dali says
there never conceaiment or the discovery
made by Dr. Bessel and himself They were
constantly thrown in with persons interested in
Arctic exploration. and they exploded the relic
,.Le whenever II was mentioned TO them.
Commodore Melville, chief engineer of the
NAVY brands the Jeanette relic story as an
inter impossibility. He says the first report
from Europe of the find" which came little
over ten years ago. described two mems bodies
as being found side by side, covered with can
vas on aa ice foe with q lot Of other articles
He promptly nailed that lie. accounting for
every one missing from the Jeanette and prov
ing that not q man could have been on foe
covered with canvas Except those In Lieu
tenant Chips boat. which sank in open water
the whereabouts of everybody was known.
Then the Danes re.racted that portion Of the
discovery. but still claimed 10 have the other
relics.
II tried In every way In my power" Commo-
dore Melville says. Ito have the story sifted