St. Paul daily globe., 1896-04-05

berg aBorchgreVink, and he is the first
man who has ever landed on the great
continent which is now believed to lie
about the south pole. The hemisphere
of North and South America contains
a little over 100000 square miles.
Mr.. BorchgreVink claims that the con-
tinent of which he is to some extent
the diScoVerer contains 100000 square
miles, and says he is convinced it is
twice as large as all Europe. His
Journey to this unknown land was
through vast bodies of floating ice, and
at times he drifted between Snow-clad
peaks, some of which kissed the sky
at an altitude of more than two miles
above his little vessel. His trip was
over 5000 miles in length, or longer
than that made by Columbus, and the
ship in which he made the voyage was
steam Whaler of only 800 tons. He
had to sail before the mast, in order to
be able to make the trip, and he sub
mitted to all kinds of hardships that
he might carry out his desire for ex-
ploration.
HOW BORCHGREVINK LOOKS.
I was introduced to Mr.. Borchgre-
wink by the Hon. Gardiner Hubbard,
the president of the National Geo.
graphic society at Washington, and L
spent morning with him not long
ago, during which he gave me some
interesting information as to the expe-
dition which he will make next year
to explore this new continent. Before
give the chat, however, let me tell
you something about the man. His
name is Borchgrevink, which should
be pronounced as though it were
spelled BOrk-reVink. He is a SWede
and was born in Christiana about thirty
years ago. He stands, 1 judge, about
five feet nine in his stockings, weighs
16O pounds and has a straight, w@ll-
rounded form. His features are al
most German in their cast. His eyes
are blue, his hair light brown and his
moustache is of a sandy hue. He Las
high forehead, a straight nose and
lips rather thicker than ordinary. In
repOse, his face is rather stern, but as
he talks his eyes light up with lille.
He appreciates joke, and he gave a
hearty laugh now and then during his
descriptions of some of the humorous
incidents connected with his voyage.
Mr.. Borchgrevink is a well-educs ed
and continued his education 1T one Of
the German universities. He speaks
English fuently and our chat was in
that language.
NANSEN AND THE NORTH POLE.
In talking about his first desire for
polar exploration he said that he had
for years aimed to go to the North
pole, and that all of his studies had
been with that in view. He told me
that he had worked together with
Nansen, and that the two had often
taken excursions together in Norway
TO harden themselves for future work
Upon my asking as what he thought
of the reports of Nansen's having
reached the pole, Mr.. Borchgrevink
replied:
Il doubt it. The news from Nansen
comes tC us at the wrong time of the
year. Had he reached the North pole
we should have heard from him in
September instead of in the middle
of the winter. Had he been successful
do not see why he should have come
back over the same road that he went
in going to the pole His idea, you
know, was to get into a certain stream,
which he thought flowed around the
pole, and to have foated or drifted
right around it. Why he should have
gone to the pole and then come back
fighting against the current I cannot
see. I think there must be same mis-
take about the reports"
What kind of man is Nansen?"
I asked.
He is a man of great force" was
t.
full of energy, and at the same time
is cool and calculating. He is not
crazy enthusiast, as many people sup
pose. He laid out his plans on what
he believed to be scientific grounds,
and it may be that he Will succeed
ANDREE AND HIS BALLOON.
How about the balloonist's voyage
to the pole? Do you think there is
any chance Of his success?"
'Who can tell?" replied Mr.. Borch-
grevink. II met Mr.. Andree during
last July, and had a chat with him
about his proposed trip. He argues
very plausibly as to his schemes. You
know King Oscar of Sweden is much
interested in it, King Oscar is a man
OI ne lS well
up in science, and is quite an able
writer. I mean by this that he can
write things himself. He is not like
many other monarchs who have posed
before the world as having literary
ability, who have had others do the
writing for which they have gotten
the credit. King Oscar is much inter-
ested in science. He has paid much
attention to Arctic exploration, and he
has given quite lot of money to fur
ther Mr.. Andree's expedition.
'In connection with this" Mr.. Barch-
grevink went on, "I heard a curious
story about King Oscar the other day,
which somewhat illustrates my idea Of
Andree and his trip. A well-known
geographer of Philadelphia paid visit
to Sweden a month or so ago, and
during his stay there he met his majes-
ty. the king. His majesty talked with
him at length about geographical SUBJ
tects, and among other things asked
the Philadelphian what he thought IF
Andree's expedition. Hereupon the
Philadelphian laughed, and replied
that Andree must be crazy, and that
his whole scheme savored of lunacy.
The king answered the Philadelphia
that he might possibly be right, but
that if the balloon expedition savored
of lunacy, it was a sublime lunacy.
/ don't think that the Philadelphia
knew that the king had contributed to
the expedition"
SOME OF ANDREE'S DANGERS.
''How long will Andree's balloon voy-
age probably be, Mr.. Borchgrevink?"
''It is Andree's idea,' was the reply