New-York tribune., 1896-11-29

lam
mar Maps oc'"'o' Pp' A.
This book may be regarded as sop throw"
70 the public while Nansen's own volume OH
his most recent exploit is in preparauoh' !e'
the presen; work has intrinsic value ana WIZ
indeed he necessary to complete unders'an"-
ing of the forthcoming narrative. The ia'''r
win describe what Ma ,~en has done TO set the
capstone or something very like IT, to his ca
reer The life by Messrs. Brogger and Kolisen'
describes the man himself and makes IL easier
TO grasp the secret of his success as strugsier
against almost overwhelming odds. IL Is true
that the new Fridtiofs Saga. as the patrioUc
Norwegians are fain TO call the record OF 'ne'r
heros life is still an incomplete aIfair an"
may he expected to take further extraor-
1inary charact erstcs Nansen Is stu young
man But it is interesting and profitable to
study his portrait now-the more interesting
because il reveals a character which would
have been certain to gain pre-eminence IN one
way or another even II the Fran had never
been launched and It's commanders perilous ad-
vanture had remained a dream. He has the ma
tura which fits we'll into the manly atmosphere
~ Nor,e Saga We have beer told that. al
nauseam. by the paragraphers who heard OF
him for the first time when he made his famous
trim across Greenland snowshoes In INNN
This volume justifies the statement by sketch
Of his personality from his earliest years
Nansen was himself convinced that he was
born under 4 lucky star. and MS career mas GER
tainly been most fortunate, but he owes mucn 10
his parentage and early training Baldur Nan
sen his father, was a strict man. but geh'e' 'oo'
and he contrive1 to develop manliness ana poy-
ishness side by side In his ambitious SON Inc
little estate at Great Frozen. upon which rrio-
tiof was reared. witnessed scenes OF spartan
discipline. The schoOhouse was more tnah TWO
miles distant from the farm. but the boys were
accustomed to walk to and FRO as Ha'''i vi
course. There were invariably neh's ny 'he
way" and we are Informed that the youth Oh
that place and time were not very particular
,r ,beir choice of weapons. Frdtiofs brother
WAS once hit on the back Of the head with
stone fastened to a leather strap, and one of
the fayorite amusements among the boys OF the
ne,ehborhood was to take the fronds Of a great
leaf plant peculiar 10 the SOIL ana. haVihs
filled them with stone and gravel, to fling them
in each others faces, where, according 10 our
veracious biographers. they burst like shells
Hanpv BOYS, This kind of sport Injured them
N ANYTHING. Apparently their parents believed
in the training for the climax TO all this rough
living ia given in a passage on Frdtiofs hsh-
ing excursions as a child. Now and then the
hook would 20 as,ray and stick fast in Frid-
tiofs upper lip whereupon Mrs Nansen wouid
have recourse TO fathers razor make reso'u'e
incision and extract the foreign body. NO russ
or pother on either side. Not so much as
sound" This seems to carry the thing h',e
TOO far IT would be interesting to know now
MANY times the razor had to be called into ser
vice and If Fridtiofs heroic throat never
emitted q single childish screech. But the
point Is trifiing for on the whole. this indohH-
able conduct Is just what might nave peen ex-
pected Of Nansen. One need not accept the
a,,ogv Of his present biographers In all Its
aorid generosity, but one cannot refuse admira-
ton to a nature that has proved Itself again
and again to he courageous and nnflinchng To
the core.
What we miss in this biography Is some evil
dance that the intellectual power which grew as
..o ,,an.s movers Of work and endurance grew
hsn a coloring effect upon his personality. His
,.,,.rs are trivial Our authors observe that
"Nansen cannot make something out OF nothing.
- .rro, create" and il Is a creditable thing.
as modern writer's go. that 'he never takes up his
nan unt,, he has something to write about" His
"rirs, Crossing OF Greenland" shows that he has
o,o,.sr descriptive powers: and his biological
papers to say nothing Of the scientific resources
,,,n,,.d bv his Arctic achievements. remind us
thu, his intellect Is deep and vigorous 1t Will be
rotced that we do not question his possession OF
high intellectual qualities at all But 1t is fairly
amazing 10 see that for all the testimonies to his
v,vacitv as a talker which his friends and biog-
ranhers have to offer the latter do not impress
us with n conviction that Nansen Is man with
| much inspiration to offer in his talk or In his
| writings He is a man OF action purely and IT Is
| In that light that he has been seen most advan-
! tageously since his boyhood at Great Frozen
| His sealing expedition in the Viking developed
his scientific faculties but 1t Is admitted that he
| "is not specially endowed by nature with the
! collectors faculty" and he brought back moth
| ing OF much Importance. His investigations as
| curator of the Bergen Museum. and later his
| studies at the Neapolitan "Aquario." studies
prosecuted under the inspiring companionship Of