The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-02-14
RUMoRs THAT THE NORTH POLE
HAS BEEN FOUND.
Norwegian Flag Alleged to Have
Been Planted There-Few, How
ever, Believe the Story Told
Reads Like Romance.

/
In April the Figaro of Paris circu-
lated rumor that Nansen had found
the North Pole situated on a chain of
mountains and planted the Norwegian
flag there The story was generally
regarded as without foundation.
On Sept II last year advices were
received in London from a Danish
trading station at Angmagsalik on the
east coast of Greenland, that ship
supposed to be DR.. Nansen's Fran,
had been sighted at the end of July
stuck fast in the ice. Finally in Dec.
6, a dispatch from Christiana, Nor
way, stated that Nansens wife receiv-
ed letter by a carrier pidgeon re-
porting the expedition as doing we'll
AS no carrier pigeons were taken north
by the Nansen party, this report was
evidently incorrect.
THE EXPEDITION
sailed from Christiana on June "a, 1888
the doctors plan being to make for
the New Siberian islands, and head
north until the Fran, by being imbed-
ded in the ice, would be compelled to
drift along the west coast of any land
which might be found. On Aug g.
1888, DR.. Nansen sent a dispatch from
Vardo, reporting that on the I'd of that
month he was about to sail into the
Kara sea and the Fran had behaved
splendidly up to that stage of the jour
ney, especially in forcing her way
through the ice.
| A London dispatch dated March q.
last year, announced that a letter
dated Kjolleatjord, February "a, had
| reached Hammerfest, Norway. an
nouncing that the telegraph inspector
at station in the mountains between
Lebesy and Langefjord had seen a
balloon moving in southerly direction
and believed it was possibly carrying
dispatches from DR.. Nansen Until the
foregoing dispatch, no further news of
the balloon or DIR. Nansen has been re-
ceived.
WHO HE IS.
DR.. Fritjef Nansen is distinguished
scientist of Norway and an enthusiast
tic believer in the possibility of reach
ing the north pole. He is about So
years of age. He entered the univer-
sfty OF Christiana in 1880 and two years
later went on a sealing trip to Den
mark straits, on the east coast of
Greenland, in the Viking.
Later, in 1882, Nansen was APPOINTED
curator at the museum at Bergen,
(which position he retained until 1883.
when he led a small expedition to
Greenland, crossing the southern part
OF that portion of the globe. It was
probably during this trip that Nansen
conceived the plan of making an effort
to reach the north pole in a
vessel constructed especially for
such an undertaking. In any case,
after his return to Norway, hansen
took the preliminary steps towards
fitting out his expedition and the Fran
was planned and constructed. She is
generally classed as three-masted
sailing schooner, but she had 160-
horse power steam engine in addition
to her sails. Her displacement was
300 tons and her sides were so construc-
ted as to force all ice meeting the yes
sell to pass underneath her, thus pre-
venting ''pinching' and SCREENING"
The Norwegian parliament allowed
Nansen about $4,000 to fit out his
craft. and in addition he was assisted
in his work by many private subscrip-
tfons, including one of $4,000 from King
Oscar. The Fran was launched Octo-
Der 25, 1892, at Laurwik, near Chris
tiana. A Norwegian paper, describing
the fitting out of the Fran, said:
THE STAFF OF LIFE.
BREAD is the principal nourishment
of Nansen and his people. The bread
is a kind of biscuit, large and round,
white and very compact. The ration of
each man is to consist of four biscuits
a day. This, at least, was given out
when the expedition left Norway Silk
is used as the most suitable material
for tents, as it shuts out the cold bet
ter than anything else.
1.-The cabin of Nansen's ship, the
Fran, ForWard) is heated by means
of an English petroleum stove, which
consumes three itreS of petroleum per
day. AS the explorer has taken along
g IL;
fuel to last him eight or nine years,
there will be no lack of heating ma
terial. The library of the expedition
consists of 1000 books, half of which
are scientific works, and the other half
novels, etc.
"The crew numbers twelve men and
all occupy the cabin, which measures
only thirteen feet square. There they
dwell, eat and work. The suits they
wear cannot be penetrated by water
HIS COMPANIONS.
DR.. Nansen's companions were: Cap
tain Otto Sverdrup, shipmaster; Sigurd
Scott Hansen, lieutenant in the Nor
wegian navy and director of the as
Economical, meteorology and magnetic
observations; Henrick Blessing, sur
geon and botanist; Theodore G. Jacob
sen, mate; Peder Hendriksen, har-
gineer; Lars Peterson, second engi-
neer; Hjalmer Johannson, officer in the
Norwegian army; Bernard Nordahl,
electrician; Ivan Mogatad, carpenter
and AdoIph Juell, steward.
The following letter was received last
year by Mr.. A. Pain of Sheffield. Eng
land, an arctic lecturer:
''Christiana, Sept. 16.-The steamship
Hertha, freighted by the Danish gov
eminent to bring victuals and furnt-
ture to the Danish colony (Angmegsa-
Hkl, which was established last year
on the coast of Greenland, arrived
there on August %. Peterson, the man
ager of the colony, then reported that
the different Esquimaux twice saw, at
the end of July, q three-masted vessel
stuck fast in the ice. The ship had a
short foremost. It was first seen in
the Sernili gakfjord (65 degrees 20 min
utes north latitude, SO minutes longi- 1
tude). They had seen no smoke from
the ship. The report is quite trust
worthy. We can get go more until
next year. The Fram'S foremost. was
extraordinarily short, so that the de-
scrtption agrees so far. From the
statement of the Esquimaux we should
in that case not hear from the Fran
until next year. Meanwhile we must
be patient and not feel quite certain
that we have to do with the Fran"
HIS THEORY.
DR.. Nansen, according to Lieutenant
David L. Brainerd, U. S. A, who &C
conpanied the Greedy expedition as
subsistence officer. bases his theory of
the current which he relied on to carry