The herald., 1896-08-14
The Pole Still Stands in Undis.
covered Solitude
DR.. NANSEN IS STILL ALIVE
And Making Good Progress Toward His
Comfortable Home
He Has Never Lost Any North Poles and
Found Not So Much as
Splinter

Associated Press Special Wire.
CHRISTIANIA, Aug. 13.-The Aften-
posten announces that DR.. Nansen, Arc
tic explorer, arrived at Vardes island
Norway, on board the steamer Wind
ward, which recently went to Franz Jo-
sef Land to bring back the Jackson Fa-
rensworth expedition.
SAFE HOME.
CHRISTIANIA, Aug 13.-The Ver-
densganga, a daily newspaper of this
city, has received the following tele-
gram from Dr. Nansen: Home safe af-
ter fortunate expedition
GOT PRETTY CLOSE.
MALMO, Sweden, Aug. 13.-The news
paper Dagensnyheler has received COM
munications from DR.. Nansen and Lieut..
Scottansen from the island of Vardoe.
These communications state that they
abandoned the Fran in the autumn of
1895 and resorted to the ice. The steam
er Windward, carrying supplies to the
Jackson Harmsworth expedition, picked
them up near Franz Josef Land. They
expected that the Fran would eventual
ly drift to the east coast of Greenland
DR.. Nansen failed to reach the North
Pole, but he touched a point four de-
has done.
DR.. Nansen left the Fran on March / 4,
1895, in S4 degrees of north latitude. He
traversed the Polar sea to a point sc
degrees IA minutes north latitude, sit
uated north of the New Siberia islands.
No land was sighted north of so degrees
of latitude or thence to Franz Josef
Land, where he passed the winter, sub
sisting on bears flesh and whale blub-
Der. DR.. Nansen and his companions
are in the best of health. The Fran is
expected at Vardoe or BersVn shortly
She stood the ice we'll. There was no
sick persons aboard when Nansen left
her.
The steamer Windward took letters
for Nansen when it started to the relief
of the Jackson -Harmsworth expedition,
as Mr.. Jackson expected to find Nansen
and was convinced that his idea of drift
ing across the pole in the ice was i'm
practicable. He was also convinced that
Nansen would return in the direction
of Franz Josef Land.
DR.. Fritjof Nansen, the Norwegian
scientist, sailed from Christiania on
June IA, 1898, on a voyage of discovery
to the Arctic region and with the object
of reaching the North Pole if possible.
He embarked on board the three -masted
schooner Fran, which was provided
with a 160hors power steam engine
She was of 800 tons burden, and her sides
were so constructed as to force all ice
meeting the vessel to pass under it, thus
preventing all ''pinching" and ''screw-
ing" The Fran waAlaunched at Laur-
wik, near Christiania, on October &c,
1892, and the Norwegian parliament
gave DR.. Nansen about $4,000 in aid OF
his expedition. Additional funds were
Forthcoming by private subscription, in
Guiding one of ever $4,000 from King
Oscar
The Fran was in every way admirably
equipped, and her crew of twelve men
all occupied the cabin, which measured
only thirteen feet square, and which was
heated by means of an English petro-
leum stove which consumed three litres
of petroleum a day. The Fran for-
warc) had enough fuel on board to last
eight or nine years, and she also had IL
brary consisting of 1000 books.
DIR. Nansen's plan was to make for
the New Siberian islands and thence sail
directly north until the Fran should be
imbedded in the ice. He proposed theu
to drift along with the ice, following
the west coast of any land that might be
met. A dispatch was received from the
doctor at Vardoe on August %, 1898
written in the Yugoraki straits on the