Delaware gazette and state journal., 1896-02-27
IS JOHN VERHOEFF ALIVEp
Theory Of the Relatives Of the Sup
posed Dead Explorer.
THE NORTH POLE DlSGOVERER
May be the Man Thought to
Have Been Lost.
IDEA OF THE REV. A. N. KEIGWlN

Claims That verhoeT is Alive and That He
and Not DIR. Nansen is Returning from the
Polar Regions-Doesn'tE Expect News from
Nerhoeif fer Five or six Months.
If the theory Of the relatives of John
Nj. Verhoef be true there is a chapter
of Arctic exploration yet to be written
that will cast into the shade any former
tale of the search for the North Pole.
For their theory is that John NJ. Yer
hoeff, who was given up for lost in
1892 by the first Peary expedition, is
still alive and that it is he and not
Nansen, the Norwegian, who has dis
covered the North Pole.
John M. Verhoeif is a nephew of the
Rev. a. N. Keigwin of West Presby-
terian Church, and early in life he deter.
mined upon Arctic exploration. He
came from Louisville, KY, where he
still has sister living, and was
School at Yale. He went with the first
Peary expedition in 1891 as mineralo-
gist. and on August 18th, 1892, when
the party was ready TO sail homeward
on the relief ship, Kite, from Meteor
mick bay, disappeared For several
days search was made for him, but
he was not found. 1t was concluded
that he had fallen down a crevasse
while exploring alone, and such was
the reporT given by the returning party.
At that time Mr. Keigwin took the ,
ground that Nerhoeff had purposely
stayed away and that he proposed to
push on. At the time of the return of
the relief expedition, Miss Matte Yer
hoetf, the explorers sister, was visit
ing Mr.. Keigwin, and reporter of
The Gazette talked with her concerning
Verhoetf's probable fate. She, too,
believed that her brother had stayed
North, and that some day he would be
heard from.
The world has been startled within
the last 10 days by the report that
Nansen had discovered the North Pole.
The report has never been thoroughly
confirmed, and according to Verhoeff's
relatives is likely to be untrue. The
way the Nansen report got out leaves
room for the possibility of the truth of
the theory that the successful explorer
was not Nansen, but Verhoeff. While
discussing this subject to reporter of
The Gazette Monday morning at his
home in Park Place, the Rev. A. N.
Keigwin consulted an atlas that he had
taken from Verhoetf's trunk. which
was brought back by the relief expedi-
tion. Mr.. Keigwin used this to illus
trate his theory of the unknown coun-
try at the North.
The report about Nansen was brought
to lrkoutsk in the southern part of
Siberia from the North Siberian Island
about J 800 miles to the north. This
report was to the effect that man had
come TO the ivory mine in the island:
that he had discovered the North Pole
and that he was supposed to be Nansen.
Mr.. keigwin takes the view that
man having arrived at the mine might
explain by signs that he had discovered
the North Pole, and that the people
who knew that Nansen was up there
somewhere as provisions for him had
been sent to the North Siberian Island,
had simply taken for granted that il
was Nansen. On the other hand Nan
sen, being 4 Norwegian, might have
been able to talk with the people so
that they could have had no doubt that
it was Nansen. In that case there need
have been no supposing that it WAS
Nansen. 1t is also improbable in Mr..
keigwin's estimation, that the man
was from Nansen $ expedition, because
there were IL in Nansen's PARTY and
none of them would dare to go over the
frozen seas alone. Mr.. Keigwin feels
sure that ii cannot be Nansen. and
there is no one else but Verhoeff to
come home. Mr.. Keigwin does not
take much stock in the view that Ver-
hoetf, ii alive, would have been heard
from by the second Peary expedition,
and says he did not expect them to
hear from Nerhoetf, who would not
want 10 be hampered either by the
Esl5imos or by Peary's party.
Verhoeit disappeared at lngefield
Gulf on the western coast of Greenland,
and 1t is Mr.. keigwin's idea that no
struck out due north and crossed the
land marked on the map as unknown.
On his map Mr. Keigwin has drawn his
conception of the land and has marked
the section ''Verboetf'a Land.' In his
idea the unknown land extends TO
within 200 miles of Siberia. He thinks
that it is about 800 or GOO miles across
and about 1000 miles long that off the
lower end there is an archipelago as is
found off the southern coast uf each
continent.
If person will consult map of this
northern section of known and nm
known land he may learn how Mr..
Keigwin reaches some of his conclu-
sions. Nansen started from Norway
and was last heard from at Nova Zem-
bia, whence he sent letter to his wife.
Had he followed his original plan, his
voyage for the pole was really to begin
at the region of the North Siberian Is
land, whence he was to drift across the
pole to Spitzenburg or Greenland. A
glance at the map indicates that be
need never have touched the Pole to
reach the North Siberian Island. If
he came towards Greenland he must
have done so on an eddy that would
have taken him to the eastern shore
and he could not have come through
Davis strait on the western shore.
Nerhoeff on the other hand would
almost be forced to cross the unknown
land in order to reach the North Siher-
ian Island. This is also seen by the
map, Greenland lying on one side Of
the pole and Siberia on the other.
Mr.. Keigwin does not expect any
news from Verhoeff for five or six
but he clings strongly to the
belief that the young explorer is still
alive and that it may be he who has
the North Pole And il
VerhoetT is still alive and does cops
home, he will have story that ths
world will listen to.