The Indianapolis journal., 1897-04-12

taken by the Fran were much too short to
reach bottom, and before the depth OF the
polar ocean could be ascertained a new
sounding line had to be improvised. In DR..
Nansens opinion the pole itself lies, in all
PROBABILITY, in this deep sea area, but he
admits that the extent of this deep sea is
question which it is not at present easy to
answer What we do know is that 1T ex-
TENDS long way north of Franz Josef
Land and eastward right to the New ST.
berian islands, How far north IL extends
is one or those problems still awaiting So
luton, but DR.. Nansen gives his reasons for
believing that for a considerable distance
TO the northward of the route followed by
the fram there is an area of deep sea, with
no land protruding to affect the movement
or the Ice. 1t took him a long time to
reach his conclusions and form his plans.
and when. in 1890, he made them public
most arctic authorities pronounced them
visionary and impracticable. II not fool
hardy. But the Norwegian government
voted $4,000 for the expedition, and with
nearly $4,000 additional. raised by Nansen
and his friends. the expedition or
ganized. 1t consisted of only one ship,
the Fran, and it was modelled after DR..
ceptlonal strength, and with hull so
SNAPPED that during a pressure. or nip,
the vessel, instead of being crushed. would
be hfted by the ice sliding under 1T. This
theory was laughed at by many while
she was building but things worked exactly
aS aS,,t Nansen an EN- had had predicted: The Fran was
smut In by the ice for nearly three years,
ana came out as Stanch as when she went
In, the only injury her hull sustained being
who commanded the expedition, and the cap
tain of the ship. there We're eleven picked
men, selected for nautical skill and expert
epce. or for some other special reason. These
thirteen men, all animated and inspired
by common motive and a great purpose.
constituted the personnel of one of the most
remarkable expeditions on record. 1T sailed
June "A, 1893. The Fran worked her way
north TILL Sept. %. when she was firmly
frozen in the ice, where she remained
locked until June 3, 1896 The fee in which
npfiOd
drl1ted toward, or was driven back from.
its goal Now and then they experienced
those became familiar. What the ice pres
sure is Nansen vividly sets forth: First
you hear a sound like the laundering rum
bic OF an earthquake far away in the great
waste, then you hear il in several places,
always coming nearer and nearer The ST.
lent Ice world re-echoes with thunderS: ma
lures giants are awakening to the battle.
The ice cracks on every side of you, and be-
gins TO pile itself up. and all of sudden
you, too, find yourself in the midst of the
struggle. There are howlings and thunder
ings around you; you feel the ice trembling
and hear il rumbling under your feet there
is no peace anywhere. In the mi-darkness
high ridges add ns og be ihse ton n6S o
each other as If they were feather weights
But the ice splits in front Of you, black
All around there is laundering and roaring.
as or some enormous waterfall, with eX-
plosions like cannon salvos."
or newspaper article to convey any ade-
quate idea of the varied and thrilling inter-
est which attaches to the narrative of this
tnree years voyage. The authors style is
almost epic in its vividness, simplicity and
force. AT one point he says in his diary:
laugh at the scurvy; no sanitarium bet
living, as 1t were. in an impregnable castle.
L laugh at the cold; it is nothing. But do
not laugh at the winds; they are every
thlng; they bend to no mans WILL" This
transports one to arctic life and one almost
feels the roaring, unclaimed winds The
enforced inactivity of the long months when
they were making little or no progress
seems to have been very hard to bear "At
times. says the author. this inactivity
crushes ones very soul; ones life seems as
dark as the winter night outside. There is
sunlight upon no part of IL except the past
and the far, far. distant future. / feel as
II must break through this deadness and
something happen? Could not u hurricane
come and tear up this ice and set 1t rolling
in high waves like the open sea? Welcome
danger, If it only brings us the chance of
lighting for our lives-only lets us move on
ward" He had named the ship Fran (On-
ward. and evidently this was the impelling
spirit with him. The perilS and adventures
of the explorers were extraordinary while
they remained on board the ship, but they
were greatly multiplied in the overland
Journey of Nansen and Johansen. While
the ship was ice-locked Nansen found she
was drifting in the right direction, but not
fast enough TO suit him. so he determined
north with sledges and dogs. AS his sole
companion OH this perilous journey he Sc
lected Lieutenant Johansen. fhe two got
ready, and finally set forth over the frozen
sea with sledges, kayaks, dogs, couple
OF Thousand pounds weight of food some
S 2oo cartridges. ball and shot; rifles and a
lew observing instruments. For six weeks
tney fought their way north against the
fierce winds which blew from the pole
now driving the dogs, now helping them
with straining muscles over snow over ice:
painting and frozen they would rest for a
Few minutes, sitting on the edge of the
sledgeS. then forward once more till even
tide At night the dogs got a biscuit apiece
the men set up their tent, drank brew OF
hot limejuice or whey grog, ate sparingly
OF lobscouse and biscuit. and then sought
their common couch. When thus snugly
abed they got warm for the first time in
the fur-lined sleeping bag The only lux
ury which they allowed themselves was a
change Of boots. Their water was melted
snow or was obtained from fresh pools
iound amongst the the hills of ice. Thus
frozen sea got rougher and rougher. fet
they continued TO make many observations
with delicate instruments, frozen though
lheir nngers We're, to take photographs.
could kill his courage. At last they
reached what was to be their last camp
the most northerly point yet attained by
ma1 - S6 degrees, Is minutes. seconds
Here, says Nansen, The ice grew worse and
worse, and We got no way. Ridge after
ridge and nothing but rubble to travel over
we made 81 start at 10 o'clock this morning
tApr1l - and kept at it as long as we could
lifting the sledges all the time but it grew
too bad at last. i went on "A good way
ahead on SnOwshoeS, but saw no reasona ble
prospect of advance, and from the highest
hummockS only the same kind of ice was to
be seen. 1t was veritable chaos of ice
blocks, stretching as far as the horizon II
was no good going any farther; It was no
good sacrificing any more valuable time
SO on April they turned their faces
homeward.
Then comes marvellous record of what
frightful horrors mans endurance can
overcome Dog after dog is eaten up by
ms fellows; the men themselves go dinner
less; one morning they even collect the
blood of one of the dogs and. mixing il
with fish flour, call ii porridge; day after
day the same ceaseless toll; day after
day of plowing through ice lanes deem
In slushy snow. They do not even take a
full breakfast now, no dinner and for sun
per we had two ounces of aleuronate
bread and one ounce of butter per man
and crept into the bag TO sleep as long as
possible and Kill the time without eating"
But no outline of the narrative of this
Wonderful journey can convey an idea of its
interest. 1t must be read to be appreciated
The march into the north the turning
pack after camping on an ice field i'm Sc
degrees, IL minutes, seconds north the
four more months of incredible hardships
before reaching land. the ten months of ex-
istence on Franz Josef Land the strange
meeting with Frederick Jackson the re-
turn TO civilization. and finally the escape
of the Fran and its crew make a hitting
climax to a narrative that must forever
stand in literature as a monument tn en-
lightened human herosm