The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-12-20

opposed to everything suggested or
heard Of before that time. wrote the
original baal in English
" WHY did you 90 that?' 7 asked.
He explained that he preferred to
write such scientific books III French,
German or English, and said; I know
that II l we're 10 write Il in an5 OF
these three Languages, every scientist
OF repute must read it, inasEnuoh as
anyone failing to read such works
would be considered behind the times.
Eut, written in Norwegian. Hungarian
or other languages, scientific n1en
would have the excuse ct n5l bEiIg
able to read the work; so 1 wrote It
In English
NANSEN AND HIS WYE.
'.one time I said something about
skating, and hansen exclaimed, I
haven't sl1ated Tor II years l re-
marked that it was about time he took
it up again. Well he said, 1 am
proud Of my skating, but never get
time for it any more. When l was 16
years old I devoted much time to the
art. I defeated the champion of Nor
way in q long distance contest. 1 used
to be quite fond of figure skating, and
so was my wife; she is one of the finest
skaters in Norway
In the old days it was fashionable
sport, and the place for skating was
not Skarpsno, as it is now, but in
Christiania harbor, opposite the an
cient fortress, "Akershus Festning."
About 2 o'clock in the afternoon the
pastime bea an, and all the young fell
lows and slrls used to be out there.
Nansen maintains that the Norwegian
skates are the best in the world for
both figure skating and long distance.
/ didn't see how they were adapted to
figure skating. The kind 1 used he
said, had scarcely any curve on the
blade. They were fiat as they rested
on the ground, but very wide in the
center, tapering towards the point and
heel. When you get that blade on the
ice and get over on the side, you have
curve; the skate gives the curve
when you lean over, and some very
remarkable figures can be cut with
them
'Nansen and his brother were born
country place, in the outskirts of Chris
tiania. There was u little kill there
where they made their first attempt
at ski running. Snow shoeing in those
days was almost entirely confined to
the peasants. The two brothers took
ii up as Il sport and began TO get rather
proticiant and tried going down hills
They found they could use them for
going down as we'll as for making eX-
cursions through the mountains They
discovered, at the suggestion of an ex-
pert from the rural districts, that they
could jump on them. The peasants
generally had never jumped with
them, nor made much progress. The
boys induced other fellows to take it
up. In that way it became a sport in
Christiania, and the Nansens did all
haNr = H.
the snow shoe meeting in February is
the great ski meeting of the world
There is very steep mountain side
! at HolemhOllen with a sheer descent
OF about 10 degrees. Half way down
there is a wall built up, and the snow
curves out to the edge of the wall
The snow shoeTs (ski-lobner) come
down the hilI at full speed, and when
| they strike this curve they shoot So
! feet in the air. The long jump record
is l45 feet. When they again regain
the ground there is no sudden jolt, but
| they continue in nearly the same direc-
ton down the hillside. Both feet come
down about fat and the knees are bent
in order to land easily. [ believe Nan
sen formed the first club of snow
shoers in Norway, and he was very
prominent in this club. The celebra-
ton on Feb 16 is a popular fete; the
| king always attends
REMARKABLE FEATS.
Not only are the snow-shoes Won
derful for jumping, but the skilled rid
ers go through the woods, among the
trees, winding paths and even over
the rocks. You would thing they were
| going to dash out their brains, as they
| go down wild slope. In jumping
down you imagine you are going to
| sink foot in snow, but the long ski
hold the weight and you glide on.
remember once coming suddenly upon
a precipice. For a moment [ was
| frightened, but l managed to throw
myself down and I swept around to
one side before l got to the edge. The
beginner can seldom tell how he will
land; he may land with his feet in
/ the air, head first in the snow. These
| sliers become very expert. They can
climb fences with the ski on. The ski
, should be the length of the height of
man with his hands extended to full
length, and are generally made of ash
or pine. Nansen says he has walked
on thin ice on his ski where dogs broke
through the surface.
VISIT TO NANSEN'S HOME.
'Nansen is building a new house,
near the one where he now lives, in the
suburb of Christiania. 1t is part of
the large estate which belonged to his
grandfather It is on hill near the
Fjord and the place is only 20 minutes
from Christiania- He lives very sim
ply. His dwelling is a log house of the
special Norwegian type made of small
logs carefully joined together These
/ houses are not finished up inside wi h
lining for two years after building, in
order to allow the logs to settle per
manently 1t is surrounded by pail
isade or rough pine There ara al
ways two or three dogs barking
around. From the front door of the
house, you enter into a small hall COW
cred with rugs, leading directly into
the drawing room Here is a grand
piano. used especially by Madame
Nansen- In one corner is a bust of
Nansen, by Leasing, of Berlin There
are also portraits of we'll known peo-
pie hanging on the walls There are
paintings by Norwegian artists, espec-
tally by Otto Sinding. There is a small
raised platform at one side of the room
and on it an immense carved sofa. like
a throne, decorated with Norwegian
rugs. They resemble old oriental rugs
AT one side is the entrance to Nan
sens studio, the most characteristic
part of the house. It is built out
from the main house itself It has a
roof of earth over the woodwork. and
greens and flowers grow thereon 1t
is very large room; there is an enor-
nous working table in the center, and
books in cases are all around the sides
He has about every work ever writ
ten on Arctic exploration, and many