The Wichita daily eagle., 1897-11-30

4
ty. Long months Of darkness were re
lieved by routine work, making obser,
va7ons and suoundings. and hunting
polar bears. Days of toll were followed
by evenings OF recreation, when ths
organ was played. songs were sung q
violin was made to speak in a master.
ful voice by an artist hand. news.
paper, the Framsjaa, was edited, game:
were played, and stories read aloud
diaries were written UP, and refresh
ments were served These evenings
were as delightful as any club in a
crowded city. But the peril and want
and trial OF the North Pole expedition
came when, realizing that the drift was
too far south, Nansen and one follower
set out with dogs and sledges TO go in
a direct line toward the pole and to
penetrate as far as possible toward that
place of vexed questionings
In book, "Farthest North" writ
ten by Nanesn, which is an edited edi-
ton Of mis- diary kept during the three
| years ne was in the north. he tells of
this sledge expedition in a manner 80
simple, SO unassuming, and yet 50
| graphic, that it reads like a tale Of
wild imaginings-a Jules Verne story
Of true life
| The two men left their companions
who expected to drift on in the Fran
| TO carry out the Nansen theory that
| they would come out in the southern
| latitude again and sail back TO Norway,
and went out whit what provisions
they could carry on sledges already
burdened with kyaks or boats to carry
them over open pools, driving their dogs
into an unknown so vast, 50 frozen, 50
bleak that the heart Of the stoutest
sank TO see them fade away on the
snow-white horizon.
Months Of travel over uneven blocks
Of Ice brought then $50 miles nearer the
pole than had ever been explored before.
Nothing changed in the aspect Of the
scene save the kaleideoscopeic coloring
of the skies and reflection on the snow.
These Nansen reproduced in water col
ors 50 vivid in tone and beautiful in
conception that it seems to make it
worth the rigors of the artic night to
see the aurora and the return OF the
sun.
When the explorers had traversed the
white uneven wastes until their pro-
visions were exhausted the planted the
flag Of Norway and turned to bring
back to civilization the result of their
observations. The return was worse
than the going. One long winter in an
ice hut so low that they could not stand
upright, with blubber for feul and
light, with half-cooked walrus and bear
meat for food, with half-tanned skins
for clothing and fur sleeping bags for
beds, these men spent the dark months
in loneliness and silence growing un-
kenTpt and uncomfortable, longing for
the spring ani for home until, even to
read the story as told in the diaries.
makes one revere the brave hearts that
could endure 80 much.
The long winter over, the spring re-
leasing them from their enforced idle
ness, the two explorers resumed their
march towards the south and finally
reached the a station where party Of
Enghshmen w-ree making surveys. The
excitement Of meeting human beings af-
ter years of absence, the luxury Of mod
ern conveniences, Of wooden clothes. OF
baths, Of BARRIERS, and newspapers and
Nansen's book, and in manner that
makes the breath come quick as the
reader nesties In deep armchair.
Yet all this story OF hardship and
seach for knowledge is but the legiti-
mate outcome of life Of study and
travel.
Nansen always loved the sonw fields.
Brought Up in castle "Great Froen"
beside Of one of Norway,s bleakest
rivers, his hours Of recreation were
spent roaming over ragged mountains
and climbing ice peaks. Injured TO
hardship, to long fasts and extreme
yet schooofboy, and the same force of
character that led him across Green
land carried him to the front in his
chosen science. When only twenty he
was made curator Of the Bergen Mus
cum and latter of the aquarium at
Naples. During the life spent in this
life Nansen wrote many valu-
able books on biology, formulating a
nerve theory htat has made a name /
for him for all time, read the papers be- |
fore learned bodies of men, and took |
rank as one Of the foremost scientists /
of the day. A yong man not more than |
ne was iionized by all Italy /
during his stay at the aquarium. A |
nobleman by birth, handsome and Of /
fable, he was a favorite with the So /
ciety people, prime favorfte with the 4
royal families, and was the central fig
ure at many dinners and balls given in |
his honor.
While in the sunny south under the
blue skies OF Italy, Nansen worked out
his first plans for the North Pole ex-
petition. While the central figure of
the social life in the land of luxury and
ease. he conceived the plan involving
cold, privation, and want. Un-
der the shadow OF the great white mar
e aquarium ne gaind the inspiration for
the work amid the ice palaces OF the
unknown north. And when at last he
felt assured of the feasibility OF his de-
signs, he left Italy and went 20 Chris
lana to perfect the arrangements for
the building Of the Fran.
The success Of the expedition and the
appreciation OF the scietific men has
been attested by the medals end deco
-ations given to Nansen since his re-
urn He has been decorated by every
in Europe and by the geograph-
cal societies everywhere He has puo-
ished ne story Of his travels in a book
S.rich places him aTnong the most proEni-
lent OF writers. He has appeared be-
ore audiences limited only oy the ca
I