New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-02-22
A MAN OF ACTION.
DR. NANsEN IN LONDON-PERsoNAA
TRAITS AND A GLIMPSE OF MHS'
NANsEN-REAL AND SPUR1-
OJJS HEROISM.

London February ~
Dr Nansen Is the lion OF all London. Inc
Prince Of Wales met him at one OF his frst 'u"'"
cons and the Queen has expressed an ear"e''
desire to hear Mrs. Nansen sing. Royalty se''
the style in social England and sanctions "eio'
worship. DR.. hansen and his accomplished WIG
have received more invitations In week than
they could accept In year the pressure III
seats at the public dinners at whicn the e"p'o'e,
has been present has been very great Inc ''o'"'
Societies banquet stately and ceremoh'-
ous as the Savage Club dinner was informal and
unconventional. but In each instance every cnar
at the table has been well-nigh fought over. Or.
Nansen has barely arrived In England. but ne
has engagements already for every night until
March 81 The reception at the Royal Geo.
graphical Society last night at Albert Han at
tracted as large an assemblage as is drawn to-
gether when Patti sings In the same great audi
torium. and that is the superative degree OF
comparison. Every seat has been sold twice
over for his lecture in st. Jamess Hall, and In
q day or two will be thrice sold. for third edi-
ton of it has already been ordered. DR.. Nansen
is the one man I'm London whom everybody
wishes and hear
The eagerness OF the public to attend his lect-
ures and to hear his platform addresses ike that
at Albert Hall, ought not to excite surprise Tor
he has a story to tell which is even more interest
ing to hear than to read and he represents the
tyne of man to whom maritime England owes
her greatness What is really anomalous Is the
interest which social London takes In a man so
unlike itself. He is a man Of action, a hero of
adventure. who has displayed splendid fortitude
and resources Of character and has been swayed
by ambition to do difficult and dangerous work
in the world His life is the antthesis to the
round Of pleasures, neither too enfeebling nor
too exhilaratlng which make UP the experience
of the carpet-knights of the West End Of London.
They have their late morning gossip in club
smoking rooms, their fashionable luncheons and
afternoon receptions. their ceremonious dinners
and midnight parties; and they have the con-
seriousness OF living. moving and having their
being within exclusive social circles and Of know
ing every one whom they ought to know.
They have nothing whatever in common with
hero of action like DR.. Nansen yet they swarm
about him, compete with another for the
honor Of a two-minute talk with him and consid-
er it necessary to he able to say that they have
met him and found him to be a good fellow. 1t
| Ia an anomaly that serves to prove that the in
nuence of men like DR.. Nansen does not end
when their dangers escaped and their books
written. Wherever their faces are seen or
| their voices heard they help to develop noble
idealism and an inherent strength Of character
without which life is hardly worth living.
HANSEN AND HIS WEE
Fridtjof Nansen as he rises to address an audi
ence is a tall, stalwart Saxon blond, with a thick
mustache and light shock Of rebeious silken
hair, close-set blue eyes trained for distant Wis
| ion, a high forehead. a large nose and the OPEN
| thoughtful face of a student rather than a sailor
| His is a genial face. which is quickly illumined
with mirth whenever he has comcal episode to
| relate: but the prevailing tone Of expression is
| one of intensity, preoccupation and eagerness
1t Is the face Of the idealist who possesses the
| energy and w-power required for working out
| his dreams He is in his thirty year. and
| looks even younger. He stands erect a pine
| a fine model of snewy strength and shows no
| signs of hardships and exposure endured within
| the Arctic Circle. Hardly single line is to be
deserted in his high, pale forehead and his COM
| pexion is singularly clear and fair. He speaks
with animation and energy in a high penetrating
| voice and. while there is foreign accent. the
| English is terse vigorous and flexible He makes
| gestures for the sake of securing additional en-
| phasis and his manner is characterized by SIM
| picity as we'll as earnestness. His sinewy. lis
| some body suggests the trained athlete rather
than the hardy, intrepid explorer; his face. while
rather than the adventurous pathfinder to the
| Pole.
No man can have fewer mannerisms and affec-
| tations than has DR.. Nanser; yet simple. genuine
and unpretentious as he Is he must have some
degree Of sef-conscousness when he is on ex-
| hibtion before audiences of hero-worshippers
He may never wear anything but the thinnest Of
masks bur it is still something that hides the
real hansen his comrades of the Fran and his
closest friends know him. II is when there are
pauses in conversation at table when he is
listening intently on the platform to a speech
made by some eminent parsonage, to which he
| is expecting to respond. that his face seems to
| harden and stiffen until it reveals the inflexibe
purpose and unconquerable will-power of the
man. At such moments his eyes have a far-away
look. though he were searching among ice
foes for an open lead the Pole and concen-
trating all his energies upon last despairing
but irresistible effort to force his way northward.
ACROSS THE LUNCHEON TABLE.
AS watched him across a luncheon table,
noticed this play OF expression and then sudden
transition. His wife had been asked to sing the
Norwegian national hymn with a spirited piano
accompaniment. AS her voice rang out with a
sympathetic thrill. which touched every heart
he listened intenty, and every line of his strong
| ly marked face softened The man of action
was transformed into a genial student of science
with a peaceful, happy. domestic life, which was
dearer to his heart than the ambition Of reaching
Farthest North. His friends assert that when
he shut himself up In his home last October for
four months incessant work upon his book. he
could not prevent two forms of interruption: the
invasion of his study by "Liv," the little fodder
whom he had left at home tiny child of a few
months when he sailed northward. and his wife's
singing which compelled him to suspend dicta-
ton to a stenographer from the delight which he
found in listening to her voice. He loves to hear
her sing. and II is not strange for there Is a
measured sound of the In her voice and a