The Dupuyer acantha. [volume] (Dupuyer, Mont.) 1894-1904, 1897-02-11
STORIES OF NANSEN'S CREW.
Polar Bears TOO Familiar when
the FRAN Was Frozen In. ,

the Fran WAS Frozen IN. -
AS is only natural, all the people ot
TromSo take the 1ive1iest interest IN
the Nansei expedition, more especially
as three men of the ships complement.
viz, Pilot JakObSen and two sailors,
belong to this port. SO. any of the
Fram's men who happens to be about
is always surrounded, by Il knot of
eager listeners. to WHOM lie has to re-
count his adventures, often illustrating
his meaning by Il rough sketch with Il
piece of chalk or ii pencil. The men
are all good-natured fellows, and seem
willing enough to talk. ana many is the
excited discussion as to whether the
Fran should have entered the Ice
north OF. south of the New Siberian
islands, and so forth. Here are soma
of the yarns which have delighted the
Troiiso people:
In the perpetual darkness of winter:
in the desolate polar regions, we could
hardly see ou; hands. before our faces.
One night. when the, whole ships 1conl-
pany We're snug below, we suddenly
heard the dogs barking most furiously.
1t, was Ship Carpenter Mogstad's
watch. so he went up on deck to see
if anything unusual was going on. but
MS he could see nothing. he went down
below again, concluding that the dogs
were just barking for the sake of bark
ing. as is their wont. However. the
noise was repeated at intervals. so he
went up on deck again, and, taking Il
lantern, saw that several of the ami
mails had disappeared. and that soma
others were overheard on the ice.
Mogstad called out for Henriksen, and
they both let themselves down on to
the ice from the deck of the ship,
| which at the time was high above the
ice surface. They walked off Il little
distance from the ship, to see if they
could find any tracks.
AS they We're searching about. with
no more formidable weapon than Il
small lantern between them. all at
once a polar bear sprang up before
them. Then there was Il Il C between
the three-the men and the hear-to
the ship. Mogstad, Il bit more light
footed than his mate. reached the
Fran first. but fell down twice ON to
the ice as he was climbing UP her side.
At the second fall he could not help
mutteriDg to himself. Nov the bears
got you. MY FRIEND" But despair
steadied his nerves. and he managed
to hoist himself safely up behind the
ships bulwarks. He had hardly got
on board, however, when he heard his
comrade. call out. and saw that the
bear had got hold of him and had bit
ten him. But Henriksen. who is Il big,
powerful, resolute fellow. dealt his as
sailant such a blow on the head with
the lighted lantern he was carrying,
that the brute, half stunned and half
scared, let so its prey, and Henriksen
seized the opportunity to skip up the
IN..x - - MI I~n, st-atl
by seizing one of the dogs. On Il
closer investigation being made, it was
found that the bear had paid two Wis
its to the ship during the night, creep
ing in through an open port holt, and
had carried off a dog each time.
One day. when Nansan and JchanseI
had to pass along a somewhat narrow
path they were suddenly attacked by
n bear. Johansen, who is a man of ni
ordinary strength, caught hold of hiS
enemy's throat with a grip of iron
and held him at arms length till Nan
sen was able to get his rifle and la!
the bear low. North of 81 degrees III
animal life was found to exist, and thit
would seem to cast some diScre0it OF
the hitherto prevalent theory that i
a sufficiently high altitude could be at
tanned, II would come to dry Lane
and open water, because birds are t
be seen flying toward the eXtrcm
north. This nOrtherly flight OF til
= birds is now believed to be attribute
to their having lost their way or bein
] blown out of their course. One day Il
50 degrees latitude Il seal was PEI
ceived from on board the Fran Wit
+ a founder in it's mouth. On the al
| proach of the vessel the seal went II
away over the ice. A founder wa
also observed at about eleven mile
from Bear island. The depth of til
, water in the extreme north also seem
to indicate that there can be no Ian
near. Soundings taken at 81 degro
latitude gave a depth of from 1910 t
1870 fathOmS (2,400 to $500 meters
and farther north the lead reache
/ even greater depths-as much as 2,1S
fathoms $4,000 meters), it is said.-LOl
Y don Standard.