The age-herald., 1899-08-29
WELLMAN TELLS
 OF HIS HARDSHIPS
Explorer Suffered Many Priva-
 tionS in Franz Josef and.
HIS LEG MAY BE INFATUATED
Slipped Into a Crevasse and Was s Badly Crippled His Comrades Were Compelled to Haul
 Him on a Sled

Hull, Eng, August 2S.-Prof. Wellman, recently from Tromsoe with his Arctic ex- hibiuon, when interviewed by the corre- spondent of the Associated Press today re- called additional facts and "reminiscences of the hazardous undertaking. Mr. We'll man said:
 "On February 2S, 1899, I arrived at Fort Mckinley. Bjorvig, rifle in hand, stood at the mouth of the snow tunnel. He wrung my hand, and with tears in his honest eyes, said
 Poor Ventsen is dead"
 "Of course you have buried fm?" asked.
 No,' he replied, he lies there,' point ing to the snow hut. I kept my promise to him.
 "Fhe two men had made a compact that in case death came to one, the survivor would keep the body until help came. In that little hut. the quick and the dead had slept side by side throughout two months of Arctic darkness.
 "'Bjorvig said he had managed to keep up his spirit by reciting aloud Ibsen's s poetry.
 .srhe next day we gathered stones and under these we buried our dead comrade. few fitting words were spoken as we stoor around in 70 degrees of frost. After a delay of ten days, the party. including Bjorvig pressed north in sleds and by march we reached S2 degrees east of Ru- dolph island The prospects were most re- assuring. We had three months of the best of the season before us and were confident of reaching S7 degrees. Though of course we had suffered from cold, we were all an fine form.
 .Then a most trivial accident turned the advance into a precipitous retreat While struggling with the sleds in rough ice my right leg was bruised and sprained by my falling into snow-hidden crevasse For two days I went on, and unless other ln- cidents had occurred, should have press ed onward so far that I would never have been able to return alive.
 Midnight, March 22, we were awakened by the crushing of the ice under our feet It swayed and deep crevices yawned about us Several dogs and sleds were crushed. In the darkness and storm 1t was impossi- ble to find a path of safety. Expecting to be overwhelmed at any moment we scram- bled over the field of swaying ice and saved NSo food. reaching a place of safety in half an hour.
 'Our brave Norwegian comrades did not express the slightest fear. While 1t was possible to go on for a time my leg now demanded a retreat. For two or three days I stumbled along until I fell. There was nothing to do but to get on a sled and be dragged back to our headquarters by the men and dogs Forced marches by my devoted comrades saved my life.
 'TThe point at which we turned back was twenty-five miles northwest of Freedom Island, where pr. Nanzen landed in 1895. North of these we photographed three islands and some large land unseen either by Payer or pr. Nanzen. We also found that the Payer so-called dove glacier does not exist
 q still believe 1t is possible to reach the pole by Franz-J land but l can't say that I shall make another effort"
 A fairly complete survey of the Archipel- ago has been prepared by MT. Wellman and his party They all show signs of extreme hardship, and Mir. Wellman is much thinner than formerly. His right leg is drawn up foot from the ground, and 1t is not known yet whether he will ever again use it. He will consult a spe- cialist in London immediately. Otherwise he is in good health and spirits.