The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1899-08-30
EXPLORER WELLMAN
ARRIVESIN ENGLAND
His Leg. Crushed in Polar
Ice, Still Disa b!es Him.

LUZ, Oh . ioHo, AuS'
Wellmap, the leader Of the WeI'man
Polar expedition, who returned to
Tromsoe, Norway, Aug. II, after
having successfully completed ex.
plorations in Franz Josef land, ar.
rived here today. He walks with
the aid of crutches, his right leg,
which was seriously injured by a fall
into a snow covered crevasse while
Mr.. Wellman was leading his party,
still being useless The explorer
was accompanied by the American
members Of the expedition WHO are
we'll
In an interview with representa-
tive of the Associated Press, Mr..
Wellman said +: "The object of the
expedition was two fold-to COM
plete exploration of Franz Josef land,
of which the north and northeast
parts were practically unknown, and
to reach high latitude, or even the
pole itself
.'The first object was successfully
accomplished The second would
have been achieved, at least to q
greater extent than by previous ex'
plorers, but for the accident to my
self"
The provisions left for Prof An-
dree, the missing aeronaut, were
found by Mr. Wellman untouched
After leaving letters about his own
expedition and taking a collapsible
house with him, Mr. Wellman pro.
ceeded due east to Cape Tegethoff,
and arrived there July 80, 1898.
There the party landed all the stores
and the steamer returned to Norway.
"We established our headquarters
in the little house brought from Jack
sons headquarters" continued Mr..
Wellman, cover which few the Stars
and Stripes "
Mr. WelIman dispatched Lieut. E
B. Baldwin of the United States
weather bureau with an expedition
north, intending to follow him in a
few Gays. He was unable to pro-
ceed, however. and Baldwin, after
establishing an outpost named Fort
Mckinley, in le''tude 81, left 1t in
charge of two 'olunteers, Ventzen
and Bjoery.l .ad returned to Well.
mans headquarters.
Mr.. Wellman, Feb. Is, 1899, with
three Norwegians, with s!edges and
dogs, started north
Mr. Wellman, continuing. said
"Feb. 90, 1899, l arrived at Fort
Mckinley. BJoervig, rife in hand,
stood at the mouth of the snow tun-
nei. He wrung my hand and with
tears in his eyes said !: Poor Vent
zen is dead
"'Of course you have buried him.
| said
"'No.' Bjoervig replied. He lies
there, pointing to the hut. L kept
my promise
"ihe two men had made COM
pac. that in case Of the death of one
the survivor should keep the body
till help came In that little hut the
quick and the dead had slept side by
side through two months of arctic
darkness.
"Bjoervig said he had managed TO
keep up his spirits Dy reciting aloud
Ibsen's poetry.
"Tne next dsy we gathered stones,
and under these We buried our dead
comrade a few fitting words were
said as we stood around in 10 de-
grees of frost.
'After a delay of 10 days, the
party, including Bjoervig, pressed
north in sledges instead of south,
and by March 20 reached 81 degrees
east of Rudolf island.
"Then seemingly trivial accident
turned the satisfactory advance into
a precipitate retreat While strug
CLING with the sledges, in rough ice,
my right leg was bruised aud sprain
ed by my falling in a snow hidden
crevasse. For two days | went on
and, if other circumstances had not
occurred, should have pressed on
ward so far that | would never have
been able to return alive.
"For two or three days l stumbled
along until l fell. There was nothing
to do then but get on a sledge and be
dragged by the men and dogs to
headquarters. Forced marches by
my devoted comrades saved my life.
"The point at which We turned
back was 25 miles northwest of
Freedeu islands, where Dr.. Nanseu
landed in 1895. North of these ISL
ands we photographed three islands
and some large land, unseen either
by Payer or Nansen. We also found
that Payers go called Dove Glacier
does not exist
Il still believe it is possible to