The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1906-11-18

less to state that he failed to find tt
failed because it was not there to find.
The pole had been located by the Ross
expedition GS29-1S33) in the neigh
horhcod of the place where the Gjoa
was anchored. but no accurate observa-
tions were taken at the time.
The Camp at Gjoa Harbor.
The tiny harbor. not much wider than
the boat soon froze over. and 1T be-
came possible to pile the snow high
around the Gjoa, which was now made
ready fer winter quarters Sails were
spread over her. double windows put in.
and a system of ventilation was ar
rangss. a highly necessary precaution.
it wouil seem, when it is remembered
that the only way of heating the six
by rine cabin was the petroleum stove
ii contains four hunks OF the shallow
est and narrowest variety that could
possibly hold men of the size OF an
Arctic explorer. Two of them were oe-
eupied during the whole of the voyage
ny the captain and lieutenant, for IT
was considered necessary that some one
should stay on board the vessel
Buildings were erected on shore for
the crew and for housing the instru-
ments The chief building material was
packing cases of wood nailed together
with copper nails. so that they should
not influence the magnetic ooserva-
TONS The boxes were filed with sand
and placed in position. All provisions
were brought on land
Then began the real work of the ex-
pedition. Every man had his allotted
task and there We're certain hours set
No chance to feel bored Captain
Amundsen himself conducted the mag
netic observations with the faithful as
sistance of the man WIKI, who later
died at Herschel Island. Lieutenant
1T.r<k<. NH ar raf
expedition and conducted the astro-
nomicaI and geological observations
Ristvedt had to do with the meteoro-
logical observations. and Lund and Sell
mer Hansen took care of the ship.
The cook Lindstrom. deserves special
mention / first met him on the deck
of the Gjoa. where some one introduced
him to me with the remark that he had
been with Manson and Sverdrup on
their expeditions. "Ah. you must have
a lot to tell" The words slipped out
before I thought. l ought to have re-
membered that the subordinate mem
hers of such an expedition are not sup
nosed to talk before the captain has
given them leave. Linstroms face set
tied into such hardness as is possible
to such a round and Jov1al moon. we
don't talk" he said Evidently he had
been there before and knew news
paper scribe when he saw one, lot ne
tantalizing s.lances and lifting his glass
To "skaal" with me when / was safely
in nv place at the banquet taoie' out
running away when he was invited TO
tell about his trip. 1t was not until
] had him cornered and had pied MIN
with the strongest coffee the CLUB Moro
could produce that 1 learned the true
canse for the success of the Amundsen
expedition. The cause is Lindstrom- he
saws so himself, and If he does not
know who shouldT
Lindstrom admires Nansen. he azores
Sverdrup. but he loves Amundsen-
Nevertheless he is willing 10 ADMIT
that they all need looking after
..you See" he says confident1ally,
"tbev need a practical man. When the
captain was looking for men to go
with him hansen told him, You must
have I.indstrom. for YOU must have
man who will cook whatever you want
and be always good-natured. lou see
when people are off on a trip like this
thew get so they don't know what they
want. One day 1t is coffee. another
dav II is cocoa. then it is tea. The
cantain was not bit better than the
rest. But I always cook what they
want and make no fuss about II. es,
we ALWAYS had plenty to eat, and the
officers and men shared alike. On
many expeditions the officers get all
the good things and the men get
nothing. but Captain Amundsen is not
that kind of a man.
you see. they need a man like me
who is always in good humor. The
married men are always worrying
about their people at home and wonder
in g whether they will ever get through
/ cheer them up. They are all married
on our shin except me and the captain
and the lieutenant The order is char
acteristic.
Captain Amundsen laughed heartily
at the revelations of his cook, especial
lv about his capricious appetite. and
indeed il would seem a pity if men
living three years in the near neighbor-
hood of the pole could not at least
enIfven the monotony of their life by
changing from coffee to cocoa and from
cocoa back to coffee again. He de-
clared that, in spite of his tendency to
nut a high value on himself. Lindstrom
did splendid service. From having
shipped as Jack of all trades. he was
promoted TO the dignity of Jack of all
sciences for his activity in preserving
specimens of all kinds. particularly
birds.
Indeed. Captain Amundsen has moth
ing but praise for all his comrades
as he always calls them.
Another member OF the expedition
who should have special mention is the
Eskimo dog. Silla, so called because he
was lean as herring Norwegian dia-
lect Silla, the herring)- SilIa was the
Sverdup on his trip. and also did yeo-
mans service on the Amundsen expe-
dition- The brave animal is now the
property Of G. Lomen Of Nome, to