The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1910-03-16
GREAT CRUISE
FOR A SCULPTOR
From Seattle to Norway In a
Viking Ship.
ALL NORSEMEN IN HIS CREW

-" ~'s'30u' WIZ s~N0 - OU0 20 N0Iu
Of Sea hs Heard a. a eoy-Expscts
to Reach Christiania In Four Years.
Will Defray Expenses Himself.
Nearly nine centuries ago, according
to the Morse sages, Lief Ericsson, son
Of Eric the Red, conquered the north
Atlantic and landed with the few men
Of his crew on the shores Of New Eng
land, naming it Vinland. Their long
voyage from Norway, with a probable
stop in Iceland, was made in one of
the Viking ships Of the period, little
more than ar open boat Of these days,
and now to complete the conquest of
the waters of the earth in such a frail
vessel Finn Haakon Frolich, a Norwe-
gian sculptor Of note, will start away
from Seattle in May for Norway.
The viking ship, an exact counter
part of those with which the early
Norwegian chiefs gave battle against
their foes or used as merchantmen If
peaceful pursuit was the best, lies in
the harbor Of Seattle and was the gift
Va - A>Ol "CSluA pCOp1C VI JuC Ol1lCu
States to the recon exposition there in
connection with the Scandinavian ex-
hfbit. 1t was largely through the eff
forts of Mr.. Frolich that this was
brought about, and now that the YES
sci has served it's purpose we'll he has
made a bargain with the builders of
the ship, so now it is his own.
For many years a resident of New
York city, Mr.. Frolich was selected to
design a statue of Edoard Grieg, the
Norwegian composer and music mas
ter, who died in 1907. which was pre-.
scented to the city by prominent Nor
wegians and will be unveiled in Pros
pect park, Brooklyn, in June. Mr..
Frolich's only recompense will be the
viking ship, which he says will be
quite enough and which after the
world cruise is ended he intends to
give to his native country.
All For a Vacation.
All this would seem strange if the
reader were not told that it is the call
of the sea that as a boy the sculptor
once listened to and which is calling
him back again to what he says to his
friends is a vacation"
80 Mr.. Frolich will have with him an
other hardy Morse navigator who has
already proved himself Injured to the
perils of high seas and heavy gales in
a much smaller craft. His skipper
will be Captain Ole Brude, who in
1905 started from Aalesund, Norway,
and sailed to Boston in an eighteen
foot %sailboat. Then there will be five
or six Norsemen in the crew.
How he became a sculptor begins
with the sea. At fourteen years of
age he ran away from his home in
Christiania, Norway, and shipped on
board a sailing vessel bound to ports
in northern Europe. Within three
years he was rated an ga. b." and
his ship arrived in New York, where
he decided to stay. He early develop.
ed an aptitude for woodcarving dur
ing the long winters in Norway, ard
he had hardly landed in New York
city before he found himself attracted
by the display of sculpture there and
himself was dabbling in clay.
Prominent Norwegians in New York
took him to Daniel Chester French,
who saw the boys talent, assisted him
and, with others, including Lees o.
Lawries of Yale university, sent him
to Paris to study. After two years of
study at the Ecole de Beaux Arts he
went to South Africa. One Of his
first works there was a tablet to Pres
ident Paul Kruger of the Boer repub-
lie. which is yet in the city hall at
Pretoria. Then he returned to the
United States and continued his art.
Long Run to 30 Made to Honolulu.
Possessed of considerable means,
Mr.. Frolich purposes to defray the ex-
penses of the voyage of the viking
ship out of his own pocket.
The start from Seattle will be made
May II, and the first port will be San
Francisco. Then will come Los An
geles, where, by the way, the sculptor
is now camping in winter quarters in
a tent with colony friends. A long
run will be made to the Hawaiian Is.
lands, where a stop will be made at
Honolulu. From there Japan will be
the next coast, and the ship will make
quite a stay at several Japanese ports. |
The Siberian coast, Korea, then
China, the Philippines, Australia, New |
Zealand, islands in the south seas. !
Singapore, India, Ceylon, Alden, Egypt,
Turkey, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portu-
gal, France. England and then Nor. !
way will form the major part of the
cruising itinerary.
-Four years will be taken up. it is
figured. and Mr.. Frolich expects to be
in the harbor of Christiania in 1914. |
when the Norwegians are holding al
exhibition that will celebrate the cei,
tennial of the cementing Of the laws
Of that nation.
Novelty In Alarm Clocks.