Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-13

Guiding the crew of the Fran, are all
Norwegians. with the exception of the
first engineer. and even he is "a Scandi-
navian. being a Swede. Two OF those
with Amundsen on the expedition also
accompanied him on the voyage around
North America through the Northwest
passage. These are Johansen, who also
was with Nansen at the "Furthest
North" and Lindestrom. one of the crew
of the Fran. The latter has circum-
navigated America, having made COM
ple.e circle around the continent Han
sen and Beck another member of the
crew, who acted as ice pilots for the
Fran, are both from northern Norway. and
have had much experience in working
ships amid ice. having been captains of
sealing vessels engaged in the arctic seas
Much Easier Than the Arctic.
Johannsen. speaking today of the ant
arctic. said:
1T is very easy travelling compared
with that l experienced in the arctic. We
had no hardships comparable with those
that Capt. Nansen and I had. In the
north the ice is broken necessitating long
detours. In tie south it is firm and un-
broken. and every yard traverscd is
yard toward the goal.
Capt. Amundsen is a great leader.
something of the same kind of man as
can know another
The hero of the hour. Capt Amundsen.
Is man of somewhat over the middle
height. broad shoudered and very strong
ly but not heavily built. His face is hard
~ that of a sailor, but in some aspects
more of the student type. He has long
aquiline nose. and his hair is light and
last becoming gray.
The arresting features. however. are
the eyes, which give the keynote to the
n ara - or of fbn MAJ They a
BELTS the eye of a Norwegian sea king
and they are small-very small set in such
large face. At times there is I'm them
the blue of h, sunny sea, but it is easy
to imagine them setting hard as the
points of polished steel with a CLINT Of
unconquerable determination in them.
One can picture them fixed on distant
goal and the soul behind bringing every
nerve into play to overcome every OBJ
Stacle in the way.
Found No Trace of Clarie Coast.
HOBART, March 1a.-The ship Aurora
which sailed from this port last Decem-
Der > with the Australian antarctic eN-
petition under the leadership of Dr.
Douglas Mawson aboard, returned to
Hobart today. The Aurora is command
ed by Capt. j. X. Davis. She landed
separate parties at two points in the
dntdTctlc regions, one uilutf LIZ. hd"So
January 10 and the other under DR..
White, who is a veteran of the Shackle-
ton and Scott marches. February 10
The Aurora found no trace of the Clarie
coast, from which ii is concluded that ii
was an ice barrier that has broken up
since Durville's discovery in 1888.
The Aurora left Antarctica February
u, and will return in the spring.
British Men With Parties.
Some of the best known British eX-
plorers are with the parties landed by the
Aurora, which muster twenty-five men
in all. The most advanced feature of the
expedition is monopane. in charge of
Lieut.. Watkins, who has taken part in a
number of the aviation meets Speak
ing of the value of the aeropiane in eX-
ploration, Dr. Mawson said prior to the
departure of the expedition:
An aeroplane can fly over an ice Gre
vase or ridge as easily as over any
thing else. whereas a party on foot have
to search a long time to find pass. and
an aeroplane can do a journey OF l5O
miles in three hours.
Lieut. MINIS of the Royal Fusileers.
who is an expert in surveying and s.edg-
ing and a Swiss, DR.. Merz, an adept
with the skis. are included in the eXpe-
dition, and Australians and New Zea-
Ianders make up the rest of the party.