New Britain herald., 1923-04-02
DR. SVEN HEDIN
 ID SPEAK TONIGHT
Famous Explorer to Address Au- dience in First Lutheran Church

Dr. Sven Hedin, international!
 famous explorer. will speak in thu
 First Lutheran church in this city to
 night. at o'clock.
 pr. Sven Hedin, of Sweden. worlt
 renowned explorer, who has penetrat
 cd hitherto unknown parts of Tihei
 and other areas of Central Asia, and who is now touring America, was born in Stockholm. Sweden, February l0
 1885. While in America on his pres ent tour Dr, Hedin is speaking al leading universities on the scientific phases of his discoveries and is also giving popular lectures in the larger cities, the proceeds of which will be used toward financing another scicn- tiflc expedition.
 Because of his achievements, pr, Heden has been honored by the late King Oscar II of Sweden and by the present ruler. King Gustav V. The geological societies of England and France have taken note of his con- tributions to the sum total of scien- tific knowledge and have awarded him their large gold medals. Other scien- tific societies in Sweden. England Germany. Russia and Japan have also recognized the extraordinary merits of his discoveries and have honored him with their highest awards. In all Dr. Hedin has received 35 gold medals.
 Among the American scientific so- cieties that have bestowed upon Dr. Hedin their highest honors are the American Geographical society of New York and the Geographical so- ciety of Philadelphia.
 Dr. Hedin has often been in danger of losing his life during his explora- tions among the uncivilized noun tainous tribes of the interior of Asia A number of times some of his guides and servants died of the ravages of disease or were killed; his pack ami mals were lost and frequently he was held captive He faced every form of danger with courage and resource fulness and is now planning to go back for more information for the benefit of geoogists, geographers, bot anists and zoologists. Because of his past experience, he will be able to plan more thoroughly for the hazards of his next expedition which will be the fourth and largest. He will also be equipped with better instruments to record scientific facts. The scope |
 future work will depend largely |
 the success he meets with in |
 Country in enlisting additional f-
 Lcial support for his scientific ven
 te.
 Much of Dr. Hedin's desire to con- Tribute to the welfare of men is trace able to his contacts with Dr. Alfred Nobel. the famous philanthropist and donor of the Nobel prizes. When pr. Hedin was twenty years of age, he was the tutor to the children of Dr. Nobel who was then living in Baku, in Southern Russia. By an interest ing combination of circumstances, Dr. Hedin is now member of the Swed- ish academy and one of the scientists who participates annually in the dis tribution of the Nobel prizes.
 While in Baku Dr. Hedin made that his base for his first journey through Persia. travcrsing Teheran and Isfa- han to Bagdad and back. From then on his life has been succession of attempts to penetrate to the inner most parts of Asia, especially the mys- tic Tibet, for so long the goal of many unsuccessful explorers.
 Aside from many minor trips through the outskirts of Asia, Dr. Hedin has made three great trips through the center of Asia in the year 1893 to 1897; 1899 to 1902, and 1905 to 1909. He has discovered and mapped out parts of the world, which before his expeditions were practi ,ally unknown to civilization. The mystery of the great inland lake Lop- Nor was discovered and explained; he springs of the mighty Brahma- ,utra and Indus rivers were found and definitely mapped out as was also he whole plateau between Turkestan n the west, the Gold desert in the .ast, and the Himalaya mountains in he south. One of the worlds great ,st chains of mountains was discov- red and documents dating from the z hird century were found in sand covered Host" city.
 pr. Hedin is planning to stay in Imerica until about May 1st.