Evening star., 1924-12-24
NORWAY BACKING
AMUNDSEN IN RACE
Newspapers Pick Him to Win
Over Nansen In Flight
to Pole.
by BJORN BUNKHOLDT.
Correspondence Of The Star and Chicago
Daily News

DAILY News.
| CHRISTIANIA. Norway, November
2s.-Norwegian newspapers pick Capt.
Roald Amundsen as the favorits over
DR.. Fridtjof Nansen to win the air
| race to the North Pole. which is plan
ned for next Summer. Capt. Amundsen
! now Is in the United States lecturing q
| to raise funds to relieve the survivors
OF his present expedition, who are on
| the motor schooner Maud. icebound in
| the Arctic. That Amundsen Is o IA
vorite may be due to feeling which
many have that unnecessary obstacles
are being placed In his way by his
financial hackers.
In addition to Amundsen and heuts.
Hjalmer Riiser-Larsen, Hans Diet
richsen and Oskar Omdal of the royal
Norwegian navy, an American still
and motion picture photographer, and
two engineers have been engaged.
Machines of the Dornier VALE type
will be ready in February. All the
necessary funds have been obtained.
The administration is in the hands Of
the Norwegian Aero Club.
The oldsplan to cross the North Pole
to Alaska has been definitely aban-
doned The route now proposed is
only from Spitzbergen to the Pole and
back again. Before the start, early
next Summer, several minor tours
Will be made to the north from Spitz-
bergen to locate landing places, depots,
etc.
WEI Restore Old Standing.
The famous aviator. Trygve Gran,
who was the first to cross the North
Sea by airplane and who served in
the Royal British Air Force during
the World War. says the Nansen
plan to fly across the North Pole Will
restore to Norway its old position in
Arctic exploration, as that route is the
only reasonable one.
Capt. Roald Amundsen." says
Gran, has been treated in a deplor-
able way by his so-called friends.
His new expedition is under the pa
tronage of the Norwegian Aero Asso-
citation. II is now strongly attempt
ing to dissuade him from taking the
route by way Of Spitzbergen and
Alaska because such a flight is haz-
ardous. The association might have
saved him many difficulties. I con-
slider its behavior so outrageous that
today 1 telegraphed and asked that
my name be dropped as an honorary
member of the association.
"If I were Lieut.. Omdal I would
demand to be put on an equal foot
Ing with the other leaders in
Amundsen's expedition. However
record hunting ought to be aban-
doned by Capt. Amundsen. He ought
to give up his plan, offer his serv-
ices to DR.. Nansen and put himself
under the i>tter's protection"
Bruins of Germany Tells Plans.
The German airship commander,
Bruins, laid his plans before the pub
lie in the university at a meeting Of
the Geographical Society. After be-
ing introduced by DR.. Nansen. who
said that he is willing to take part
If the plans become a reality. Bruins
said he intended to use a dirigible
airship of the ZR-3 type. He would
start at Murmansk, where a mooring
mast must be erected.
The route would be by way of
Franz-Josef Land to the North Pole,
| traversfng the entirely unknown dis
tricts between the pole and Point
Barrow in North America, from which
point 1t would continue to Nome or
Anadyr and then return by way of
Nicolay IFS Land. He said the plan
had been discussed in every detail by
German experts who had agreed that
while flying it is possible to make
observations and to map by especially
constructed photographing apparatus.
With a 200-meter wave length radio
sending set wireless connections can
be maintained with Spitzbergen,
Dixon, Nome and Anadyr. In addition
to these stations, DR.. Nansen's expe-
dition would establish four stations at
Murmansk. at the mouth of the Yeni-
sci River in Siberia, at the mouth Of
the Mackenzie River in Canada and
at Nome, Alaska.
| Tells Need for Cooperation.
| However, Bruins closed by declaring
| that neither Germany nor Norway
would be able to organize an expedi-
! tion alone. International co-opera-
tion and support will be necessary
he said. DR.. Nansen. in recommend
ing the plan. said this is an inter-
national task which ought to be un-
dertaken.
! Copyright. 1924. by Chicago Daily News Co.)