Evening star., 1925-07-19
ELLSWORTH SHOWS
LOVE FOR ANIMALS
Amundsen Party Co-Leader
Is Scientific Student as Well
+. as Mighty Hunter.
BY JAMES b. WHARTON.

BY JAMES B. WHARTON,
Correspondent of The Star and the North
American Newspaper Alliance with the
Amundsen- Ellsworth Polar Expedition.
OSLO, July 1S-There is one epi-
sode of the Amundsen- Ellsworth polar
expedition which has not yet been
chronicled, but which deserves n place
in our records, because 1t revealed
to us two sides of Lincoln Ellsworth,
the American co-leader of the party.
We devoted one of our idle days at
Sp1tzbergen to the study Of seals, and
Ellsworth, leading our excursion,
proved himself not only A mighty
hunter but also a lover OF animals
and patient scientific student of
their habits.
Seals abound off the west coast OF
SpitZbergen, but they are another
species from the Alaskan seal and
their skins have small value as fine
fur. Their commercial value lies
rather in the amount of oil the body
contains, each animal producing about
$40 worth in the raw state.
Personnel of Sealing Party
Our sealing party was made up Of
Ellsworth, Dietrichson, our surgeon
and two or three others. We headed
across the ice toward the opposite
of London City, a settlement estab-
lished some years ago by an English
expedition but now deserted. Our
hunting ground looked to be less than
half-mile away, at the blue-green
edge of the glacier, with the noun
tains rising behind 1t. But ii was
fully 10 miles; the intense clearness
of the air deceived us.
From miles ava we could see
innumerable seals, scarcely percepti-
BILE To the naked eye, but looming
large and clear through our glasses.
They lie out on the ice quite like a
man, If he were to wear a fur bathing
suit, summing himself by the seashore.
The seals transit between the water
where he finds his food and the air
which he breathes is a round hole, IS
inches or so in diameter which he
makes in the ice. On our hunting
ground a thousand seals bobbed a
thousand heads through a thousand
of these holes, cautiously and quickly.
for reconnaissance. If satisfied that
all was clear, they would pull them
selves up onto the ice. Frightened, 1t
took them less than a second to flip
back into the safety of the water.
Tame When 200 Yards Away.
They proved tame enough up to
about 200 yards. After that they were
wary of any one who approached. AS
a hit at more than 100 yards is diff
cult. hunter must approach very
carefully. We tried it Ellsworth
with his rife went forward step by
step. Dietrichson with the glasses
hung back, observing the seal and in
structing the gunner to halt, go
slowly, quickly or shoot, all according
TO what signs of alarm were evinced
by the seal.
Two or three times they failed to
get near enough. Then came final
try. In undertones came the COM
mands from Dietrichson:
o-easy-eaSy-al right-go on
hold it-shoott'
simultaneously with the crack of
the rifle the seals tail tipped out of
sight. A miss. Several yards beyond
the hole we find slash in the snow
which covers the ice. OverShot by an
inch, perhaps less.
Next Dietrichson scored a miss.
Then Ellsworth fitted his telescope
sight onto the rifle, and a few min
utes later the surgeon has an oppor-
tunity to do a rough anatomical job
with his bowie knife. We saved the
skin and few pounds of edible meat
and turned. homeward.
On the way back Ellsworth makes a
detour, observing the seals from a
distance ana studying thelr haDitS.
Presently he calls to us and we find
him bending over baby seal, lying
on the ice with it's mother. AN alb
sorbingly interesting domestic scene, -
he remarks.
Seal at Birth Wears Fur.
A seal is born with white fur, be-
cause for about IA days it must lie
on the ice before 1t learns to swim and
goes under the water with its mother.
So for two weeks, protected by its
color ii lies beside an ice hole, depend
ent upon its mother for sustenance.
The pup looks like a young Angora
kitten and meows exactly like one.
Its mother is so tame that we can ap-
proach within a yard of the little
group. Our coming angers the old
lady bit, and she Snarls and snorts
materially at us. splaShing water over
us in an attempt at offense, but she
will not leave her helpless white pup
for long. Frightened, she will flop
into her hole, swim about in the water
like a fish, then bob up again to see
that her darling is still safe and un-
molested by the strange upright crea-
lures who stare at her and click the
shutters Of their weird boxes.
Copyright, 1928. by North American News.
paper Alliance. All rights reserved.)