Evening star., 1925-07-05
ELLSWORTH FETED
AS HERO IN NORWAY
American With Amundsen Is
Pointed Out Everywhere
for Saving Fellows.
BY JAMES b. WHARTON.

North American Newspaper Alliance with
the Amundsen Ellsworth polar expedition.
OSLO, July 4.-The pluck and dar-
ing of Lincoln Ellsworth. modest
American member of the polar flight,
in rescuing his companions Dietrich
son and Omdahl from an icy grave on
May %, continue to receive warm and
enthusiastic tribute from the two
men who owe him their lives.
The risk that Ellsworth took in saw
ing them can only be appreciated by
one who understands the treacherous
and dangerous nature of polar ice,
and the difficulty of obtaining a foot
hold on the precipitous edge of the
holes where the ice has newly cracked
or split away from its companion
bergs.
Flyer Points Out Hero.
Dietrichson points out Ellsworth to
each new arrival, and tells the story
again, adding always, in English of
weird accent, THAT Ellsworth-he's
a SPORT" Then he displays his own
diary, in which he scrawled a few
words daily during those strenuous
days in the North.
The diary says of the first three
days at latitude S7.44:
I'm landing we became separated
from the airplane in which Amundsen
travelled. We knew that it had land
ed, and we had watched the direction
of its descent, but our vision was eX-
tremely limited on account of the
tremendous ice hummockS. We were
astonished at the extent and height
of the irregularities in the pack-ice,
which had looked fairly smooth from
above
Immediately after landing Ellis
worth and l started across the ice in
the direction of Amundsen's landing,
but when we got half way we realized
our attempt was hopeless, as the ice
was continually moving and very
dangerous. So we returned to our
plane, waiting to see if the N25 would
rise again.
Hull Was Leaking.
'At noon we were still watching
Omdahl was hard at work, endeavor-
ing to repair the jammed exhaust
pipe. Our hull had begun to leak
seriously, and we did not dare leave
the pumps. Night came, with still
no sign of the N-25. We began to
fear that we would freeze in. Omdahl
was still working, finding the extent
of the damage greater than at first
indicated. Ellsworth and 1 We're busy
at the pumps, keeping a sharp look
out all the time. We planned to get
our engine repaired as quickly as pos
sible and then drive down to the
N-25.
with night, there came a heavy
snowfall which lasted many hours,
during which Omdahl worked un-
ceasingly with the engine and Ellis
worth and l kept up the pumping.
We wondered what had happened to
our comrades of the N-25, although
there was no doubt in our mind that
they were safe.
Flag Is Sighted.
''At noon of the 23d, we caught
sight of a flag, flying above the ice,
2 miles away. 1t was the N-25, and
the sight raised our spirits consider
ably. Within a few hours we got into
communication by means of wig
wagged flag signals, and learned that
they were frozen up, 60 feet from the
nearest ice lane. If our position was
hopeless, they urged us to abandon
our plane and join them, bringing our
axes and as much of our stores as we
could carry.
"Our situation became more pre-
carious, as the leakage in our hull
was constantly increasing and the con-
tinual pumping had exhausted US. We
now concentrated our efforts on get
ting our plane out of the water and
on top Of an ice foe. On the 25th
we succeeded in doing this, and the
necessity of pumping ceased.
Crossed Cracking Ice.
Ellsworth and l thereupon tried to
reach the N-25 over the continually
cracking ice. After seven hours
marching, we gave up the attempt
and returned to our own plane, COM
pletely exhausted.
Now came a message from N25,
stating that they required help as
soon as we could safely leave the
MA.
Finally, on the 26th, we succeeded
in reaching our comrades. During the
crossing, Omdahl and l were saved
from drowning only by the prompt
action of Ellsworth
copyright. 1925. by North American News
paper Alliance. All rights reserved.J