Evening star., 1926-05-17
By Special CORRESPONDENT of The Star an
Now York TImcs.

>
New York Times.
KINGS BAY, Spitzbergen, May IT.
Although nearly all the men aboard
the Norge, with the exception of the
Italians, had had little dirigible eX-
perienCe except for their trip from
Italy to Spitzbergen-which in itself
was a sufficient trial of their ability
they formed in other ways an eX-
tremely versatile crew. Nearly all the
Norwecians had sea or flying eX-
perience in airplanes. three of them
were airplane pilots. and several had
experience in the Arctic ice. In addi-
ton there were several good naviga-
tors aboard.
Lincoln Ellsworth. the only Amer
lean on the Norge, Is an excellent
navigator. He is the last man in the
world one would take to be an Arctic
explorer for he is n quiet, retiring
rather bashful man. with a gentle
voice and pleasant smile. But he
proved his worth on Amundsen's last
trip. for when two Of the mepbers
of the expedition fell through the ice
Ellsworth rescued them at the risk
of his life. and as a result is nearly
as popular in Norway as Amundsen
himself.
Gave Money for Trip.
It was Ellsworth who made possible
that last trip of Amundsen, for as the
explorer was sitting in the Waldorf
Astoria in New York. figuring up his
debts after a disastrous season in the
North and estimating that he might
pay them if he lived to he 100. Ellis
worth came in and offered to finance
the airplane trip toward the Pole.
He also contributed S100000 toward
the expense of this expedition.
Lincoln Ellsworth is A years old
and unmarried He is son OF the
late James William Ellsworth. Amer
lean capitalist and connoisseur. who
financed the Amundsen- Ellsworth OK
pedition of 1925 in large part. Living
in retirement near Florence at the
Villa Palmieri. where Boccaccio wrote
the DecamerOn. the elder Ellsworth
became greatly interested in his sons
plan and was easily persuaded to give
500 900 toward the expense Of the
expedition.
During the month that Amundsen
and Ellsworth were missing James w.
Ellsworth died in Italy. His death
left a large fortune TO his children.
part of which is being used in the
present expedition. which is said to
have cost more than $250,0
Before joining Amundsen, Mr.. Els
worth took part in many other scien-
tific and exploring expeditions. lie
was a member of an important geo
logical party which made an elaborate
cross section of the Andes Mountains
for the Smithsonian Institution and
Johns Hopkins University. He eX
nlored the headwaters of the East
River for the Canadian government.
He carried out extensive explorations
of the interior of Yuca tan. He is a
graduate of the School of Engineering
Of Columbia University.
Explains Arctic Lure.
How the Arctic obtained it's fascina-
tion over him was told by Lincoln
Ellsworth in the New York Times as
follows
''I trv to recall when it was that |
my imagination was first captured by
the lure of the Arctic. [ must have
been very young, because | cannot |
recall when first it was. Doubtless
in my ancestry there was
a restless wanderer with an unap-
peasable desire to obtain the farthest |
north. The large blank spaces sur |
rounding the North Pole have been
challenge to the daring since charts
first were made For nearly four gen
eraUOnS Lndl llyStcl iolio plehiA iieA' |
been the intimate quest of numerous
Before this adventure of ours, ex.
pIorers had depended on ships and
dogs. Andree and Wellman planned |
to reach the Pole with balloons, but |
theirs were hardly more than plans |
Andree met with disaster soon atter
leaving Spitzbergen. Wellman's ex-
nedition never left the ground.
"Curiously enough, Perry was the
first man with whom | ever discussed
the matter. of using an airplane for
polar work. That was shortly before
his death, and he was enthusiastic
about the project. Eight years later,
Capt. Amundsen arrived In New York
He already had announced his beileI
that the polar sea could be crossed In
a. plane and for those eight years my
mind had not freed itself Of the idea
We had a long talk and. as result,
brought Amundsen and my father TO-
gether My father, too, became en-
thusiastic and agreed to buy us TWO
flying boats. Thus the adventure
began" 49,,
Capt Roald Amundsen has been
travelling the Arctic and Antarct1c
wastes since 1903. He also is a calm,
smiling man, his blue eyes beam1ng |
genially from the mass of little lines
about them caused by years of squ1nt-