Evening star., 1926-05-17
COURAGEOUS. VERSATILE CREW
MADE NORGE FLIGHT A SUCCESS
Each Man Specialist, But Harmony Vital tt
Achievement of Purpose Was Present From
Beginning to End of Trip.

| ing in the glare of the Arctic sum
| mcrs He is a typical Norseman. tall
| powerfully built about the shoulders
| and, despite his 81 years, is active as
| q cat.
| with eagle beak. piercing blue eyes
| audacity and determination in every
one of the deep lines in his face
| Amundsen looks the part of the great
est of living explorers. His four
greatest previous achievements as an
explorer have been the conquest of
the South Pole in 1911, his achieve
ment of the Northwest Passage in
| 1905, his work on the Magnetic North
Pole which proved that this magnetic
center was not stationary but varied
over n considerable area, and his
flight Of last year. which brought him
| within two degrees of the North Pole
by airplane.
Having exhausted the possibilities
of polar exploration on the ice and by
ship, Capt. Amundsen decided to take
to the air. He made one attempt
from Alaska. which failed when the
plane crashed before starting. and ii
was the failure Of that effort, really
| made to raise the money to pay his
crew after their long journey In The
| Maud. that led to his financial difti'
rulties at the time Mr.. Ellsworth met
him.
Planned to Try Dirig;5la.
The story Of his effort last year to
fy to the Pole in seaplancs. during
which the members of the expedition
were for a long time given up as lost
and the way in which they tore one
plane loose from the ice and re
turned TO Spit2bergen is stiil recent
memory. That trip showed him the
inpossihility of landing planes on the
ice. and. considering them imprac-
ticable. he decided to make the at
tempt this year in a dirigible.
The commander of the Norge was
the man who built it-Col. I'M
berto Mobile, one of the most noted
of modern airship constructors and
fiyers. His ability as a navigator had
been proved by his flights from Rome
across Western and Northern Europe.
through storms and fogs, without
mshap.
Fully approaching the difficulties of
his mission. Col. Mobile laid his plans
with the greatest care. He made
visit TO Russia to obtain permission
for the long stop-over at the hanSe I
near Leningrad. and he obtained the
full cooperation of the Soviet govern
ynent. With similar cooperation
from Italy. France. England and Nor
vav, he made his flights over Europe
with close adherence to schedule.
Col. Mobile is IL years old, He has
been engaged in airship work since
entering the army. and is the in,
ventor of this type Of semi-rigid
dirigible, said to be the best of its
kind in the world. He has flown on
scores of trips with dirigibles. The
method of constructing 81 flexible keel
with steel tubes joined in a strong but
movable ball-bearing joint is his in
vention. During the war Col. Mobile
was engaged in dirigible construction
and gained experience, which he ap-
piled when building the Norge.
Is Quick, Nervous Type.
Col. Mobile is a slight. nervous man.
quick of movement and speech. He
worked for months preparing the
Norge and carefully planned for al
most any weather condition. He
never flies without his mascot, Titina,
a tiny dog, and if anything should
happen to Titina he would believe
disaster InrGdCcneU. llllIld is DIS
much used to going up in the air as
she is to wandering about the big
hangers where the ship is stored.
The Viking of the expedition was
Lieut.. HjaImar Riiser-Larsen. One
never tires of looking at him, he is
such fine physical specimen. with
nerves of iron, calm and alert in any
difficulty, with a bearing which in
spires absolute confidence in his lead
ershlp. He was second in command
of the expedition. the right-hand man
of Amundsen and Ellsworth.
Riser Larsen stands 6 feet 3 and
weighs 230 pounds of bone and
muscle. There is not an ounce of fat
on his great frame. He has the long
legs. slim hips and broad. powerful
shoulders of the perfect athlete, and is
so we'll proportioned that at dis
tance he does not seem unusually
large. He is tremendously strong and
has grip like steel.
Despite his great physique Riser
Larsen is almost boyish when he
smiles, and his grin is ever ready and
infectious. Off duty he is as full of
humor and as ready to indulge in
horseplay as any of his comrades, but
when things have gone wrong or some
one has angered him Riiser-Larsen's
glance is a terrible thing to encounter
He seems never to lose his temper.
however, which probably is fortunate
for those around him. On his re-
sourcefulness and courage much of