Evening star., 1926-06-06
BY CAPT. ROALD AMUNDSEN AND
LINCOLN ELLSWORTH.
nd Gable to The Star


NOME, Alaska, June 5. - 1t wa:
quite a natural thing that some mem
hers of the expedition were optimistic
after the flight to the Pole. With the
regularity of a transatlantic liner the
Norge had reached the North Pole
The wireless service, as we'll as the
meteorological, both of highest i'm
portance for the expedition. hat
worked to the full satisfaction of the
pilot and navigator, and the f1rs'
hours flying after the Pole was
passed seemed to justify the optimism
The flight continued with good Vlsl-
bility. Only dispersed clouds were
seen, and when the sky now and ther
seemed completely covered it was
never for a long time. The atmos-
phere also was quiet: no head vino
reduced our speed, which was about
30 miles an hour at an average alu-
tude of 1900 feet.
We continued our observations OF
the ice, the surface of which con-
stantly had the same broken-up char
acter, with big ice foes. The leads
were always small and here, as be-
fore, they ran mostly in "a West-east
direction.
Effort to Sleep Vain.
In the early hours of the morning
some of the crew. having worked
since we left Kings Bay, tried to sleep
a little. They crept into sleeping
bags of reindeer skins and lay down
on the narrow gangway in the Keel
living so that they didn't fall down on
,he keel canvas. They should not
have run the risk. as it was easy TO
go through.
But in spite of being already very
tired, it was almost Impossible TO
sleep. The cold the sound OF the
engines. the uncomfortable position
and men constantly passing over
them on the gangway kept them
awake.
Approaching the lice pole about
$50 am. on May u, all the crew were
again in the cabin or in the engine
gondolas. We reached the ice pole
about Z o'clock This place is the
center of the Arctic ice mass, lying
at about SS north latitude ana i''
west longitude. 1t is called the Ice
pole" because it always had been con-
sidered as the most difficult place 10
reach in the Arctic regions.
Rut now its inaccessibility was
broken. From the Norge 16 men
looked down on the ice. Even II we
didn't know we were over 1t. we
should have understood the character
of the place as the center OF the Arc
tic ice masses, and we agreed that II
. would be very difficudt and almost I'M
nossible TO reach it by other means
than by airplane and airshlps.
"Ice Pole" Deserves Its Name.
For. indeed, the place merits its
name. Not even the smallest leao
was to be seen. yet the Ice was
broken I'D in all directions. 1t seemed
10 us. looking down from the Norge
as If we were over a wild snoW-coN-
cred region where giants had WaSed
war with ice foes. And we are sure
that even the most adventure-ueSlr-
ing man on board the ship was nappy
that he was flying over the ice pole
and did not have to force his way on
foot over it's many barricades or Ice
Ar &c north latitude we had covered
half the distance between klnSS bay
and Point Barrow. OF the 612 tons OIL
gasoline the ship had in its tank start,
ing from Kings Bay, only about :
tons were consumed.
Having passed the ice pole, we
shortly afterward came into fog, and
from now until we landed on the Ia
goon inside Teller in Alaska we had
more excitement than we expected 10
have when. before the start, we were
formulating the plans the eXpedltlon
had to meet and were discussing the
various possibilities and dangers.
No one afterward tried seriously to
have a sleep. 1t was between ana y
in the morning that the fog ana our
troubles commenced.
When the ship entered the fog II
Law up to an altitude of more than
1000 feet. AS we had done before to
avoid it, this time we also tried to pass
over it. 1t seemed to succeed. For a
while we had the beautiful view of
the shadow of our ship on the fog as
the center Of an immense circle in all
the colors of the rainbow. We had
moreover. the same experience as last
year. When. in our flying boats, we
passed over the fog, their shadows also
we're surrounded by circle OF RAIN
bow.
Growing Sense of Danger.
But we couldn't enjoy the view, the
fog being too great a danger FOR our
expedition In certain moments 1t
seemed to us that the situation was
more than dangerous. We have al
ready pointed out the necessity of ra-
dio bearings for navigation and the
valuable assistance the meteorological
Mobile to choose the best direction for
flying.
But, having flown in the fog for a
while, we began to get trouble with
the wireleSS-first. to the despair OF
Ramm. who wrote down his kilograms
and gave them to GottWaldt and
Storm Johnson, knowing that it was
impossible to transmit them; later on,
to the still greater despair of Malm-
gren, who didn't get his weather re-
ports, thus making it impossible for
him to draw weather maps, now more
necessary than ever, as the ship was
approaching regions where almost all
weather elements We're unknown to
him.
Last, but not least. the trouble on
the wireless due to the fog made it in
any case impossible to have constant
bearings, this also being of greater
importance than before, as we were
now getting no regular astronomical
observations.
What ThrOttled the Wireless.
These troubles on the wireless were
due partly to electrical disturbance in
the air and partly to the ice crust that
formed on the 450-foot-long antenna
hanging down under the cabin. Later
on the windmill of the wireless gen.
orator. installed outside the cabin wall,
also was ice covered. a circumstance
naturally increasing the trouble.
AS above mentioned, the weather
service of the expedition was very well
planned and worked regularly down
TO so north latitude on the American
side of the North Pole. Until this
place was reached our wireless, with
out difficulty, communicated with the
Norwegian station on SpitZbergen.
. AS the distance increased between the
ship and stations their signals weak
ened. but they were strong enough to
permit us to communicate with Ehme,