Evening star., 1926-03-05
PEARY WAS AIDED
BY NELLIE DUNHAM
Maine Fiddler Made Snow
shoes Explorer Wore on
North Pole Trip.

A little Yankee man from down
east" his cheeks reddened by the
SHOWS and rigors of 70 Maine Winters,
sat in a dressing room at Keith 8
Theater yesterday afternoon and told
the story Of how he played a part
in one of mans most heroic achieve
ments--the discovery of the North
Pole.
His name Is Nellie Durham
popularly. To his home folks back
in Norway. Me-, he is known as a. NJ.
Dunham, snowshoe manufacturer and
latterly as the man who fiddled his
way from obscurity and comparative
poverty to fame and riches on the
vaudeville stage--finding on the way
place in he heart of one of the
Nations wealthiest men, Henry Ford.
Nellie Dunham. known as Henry
Ford's fiddler and little known to the
world for anything else, had a ma jor
Admiral Robert +. Peary and his
intrepid explorers fought their way
on Dunham's snowshoes to the spot
at the top of the earth. where
longitude becomes nothing.
The shoes worn by Peary and his
men-a few of them-rest today in
the New National Museum. their cow
hide laces worn and frayed, their
sturdy white ash frames bent in the
same shape they found under the care.
full hands of the younger Dunham of
1905 and 1905, who made them on
personal order from Admiral Peary.
Burnt deep into the close grained wood
are the letters "A. NJ. Dunham."
Recalls Peary's Praise.
Dunham. accounting his vaudeville
tour a pleasant game and the stakes
only side issue. loves to tell of the
day when he met Peary at Portland. on
his successful return from the north,
and how the admiral recounted the de-
pendability of the Dunha made snow
shoes. And here Gram" Durham en-
tered the picture. She was seated in
an easy chair beside Nellie her hus-
band. 1t must he told that in New
England the wife. If there are any
grandchildren, becomes Gram" by
common consent. The Dunhams have
nine grandchildren and one great
gra ndchild
He told Nellie how he travelled III
days on one trip on Mellie's snowshoes.
without break in the frame or a fray
in the cord" Gram said, with pride in
her eyes and the soft down. East twang
in her voice.
Dunham cherishes those orders
signed "R. f. Peary, Rear Admiral,
Z. s. NJ" which came to him at his
home in Norway, for snow shoes to
equip hardy men who found the Pole.
And he cherishes also those memories
of days spent with Peary at his
home. Only the other night Mrs.
Edward Stafford, the first white child
born in the Arctic Circle, came to a
meeting of the Maine Society attend
ed by Nellie and Gram and renewed
her old acquaintance with her faith
er's friend.
Vital Part of Snowshoes.
For snowshoes, even though they
may be looked upon as civilizations
Winter-time playthings, had a vital
part in the winning of the North. Men
cannot travel over the soft, powdery
snow of the extreme North without
foot coverings that will bear the
weight and prevent sinking In to the
knees. And the snowshoes must stand
the strain of constant. unremitting
wear. Everything must be sacrificed
to speed and strength.
Nellie became the Ford fiddler and a
stage actor in a somewhat unusual
way. For years he has whiled away
the long Maine evenings with his be-
loved fiddle, scraping out the old tunes
of twoscore years ago in his cottage
at Norway. One day last Fall Nellie
entered fiddling contest for all Maine
fiddlers and he won it. Some friend
sent a clipping from a Boston paper
to Henry Ford, in Detroit. And soon
there came letter from the automo-
bile magnate bidding the little Maine
fiddler to pack his 'duds' and his tid
die and come to Detroit
Fame Grows Rapidly.
Nellie went. His fame filled the
newspapers, and almost before he
knew what 1t was all about the snow
shoe maker had been signed to a six
month tour on the vaudeville stage.
"Peary was pretty particular about
his shoes" Nellie says. ''Iie tried out
several kinds before he got what he
wanted. The shoes he took to the
Pole were so inches long and IL inches
wide. with frames of best white ash,
webbed with selected cowhide."
Nellie started making snowshoes
back in 1873. He worked for 20 years
before obtaining recognition. Now he
Is looked upon as one of the country's
leading makers of handmade snow
shoes.
Both Nellie and Gram have spent
many happy hours in Washington re-
newing old acquaintances here. Just
the other day they were luncheon
guests at a party given in the Capitol
by Representatives Coyle, Tilson and
others. And they have also met Col.
f. Lester Jones, director of the Coast
and Geodetic Survey, and George Otis
Smith, director of the Geological Sur
vey. both Maine men who have won
high places in the Government serv-