The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1927-05-13
AMUNDSEN TELLS
OF COURSE OF NORGE

Noted Norwegian Explorer Traces
History of Polar Exploration. Gives
Great Falls Audience First Hand
Account of His Trip to the North
Pole.
Great Falls.-The thrilling story OF
the flight over the north pole after
MANY unsuccessful attempts had been
previously recorded, was told by Cap
tain Roald Amundsen to a large au-
dience at the Rainbow theater last
night. The story was illustrated by
views and motion pictures of the
flight that aided materially the
graphic descriptions given by the eX.
plorer of the experiences of hmseh
and his crew.
To Lincoln Ellsworth, the young
American who accompanied him on
the trip and who was instrumental IN
arranging the details and the financ-
ing of the expedition, Captain Am
undsen paid a high tribute.
Mayor Speaks.
The Civilian club which arranged
for the visit of Captain Amundsen
invited Mayor Harry B. Mitchell TO
make the introduction at the theater'
Captain Amundsen told the stories
of many attempts to reach the north
pole in past years.
After describing in detail some OF
these the speaker told the story OF
the successful flight of the Norge
which left on April 10, 1926, from
the flying field near Rome, Italy, and
went from there to England, Norway
and Russia. After three weeks the
trip was made to Kings bay, Spitz-
bergen, where the Norge arrived lat
er when Captain Amundsen and Lieu
tenant Ellsworth had made their fin
al preparations for the jump off.
He then described his trip as fol
lows:
Describes Trip
"On May 10 the Norge was ready
and May 18th, a beautiful day, We
started out. The signal was given a
10 a. m. and the Norge was lifted
from the hangar. There were 10 me1
and six mechanics in the body of tn,
ship. We flew north and came in ov
er drift ice, which looked like al
immense white plain from the alti
tuGe at which we were flying. Their
were immense ice hummocks up t
so feet high and cracks in the ice. w
reached the pole at 1870 a. M, Ma
IL. Not much to be seen but tn
same drift ice all the time. Immedi
ately after flying over the pole W
changed time from 1870 a. M, Ma
IL, to 2:30 p M, May IL. Mr.. Ellis
worth celebrated his birthday at tn
pole and received many wireless
messages. Our cabin was so crowC
ed that we could not sit down or Ii
down, but we had to stand up all tn
time. We could make no fire, thu
was too dangerous, with a ship flu
of gas and gasoline, so we had I'll
Indians bring in their wheat in sacl
with 40 thermos bottles of hot CO
fee and tea, baskets of sandwiche
hard boiled eggs and meat cakes. A
ter about 25 hours the tea and cofft
were cold, the sandwiches were ;
brittle as ice and the hard boiled egs
became still harder.
eve were then at Sc degrees nor
ldIlJuQGs DCGWCOn Alaska anu u
north pole, 240 miles on the other si
of the pole. This is the most desel
ed point of the trip. The north pc
isn't, for sc degrees north latitude
in the center of an enormous ice de
ert. Our favorable weather chang
here and heavy fog descended up
US. We tried to fly under the f
and finally decided To shoot thrOu,
it and fly out on top but the clou
s above were no better so we flew tn
fog for a good many hundred miles
cit was AZ hours after we l.
- Spitzbergen that we sighted land. '
er knew it was Alaska, but not whe
TX The navigator said that he thoue
so it was about 10 miles from Point b
is row, and his opinion afterward pre-
9y ed to be correct"