New Britain herald., 1928-02-01
CANNOT
 BEAR SPITZDERGEN
Too Cold Even for Hardy
 People, Fritson Says

Too cold for Eskimos to live there. yet a New Britain man stayed there nearly a month. This fact about SpitzDergen was learned from Frank W. Fritson Of BPS south Main street today. a
 The snow fall today made Fritson recall some of his experiences as q member of the crew on Commander Richard E. Byrd's expedition to the North Pole in 1926. Commander Byrd will speak here Sunday under auspices of the American Legion.
 Among his recollections he vividly recalls the day the tip of his nose was frozen hoisting the Fokker plane, which Byrd was to fly to the pole, over the side of the ship at Spitzbergen. Fritson was speaking of the barren arctic waste, the un- broken stretches of snow and ice. the lack of trees, vegetation and life of any sort surrounding Spitzbergen. when some one asked him, Did you meet any Eskimos?" 'No," said Frank, casually, "it was too cold for Eskimos there; they would not live there, and you would have to go to Iceland, Greenland or Alaska to find them"
 Spitzbergen Is within the arctic circle and only 660 miles from the North Pole.
 When Fritson said that it was too cold for Eskimos to live there. more questions were asked. He said that he arrived there April os, 1926. hay ing sailed about week from Nor way in the dark a4 hour of the day, because they were near the arctic circle and it was might all day" Fritzon said there were about 30 or S5 houses in the land, so far as4he could see. aha they apreArAd~ ,hke frail portable houses. The inhabi- tants were Norwegians who operated three soft coal mines run by the Norwegian government. These peo- pie go down into pits for the coal as in warmer countries. Too cold for Eskimos! yet these NOrsemen work daily mining coal. There are wo- men and children there, decent, re- spectable people, according to Frit- son.
 It was at spitzbergen that Con- nlander Byrd hopped off from the :! earth to circle the North Pole by airplane. Discussing that event Fritzon said: We unshipped tn. life boats off the Chantier, thG steam CT. which had brought hs to sritz- bergen. in a fine land locked harbor [ We lashed the life boats together and then took big blanks off the shil and made an improvised raft to gel the airplanes ashore. Of course the machines had been partly. dissembled and had to be assembled again or shore. Everything had to be crude and rough yet substantial because there was no wood nor any metals obtainable on the land. Everything we used had to come from the ship'' stores and equipment
 When the airplane Commands Byrd was to fly over the pole was as sembl.d, 1t was found necessary t substitute skis for the wheels or dinarily used In taking off. for tn wheels would sink into the snow On the first trial flight tho comman der broke one of his skis on th' plane and the crew had to get tt work and pad down the snow VIII xhoyels to make 6 runway a mll' long from which the airplane coult take off" Fritson said that Wal some job! We worked 3s hour' without sleep and two members 0 the crew, Brant and Black. had thel1 feet frozen" Everybody was in terested and willing to put all the! had into the job to make the expe dition a success but after one traa flight. when Commander Byrd wal off for the pole, at Fritson express ed it. "When he started off on thu second attempt the crowd waved mn good bye, wished him success and VI took a little nap and tried to collec ourselves" Fritson. aside from HI frozen nose, suffered only normal in convenience from the extreme cold He says it may be that his Nors' blood permitted him to ac climate himself so easily to the TIE orous weathe within the arcu' circle.
 Fritson, in the uniform of chic electrician of the L, s. navy, may p seen at the Globe Clothing House where he has put on display of hl trophies of the expedition.
 Tomorrow he will tell the stor! of the ukulele which flew over th' North Pole and how Commando Ryrd came to carry such an instru