Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-07-07
FRANZ Josef land
TAKEN FROM MAP
Area Named in Honor of Fa.
nous Emperor Is RechriS.
tened by Soviets.
Franz Josef Land is no more.

Franz Josef Land is no more.
BY vote of the Russian Association Of
Science, according to dispatches from
Norway, the name Fridtjof NanSer
Land has been substituted for the for
Der title that was given in honor OF
the famous Emperor of Austria.
Its new name fits the Arctic archi-
pelago appropriately, because the
islands figured in one of the most dra-
matte episodes of the late Fridtiof Nam
sens career as an explorer" says q
bulletin of the Naval Geographic
Society.
Islands Saved NanSen's Life.
"The land which has been named for
him literally saved his life and pre-
served him for the valuable humani-
tartan career that reached a climax
when he, in cooperation with Herbert
Hoover, saved the lives of millions OF
famine-stricken Russians.
Fr1dtJof NanSen and a small party,
on board the specially constructed
Fran, entered the ice foes OF North
ern Siberia in 1893 and, locked In the
ice pack, drifted for IS months without
sighting land and without single con-
tact with the world. In fact, the world
believed NanSen and his crew lost.
When the Fran failed to drive over
the North Pole, as NanSen hoped she
would, the explorer conceived a daring
two-man dash to the top Of the world.
Nansen and Johansen, with three
sledges, % dogs and two kayaks (Es-
kimo canoeS) did not attain their OBJ
Jective, but they made new farthest
north 86 degree and IL minutes, just
228 miles from the Pole. Turning
south, the two men started on one OF
the longest marches ever made over
Arctic ice. Finally they were reduced
to two dogs. Johansen was struck
down by a hungry polar bear, but
escaped death
AT last they reached Eva Island
one of the outlying islands of what now
becomes Fridtiof Nansen Land. There
they built stone hut and lived chiefly
on bear meat during the entire Win
ter. In the Spring they started south
for the main islands OF the group.
Nansen's gayak was attacked by huge
walrus that drove its tuskS through the
fragile craft. but hansen scrambled out
on a cake of ice as the tiny boat filled
with water.
while they were planning TO reach
civilization by a long, dangerous sea
trip to Novaya Zemlya, hansen heard
a dog bark. He started on and met,
to his great joy. Frederick jackson,
leader of an English expedition. Al
though Jackson had met Nansen years
ognize in the bearded, black-skinned,
sooty-haired wanderer the famous
blond Norwegian explorer. NanSen
and Johansen came home on the Eng
lish party's whaler: the Fran arrived
a few days later. hansen, who had been
given up for dead, received q tremen-
dous welcome.
Embraces Most NOrtherly Land.
sFormer Franz Josef Land, contain
ing the most northerly land yet dis
covered, finds its greatest usefulness TO
the world as a memorial, AS whole
1t now becomes a snow-white monument
in honor of a man of the North:
Conveniently, also, for memorial pur-
poses. Fridtjof hansen Land Is divided
and subdivided into numerous islands,
large and small. Channels and capes
and headlands demand titles. There
were no inhabitants to label them, so
the various explorers had free rein TO
distribute names as they went along.
ct is easily possible to recognize the
nationality of the exploring parties, as
well as the period of their work, by
merely reading the map-British Chan
mel, Alexandra Island, Harmsworth
Straits, Cambridge Bay, Wilczek Island,
Wayprecht Sea, Crown Prince Rudolf
Land, Pierpont Morgan Strait. Wander
bilt Sound, Graham Bell Island, WHIT
ney Sea. AuStTlanS, EngilSn, AmSElCauS,
Norwegians and Italians have shared in
making known the secrets OF this ice
bound archipelago.
Nearer Pole Than Spitzbergen.
"Thirty of the islands in the group
are 10 miles or more in length, and the
remainder, scores Of them, are small.
Several are as much as so miles long.
As a whole Fridtjof hansen Land lies
slightly farther north than Svalbard
(Spitzbergen) and it is as far north
of the Thurman coast of Soviet Russia
as Chicago is from New Orleans.
Because of its far northern posi-
ton and the greater distance the Arctic
arm of the Gulf Stream must flow to
reach it, Fridtjof hansen Land Is mark
ed by Arctic conditions to greater ex-
tent than Svalbard 1t is called the
worlds most characteristic polar land
Most of the islands are plateaus under
1000 feet elevation and covered with
domes of ice. Less than 5 per cent OF
the surface is free of snow, even In
Summer.
"Only lichens, MOSES, several grasses
and peoples grow where the sun melts
through the snow. Polar bears ana
foxes live on the islands; walrus and
seals frequent the nearby waters. The
islands are richest in bird life. Thou
sands of little auks, dovekies and other
birds come to the islands in March and
remain until September.