The Warwickshire Herald. — 1892-02-04 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

THE PROJECTED POLAR EXPEDITION.  Dr. Fridthof Nansen has arrived in London with the object of giving a series of lectures on Polar expeditions. the proceeds of which Dr. Neilsen intends to devote to the great expedition to the North Pole on which he means to start next year. It was a% first arranged that the expedition should be purely Norwegian, and that no money should be sought for outside of Norway. But, as is not surprising, Dr. Nausea finds that the undertaking is likely to cast more than was expected, and it is not improbable that he may apply, among others, to the Royal Geographical Society, of which he is a gold 'req.:Mist, for a contribution. Dr. Nansen means to leave Europe about January, 1893, and make direct for the mouth of the Lena, in Siberia. It is possible that he may take the Kara Sea route to Siberia, but the probability is that he will go by Behring Straits. Dr. Nansen is confident that current sets from the coast of Siberia directly across the Pole to the north coast of Greenland, and that it is the continuation of this current which flows clown the east coast of Greenland. Various objects have been discovered on the Greenland coast which it is believed could only have been floated from Siberia or the sea to the north of it. Dr. Nansen expects that his expedition will be away between three and four years, as the progress will be necessarily slow, and, moreover, the current is believed to oscillate. His specially-constructed vessel is now nearly completed. Its net tonnage will be about 250, and Dr. Nansen is confident that it is indestructible by any amount of ice-nipping. The accommodation on board will be ample for the 12 men who will compose the expedition. Provi,ions will be taken for six years, and care will be n to select these in such a form as will give the greatest amount of nourishment with the least I.lllk. Of course it is expected that a certain ;mania of fresh meat will be obtainable in the term of seals and bears, if not of birds. If Dr. Nansen takes alcohol in any form it will only be in the medicine chest, or as fuel, and even on the sebject of tobacco he has notions which may not be Tilte agreeable bolds men. Everything, of course, %oil be subordinated to the maintenance of the members of the expedition in the greatest possible vigour and to the accomplishment of the great object in view. Arrangements will be made tor utilising the engine for the production of tie electric light. A balloon will also be taken, and the gas required tc work it will be taken in storagt cylinders. Tests will also be taken for use in sledging expeditions, and boats to be utilised in the unfortunate contingency of the ship's having to be abandoned. Dr. Nansen talks of his expedition a sober and businesslike fashion, and has certainly the faculty of inspiring others with confidence in success. If the results are favourable it is pessible that when Dr. Nansen returns fruni th, North Pole he will be sent by Baron Dickson, ol totlienburg, to spend at least a year as near as he Con get to the South Pole. Dr. Hansen attributes tbe failure to obtain the necessary funds ir -  Australia to bad management on the Part of those who took the enterprise in hand, and neve!' succeeded in enlisting public interest and support,  A New York telegram reports that M. Edouard dr !termite, while playing in "Mefisto" on Monday night, severely burned the side of his head when to the act of drinking the fiery draught of Bacchus. Baroness Bettina Rothschild, wife of Baron Albers Rothschild, and daughter of Baron Alphonse Roths child, the head of the famous Paris house, is, says a Vienna telegram, lying at the point ot death, . win., to a cancer in the breast. Bile is only 3.3 yi aro of age. The East Kent coroner on Tuesday held an inquest al Ripple on the body of ticorge Fighi, all army pensioner, who cut his throat is a despondent mood while suffering from influenza and bronehitis.—The jury found thhat deceased committed suicide while temporarily inaanc  The body of an old man found in Sheraton Wood, a secluded spot near Castle Eden, County Durham, had been shockingly mutilated by rats or other vermin. The man had been missing since Christmas. The highest tide *known in the Elbe since 1870 occurred at Hamburg on Saturday. It was accompanied by a hurricane from the !south-west, and the suburbs of Uhlenhorst and Winterhude have been inundated.