Show P 11 t HANSENS PERILOUS VOYAGE r trying to drift across tho the north polar sea it wits specially ciany prepared for the journey Tourne and is probably the strongest vessel afloat will the venturesome explorer explore er ever return allver A talk mrs nansen in her home in christiana I 1 1 I llope hope that norwegian men and women will send kind thoughts to us while we drift through the cold dark polar world ghisio as aa dr fridhjof hansens Nan sens farewell to his countrymen when he set adventurous voyage in hla his out on his stout little ship the pram fram and it has been realized there Is today no more popular name in all scandinavia than his the thoughts of the I 1 people eople are kind but they are gloomy few of the nor expect that nansen will ever again see home it Is a pleasure to me to call attention to some exceptions to his friend and comrade and above all to his devoted wife arid and to tell some of the reasons why they are confident that the problem of the pole Is even now being solved that somewhere in the unknown spaces never yet traversed by man the silent currents of the back again to sea are bearing nansen human sight it was more than two years ago on august 3 1893 when at 0 christofer sen secretary of the expedition bade nansen goodbye good bye as he turned his back upon ulon the world at Chaba rowa in the strait of bugor siberia mr air Christo fersen knows all of nan sens sells plans he expressed to me the roost most perfect confidence in the success of the undertaking an and d said he was pleased that nothing had been h heard eard of nansen according to the most accurate calculation lie he said three be required tor for the journey to be completed and it we receive any information before the expiration pi ration of that time it Is likely to be tidings of misfortune this was reassuring but my skepticism was not completely eradicated until it became my good fortune through a friends invitation to meet the charming young wife of the explorer and from her lips hear an explanation of the principles les upon which her ber husbands plan Is founded dr mansens Kan Nan sens home Is picturesquely situated at lysaker a suburb of here live ills his wife and daughter the former an vivacious and cheerful young woman oman the latter a beautiful little girl about two and a halt half years of 0 age here they wait his return in a characteristic norwegian home in every part ot of which mementoes of 0 the absent voyager meets their eyes A bust or of dr nansen Is the prominent object in the parlor in every corner on every little stand and table are photographs and paintings of the distant husband and fl father ither the walls are decorated with paintings representing arctic scenes and adventures madame nansen belongs to one ot of the best families in norway her maiden name was lars and her mother Is a sister bister of the poet johan sebastian Cammer kammermeyer meyer who was a contemporary ot of bergeland Ver geland madame nansen Is herself Nor ways most popular concert singer her voice though riot not equal to that of them the opera singer gina oselia bjornson surpasses it lit in sweetness and purity of tone wherever she appears she Is always enthusiastically greeted perhaps to the sympathy and admiration naturally drawn to hansens Nan sens wife some portion of her su success before the e public may be due she is an admirer of dr grieg the great norwegian composer and she alone sings his music before it Is published madam nansen is riot not a beautiful woman but la Is charming and interesting a semi brunette ot of medium height with well built and a symmetrical alg figure ure our conversation soon boon turned to the ye pe object of interest her ber husband and ins 18 expedition to the no north rth role pole it did not depress her to talk about her absent husband on the contrary she was as aa happy as the he lark she rivals and at frequent intervals her clear and hearty laugh would cause the piano at my side to murmur in sympathy not tor for a moment io do I 1 doubt his return she said why if I 1 had not felt the greatest confidence in his success I 1 should never have been foolish enough to let him go the only thing which I 1 can see that may prevent his return Is a sheer misfortune whereby the vessel Is crushed even it if fram frain should be wrecked they have boats it if they too are lost then as aa a last re sort borac they have tents to erect on the ice I 1 asked it if she had no desire to accompany her husband she answered promptly no indeed that would be outside of the sphere of a woman that would not have hav e been the proper thing tor for me to do I 1 I 1 ventured to mention that mrs peary accompanied her husband on an arctic trip she said and so much the worse for the expedition it must have been a great burden to carry her along alone although mrs peary certainly showed much courage 11 madam nansen it may bo interred inferred does not advocate woman suffrage r kl 1 l you ever try to persuade your husband to give up his bold plan no on the contrary I 1 urged and encouraged cou raged him to the task for it was his life work and without an attempt at it he would never have been happy since he was so BO unfortunate as to have such a desire it was my duty to assist him in satisfying it so you call it a misfortune that lie he had such a desire well I 1 cant say I 1 call it fortunate to have him up near the north pole while I 1 am sitting here madame hansens Nan sens faith in the success of the expedition and in the sate r af return of her husband Is sanguine and as grounds for her belief she gave me an all interesting account of dr hansens Nan sens plans and told how they had gradually developed through many years of study and how they had finally led to the expedition since his twenty second year dr nansen has haa been contemplating cross ing the north pole and with that end in has been diligently studying the arctic ocean currents he noticed the two largo currents cur renta flowing down the coasts ot of greenland out of the polar regions approximate calculations cu lations showed that an enormous quantity of water was t thus hus transported of 01 ca course urse it would be impossible for the polar ocean to continue to yield such great volumes of 0 water unless similar streams were somewhere flowing into it dr nansen sought their source on the opposite side of 0 the pole off the coast ot of Sl siberia Lerla where lie he discovered a great current which moved steadily toward the pole not only did the water flow toward the pole but the thick lee ice crust was carried by the stream lit in the same direction the idea struck dr nansen that it would be possible to drift across the pole starting oft off the coast ot of siberia arid and coming coining out by way ol of greenland idea was strengthened by tile the re suit of james gordon bennetts jeanette expedition of 1882 3 the jeanette was shipwrecked between 70 degrees and 78 degrees north latitude and degrees longitude cast of greenwich three years after some of the ships stores were found near cape farewell the southern extremity of greenland directly opposite the pole from where they had been cast in the sea it was evident that they must have been driven across the polar regions dr nansen considered this theory demonstrated and reasoned that it if he could have placed himself upon tile the stores lost by the jeanette Jc anette lie would have crossed with them the polar sea but this is far from the only proof of a transpolar trans polar current every week large quantities of driftwood arrive on spitzbergen SPItz bergen en island and greenland coasts by the polar route from siberia in this way the eskimo JS is provided with all the wood he n needs eeds for houses tools and fire without it he could not exist furthermore dr nansen caused experts to examine the earth and rocks found on the ice which drifts along the greenland coast and it was decided that these were identical with those of siberia and must have drifted on the ice across the pole in short dr nansen concluded that there is a short current lowing flowing directly across the polar region and that it if a vessel could be built strong e enough to resist the pressure of the ice it would be possible to drift with that that current across the dr nansen concluded that there must be an open polar sea partially from the fact that the majority of the north pole expeditions have been stopped not as most people believe by ice but by open waters the austrian expedition was stopped by open water at degrees north latitude lieutenant lockwood of the greeley expedition was likewise stopped by open water at degrees north latitude of course it will be understood that the open water prevents the progress of dogs over the ice even if tile the of an sea should not prove a reality dr nansen Is likely to pass through the mysterious re relon region lon frozen tightly into an immense ice place over which he will have no control in this case it Is not certain that he will be able to pass directly over the pole but may be carried some little distance to either side of it ile he Is in hopes however with the assistance of his dogs and sleighs to reach the very point where the earths axis terminates the true geographical pole fram dr hansens Nan sens vessel Is possibly the strongest and the most carefully built ship afloat its construction Is such that when the lee ice freezes solidly around it arid and begins to press against the sides it will be lifted or pushed upward and will rest on the top of the lee ice long enough before the crushing point Is reached the bottom is flat the sides have great shear it Is i egged like a three masted schooner and has a screw propeller which gives a speed of eight miles an hour it carries coal oil and provisions for fIve years though the trip Is calculated to last only three on previous polar expeditions it has been found difficult to keep the frost from penetrating the sides of the ship it was not rare to have the mattresses under tile the sailors to turn into lumps of ice dr nansen has had layers of various material almost impenetrable by frost placed along the sides and under the deck pains have been taken t to 0 furnish the vessel as warmly is as possible and a dynamo will furnish electric light during the long nights A windmill wind mill Is to furnish the 1 power ower it if that falls it has been so arra arranged aged that the men in taking their dally daily walks can at the same time furnish the power for the generator dr nansen was also careful to have the ship stocked with a good library dr nansen has on a previous occasion shown his skill and perseverance lie he Is the only person who has ever crossed over the interior of greenland in 1888 he undertook the feat and was crowned with success before I 1 left dr hansens Nan sens home madame nansen showed me its his study the library contains a large percentage of all the books that have ever been written on travels and explorations the walls are filled with all manner of relles relics which dr nansen has brought from greenland and other arctic regions I 1 ventured to suggest to madame nansen that the parting scene between her and her husband must have been exceptionally touching her reply was civilization has brought with it great self control and now the mind and not the inclination rules it was a characteristic utterance of a brave mans plucky wife |