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Show AMUNDSEN'S STORY OF DASHJO POLE INTREPID EXPLORER PLANTS FLAG OF NORWAY AND STAYS THREE DAY8 AT SOUTH POLE. Little Party of Determined Men Face Untold Hardship and Peril In Sue-ceful Sue-ceful Effort to Reach Southern-moit Southern-moit Point of World. Hobnrt, Tasmania- Captain Itaold Amundsen, the explorer accredited with the discovery of the south pole, baa Issued a utatement In which he declares that ho and bin party reached reach-ed the south pole on December 14, 3911, and that the party spent three days at the pole, where the flag of Norway was planted. Captain Amundsen says the pole Is situated on a vast plateau, which etretches away In either direction for miles and miles. The explorer whose name will go down through the centuries to come for his contribution to the world's greatest discoveries, has given the story of his Journey to the world In hi characteristic simple and unassuming; unas-suming; way, and that slory seems to bave been generally accepted as the unadulterated truth. The last stages of the Journey seem to have been the most difficult, barring the last days, for the explorer. explor-er. The real dash for the pole be-fan be-fan on February 10, 191 1, when the party began to work lis way south, establishing food depots on the way. For four months from April 22 the party did not see the sun, hut this winter season seems not to have caused auy great hardship, except to the dogs, while the time was profitably profit-ably spent In tome astonishing meteorological met-eorological observations. There was very little snow, and there was open water by the camp of the exploring party throughout the wlster. A start was made from the winter bome on September 8, but encountering encounter-ing severs weather, the thermometer showing 76 degrees below xero, Captain Cap-tain Amundsen ordered a return to their winter hut to wait for spring weather, which did not come until the middle of October. On October 20, five men of the party par-ty started on the final dash for the Iole, having four sledges, fifty-two dogs and provisions for four months. The trip mimt indeed have been a trying one, even for men used to such hardships. Caches of food were made at different points along the route Avtaken,i." be used on the return Jour-fiey, Jour-fiey, In case the explorers should ever return. Over mountains and glaciers, across Ice covered stretches of water, where the ice creaked and groaned and threatened to at any moment engulf the entire party, through valleys and across plains, the intrepid explorers patiently plodded, until on December 6 a camp was established at the point farthest south visited by Lieutenant Shackellon. From there on to the pole the task seems to have been comparatively com-paratively easy, being mostly a down bill pull for the dog teams. On December 14 at 3 p. m. they baited, having by the reckonings made, arrived at the goat for which many brave and hardy explorers bad searched in vain. Then, accordtng to Captain Amundsen, Amund-sen, all of the party gathered around the colors a beautiful silk flag all bands taking bold of It and planting It. Three days were spent In that vicinity, vi-cinity, and numerous observations were taken and reckoning made, the explorers having thoroughly satisfied themselves that the south pole bad at last been visited by man. On December 17 there was fastened to the ground a little tent which bad been taken along, a Norwegian flag and the Fram pendant on the top of It. The Norwegian home at the south pole was christened "Polhelm." Then began the return trip on the 17th. and the return seems to have been much easier than when the men ( were searching for the pole. The Fram, conveying the victorious explorers, left the Pay of Whales on January 30, and after a long voyage against contrary wind, arrived at Hobart. |