Dr. Fridtjof Nansen

Ou üct. 23 thprt" 11 arrive in tlii.s n iinirv ; iiiiin iliüt is acknuwledge is tlu rt"i(ie.vt licrn ..i u. e century, one tlial is nol niily a liero but u scientist and mi HUllmr ui vorll-w ide f ara e. Dr, I'ii'ltjiii NaiiHpn, wlioee expluits j in the ïnic rpjïiiins have been the talk, Ihe wonder ai'd llie tuhniration of the weirltl d uring the !ist ear, will begin his hvuue tour of il"' Umted Stiltes nul Canada it Xe York city Oct. 28, and give the people of tliis contiueul au opportunity to see the man that lias done and dared so niucli for scieuce and to hear him teil of some of tl ie adyeutures in that waste of ice and snow during the three years he remained there. Dr. Fridtjof Nansen is only thirty-five years oíd, but already he has done more in the fascinating región of Arttic exploration than any man of our own or any other time. There seems to be little doubt that Nansen was bom to explore, and the circumstanoes wbïch lead one tu this conclusión eeema also to point to the fact that the Arctic was inteuded as the field of Ii is woaderings and adventures. Au ancestor of Nansen's, born jast three hundred years ago, was Hans Nanseu, a bold navigator, who explored the White Sea coasl under commissipn of the Car, was stopped by the ice, speut a winter in the nortli, and wrote a handbook Eor Arctic navigators that continued in use for more than two hundred years. Tossessed of great tenacity of purpose and strength of will, Hans Nansen was a lit progenitor of the Nansen of our day. On lus mother's sitie our Nansen inherited sturdy and adventurous qualities that are not less entitled to be taken nto reekoning. Froin her, more' than iroin liis father, Nansen got his intrepid spirit, bis leve of adventure, liis practical mind. Altliough the ianiily appears to have heen ia comfortable circumstances, the early training of the boy was extremely simple, if not severe. He always lived in the closest communion with Nature, not only on the farm of Great Froen at West Aker, which belongs to lus fatlier, Balder Fridtjof Nansen, an eminent lawyer, but as a youth whole days and nights would be spent by him in the recesses of the woods of Nordmarken, wliere lie lived a sort of Kobinson Crusoe life, subsisting on a crust of bread and the spoil of his fishing rod, while every work on travel and exploration :is greedily read. A f ter he bad been two years at college the spirit of adventure ran too rampant in him to be Jonger restrained, so that he eagerly accepted the offer of the post of naturalist and zoologist on board a whaler bound for au Arctic cruise. Ün his return the appoiutment of Curator to the Museum of Bergen awaited him. Here he settled down for some years fairly coutentedly to his microscoiie and Drosecutiusr his researches so induBtriously as to niake lutn quite an authority on parasítica] fish-worins and general nerve structure. ïhen the partially successful exploration effected in Greenland by the veteran Swede Nordenskiold set his ulood on fire to emulate the great traveler by crossing Greenland. This feat our hero accotnplished in the summer of 1888 and spread tire young Norwegian's fame and credit far and wide. But greater things were, and are, in store for the intrepid doctor. His last great achievement is the one that places him at the liead of Arctic exploréis and for which the world will ever be indebted. The general public are just beginning to realize fully the wonderfnl achievemeuts of Dr. Naneen, and how much ihe world and science owe him. During the space of one hundred and eighty years previous to the year of 1893 the couibined efforts of all the Arctic expeditions succeded in pénetrating only one hundred and iil'ty miles nearer the pole. Dr. Nanscn in three years, puslied two hundred miles beyond the iartberest point then reached, covering the last one hundred and fifty miles in the very short space of six weeks. As a scientist Dr. Nansen proposed a campaign for "attacklng the Arctic fastness," the unconvenlional holdness of which provoked almost the universal opposition and ridicule of the scientific workl. His theorie ei e looked apon as the "wildest iinaginintïs ot a distorted brain, leading his followers meertain death," yel he has proven he was correct, and has acuompliwhtd all and mor tliau he ulaimed possil)le, and all of this without the loa of a single life. We do not know anyihiiig sn remarkible n the annals of travel is this complete realization uf a forecast. Indeed, hut for the one hypothesis of a shallow polar sea. Dr. Naiiaen might have described his voyttgf Irv taking liis paper outlining the projeci ui 18t)2 aud changing the future intu the past tense throughoiit. Fiirtumitely for him, his expediiion did 1 1 t return together, sü 110 one eau siy ilial this renmrkable uoincidence of facl uith theory was produced by falaifyinu the record. If it ivcie possible to make sueh nn alleaiiuu it is scarcely conceivable thai uuyone liase enough to rnake it wouJd le found; absolute Bincerity shines m averv line of his wonoeiful wOrk as it s-liines in the honest eyes ol Nausen liimself. Few modern iucidenta come iiearer the absolutely lieroic than ilie departure of Nauseu and JohanseiJ trom the safe and eoinfortable Kram at the flrst dawn of the Aniicitay in 1 S', ö and their uiarcb northward over the floe in the altempt to reacli the pole. Nor was the failure of a cherished ambition ever more quietly recorded than Nanseu'a resolved to turn back when latitude 86 degreea 14 minutes X., nearly 200 miles nearer the pole than anyone had ever boen befare. The lonely winter on au unknown island oí Kranz Josef Land, in a lint that scarcely afforded room to stretch the limbs, with scarcely any food but raw walrus and bear, and no resource bnt sleep, is a thing tiiat cannot soon pass frora the mind of the reader. In the teetli of expert opposition 'he clang firmly to his own Uieories and deals, and repudiated thf venerable axioins and unetliods of Arctic exploration. The result bas been that he has Iritimphantly proved the souodness of his own couchisions; and it was little more than a technical miscalculation that lead to tlie ilrifting of the Fram accoss the Polar área on a track somewhat more to the south than was originaliy contemplated. But Nansen has shown that the centre of the Polar sjihere can be penetrated. He lias solved the problein of expeditionary equipment and organization. He bas upset the conujusions of the best aud most variant Árctic explorers, and he bas cléarly established the faet that the area aroand the Polar axis is uot a shallow sea covered by an immutable and solid ice-mantle, but that it is surrounded by a deep sea, over the surface of whicb is continually drifünj? a vast expauae of breaking and shifting ice. The hypothesis of a Polar continent is disproveil ; a new liglit luis been tlirown upon currents, temperaturas, atmospheric, lunar and solar phenoniena ; and a vast atnouut of eutirely new scientific data has been Rmassed. Of tlie life and duty of tliat little band of discoverera in their drifting borne, in the F ram, Dr. Kansen draws a charming picture. They had their moods, and from Captain Sverdrup's supplementary narrativo rather than from anything Dr. Nansen says, it is plain that at times the tedium' oí their uneventful days told on their nerves. Spirits rose and feil, and tliere were days when "ves" and "no" were the staple oí conversation. But their jrloom was easily dispelled. The heaith of every inember of the expedition was excellent. J)r. Blessing's office was a sinecure, and in despair he took to doctoring the dogs! Food was abundant and varied. Themenus which Dr. Nansen prints aniply bear out his eulogy of their fare. They seized every occasion íor a feast and jollilicalion - holding on to life with both hands. When a birthday did not supply an opportunity they wisely made one. A journal, tlie "FramBjaa," gave the poets and artista Of the party the means of beguiling their leisure, and afforded amusement to the rest. Meaawhile, of course, tliere were daily duties to be discliarged, the taking of observationa of many kiuds at stated periods being not the least portant. Sledges were made ;md kayaks built; asmithy was established on the floe in which the Fram was iinbedded, the eleetric light was installed aud depots established in case of accidenta. It was uot lonf-however, bel'ore they discovered that the Fram was a splendid ice-boat, and not the least interesting part of the story of the drift is the description of the frequent bouts in which the good ship engaged with the ice-masses that surrounded lier on all sides. The following paragraph is from the "Life of Fridtjof Xansen" : "It was not till Sept. 26, in 77 degrees jatitude that we were really stopped by ice. I continued along the edge of the ice, but we had a long dreary time with' a bitter north wind. It seemed as if everything was going against us. As early as October the ice pres&ure was tremendous. It would often lift the vessel several feet, and let her drop back again as the ice opeiied. In the i any other vessel this pressure would have been fatal, but the Pram surpassed our expectations. ïlie ice piled itself up and crushed againat her with a noise like the "Crack of Doom," but i vain. The noise of the ushing agaiast her sides often rose to such a pitch that we could not hear oniselvcs speak in the saloon, but we lelt as safe as in a fortress. The Fram u;is a comfortable, warm nest, where little was feit of the average cold of a polar winter. The temperature feil rapidly, and continued very low right throiigh the winter of 1893. During maiiy weeks the quicksilver was frozeu. Tlie lowest temperature reaohed was (3 degrees below zero. In spite of this, aud although tliere was often a wind, we feit quite comfortable during our open-air exeursions, tlianks to our good wooleu clothiug. The Fnim was so well protected against the cold that even in these low temperaturen we liad no fires in the saloon until the new year. All the men were in excellent healtli during tlie whole of the expedition and we all agreed that the polar sea is a healthy place with such a capital sanitarium as the Fram." Personal ly the doctor is a hardj Norsenian, and he looks it, everv inch of liim. He is very tall - full six feet, i f iiot an inch ot two above it. He has a line, dear complexión, fair hair and umstiiclie. The face is that of a man i-I keen intelligeuoe, of marked determination, of gentle and kindly disposition. Tliere is a peculiarly soft and tender look in the blue eyes, and the smile is very sweet, lichting up oneof the brightest faces. The inouih is very flrm, iudicating the strength of will and independence so ofteu manifest in this great inan's actions. Ilis manner is most reliring and modest, yet so easy and confidence-inspiriug that to he in this uotupany is t feel one is with i friend and to feel at home. I Ie speaks English fluently aml well, and if ever :i man had an interesting story to teil he H88uredly has. Er. Xansen will probably be accompanied by hia wife, Eva Sars iSTansen, and their little daughter Liv. Madame Nansen's reputation as a singer is alinost as great in Norway as that of her hitsband as au explorer, is a briglit and intelligent looking lady, who speaks English as well as many Enjtlish women. She will evidently share the popularity of her husband during their visit to this country. His lectures giving account of his expedition, possesa oot only tlie greatest scientific value, hut are a thrilling iiarrative of adventure, absorbing in interest for boÜi yoüng aud old. Ilis graphic picture ui' life, in lands of hiiherto unknown by man, are startling, realistic, thrilling and appeal to all classes. The seeining almost mpossible feats of physical endnrance are a marvel to the entirc civilized world. The situatlons, awe-inspiring and awfully grand, contemplating which the unanimous verdict is that he is absolutely "the hero of the century." The Xansen lectures in this country will he ander the sole management ui the Redpath Lyceum Bureau and Richard Heard, the latter acting as directing manager, with Col. Kirhy ('hamberlain Pardee the business manager, and under their experienced management Dr. Nansen will repeat the tremendous success which he met with in Europe. The number of applications for time, propositions for receptions and dates aheady booked are far in excess of any other similar tour ever arranged for in the United States. Secy. Coon of the S. L. A. has received a cablegrara froin Liverpool stating that Xansen sailed from that port Monday.