THE AMUNDSEN EPIC.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 135, 9 June 1926, Page 18

THE AMUNDSEN EPIC.

FLIGHT OVER THE POLE.

NORGE CONSIDERABLY

DAMAGED.

HAILED GREATEST HERO

(From Our Own Correspondent.)

SAN FEANCISCO, May 18,

Great as was the admiration accorded Commander Byrd for his surprisingly rapid flying around the.North Pole, it paled into insignificance when compared with the epic flight by Captain Raold Amundsen and his compatriots in the Norge. The Norge itself was considerably damaged following its landing at Teller, in Alaska.

The scant score of men available at that faraway northern station were insufficient in number to prevent the huge dirigible from whipping about in the wind following its partial deflation.

Between the damage done to the big airship by the wind subsequent to its landing and the dismantling process it looked a wreck. Many of the huge girders in the Norge's frame were bent and warped, and Colonel Unberto Nobile, the inventor and constructor of the dirigible, said those parts would be discarded. One of tha curious sights was the incursion made by the natives at Teller, when they virtually raided the Norge's wreck for souvenirs. Careful guard, however, wag kept to prevent anything of value being carried away by the wily Alaskans. Some of the natives stood in awe of the huge sky monster, which had dropped into their midst so unceremoniously.

Colonel Nobile stated that the Norge had a fifteen-hour supply of gasoline left when decision was reached to make the descent at Teller. "We flew at heights ranging from 400 to 7200 meters on the trip to Alaska from the Pole," he said. "Much fog was encountered, and we were unable to take our bearings. We decided to stop at Teller after it was sighted, although we still had fifteen hours' fuel supply. Wireless Efforts Futile. "Our wireless efforts to reach the outside world were futile for a long time after we landed at Teller, but finally Nome heard us calling." It required but thirty minutes to let the gas out of the Norge when it landed at Teller. "No sleep and lots of hardships," was the personal side of the story of the flight over the Pole, "but well worth it."

The flight over the Pole was accomplished under ideal flying conditions, members of the party declared, but on this side of the Pole snow, fog and storms were encountered, which made flying hazardous.

The outstanding observation of the expedition, aside from the successful reconnaissance of the North Pole from the air, wag the fact that no land was sighted between the Pole and Point Barrow, which is the northernmost part of Alaska. A heavy fog made observations dimcult, however, so that it wae possible land may have escaped the notice of those on board the dirigible.

The trip from Teller to Nome was attended by almost as many perils as the Polar expedition itself, members of the Amundsen party said on arrival at Nome. The boat waa hauled fifteen miles from Teller to open water by fifteen dogs, and open water was difficult to find. Life preservers, collapsible sleds, skis, guns and food were carried in the boat, as it was uncertain whether the trip could be made.

According to the consensus of opinion of the party, the successful aerial reconnaissance of the North Pole by the Amundsen-Ellsworth Polar expedition in the dirigible Norge is merely a forerunner of future extensive exploration of Arctic regions from the air. Lukewarm Reception. The reception which met Captain Amundsen, Mr. Ellsworth, Captain Oscar Wisting and Lieutenant Ohmdal, while warm, was not the riotous celebration which had been planned. Nome frankly was disappointed over the ending of the Norge's epochal journey seventyfive miles short of its expected goal, robbing it of the slogan "Rome to Nome." Some individuals went so far as to remove decorations displayed in honour of the expected coining of the Norge when they learned that the landing had been made at Teller.

There was an unlisted passenger aboard the Norge when it made its flight over the North Pole. While not exactly a stowaway, a miniature fox terrier. Titinia by name, made the seventy-two hour flight from Spitzbergen to Teller, Alaska. Titina was the pet of Colonel Umperto Nobile, and the tiny canine and the Norge constructor were inseparable. The dog appeared to be glad the flight was over. Although the airship had been on land four days, the pup still seemed scared as a result of the trip when seen at Colonel Nobile'e side at Teller later. Titina probably will go down in history as the first pet dog to reach the Pole, although the huskies of the Far North have figured largely in past attempts to reach the Pole.

Lieutenant Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen, Norwegian, second pilot, said that thin ice and open water were found at the North Pole, but no land was discovered in the Arctic wastes by the AmundsenEllsworth expedition. Considerable time was spent at the North Pole making observations, the Norge having descended within 600 feet of the ice, and then rising to an altitude of 4000 feet. Inevitable Motion Pictures. Preparatory to landing at Teller, an anchor was dropped from the Norge and Sergeant Ettore Arduino, assistant mechanician, descended and supervised the landing. A strong wind blew while the airship was being lowered and T. A. Pellerson, manager of the Teller Lighterage Company, grabbed the bow line of the ship and headed it into the wind. After motion pictures were taken of the successful transpolar flying craft, it was deflated in thirty minutes. A perfect landing was made on the frozen bay of Grantley harbour at Teller, but it was two mornings after that the leaders of the party reached Nome in the launch Pippin, a craft which was dragged fourteen miles to open water over the frozen bay of Fort Clarence at Teller.

Captain Amundsen and Captain Oscar Wisting are the only two men in the world to have visited both the North and South Poles, Wisting having accompanied Amundsen when he discovered the South Pole.

At Nome, Amundsen declared that a wireless station should be erected at Teller as it is the only real harbour in that section of the world.

Lieutenant Omdahl said the engines of the Norge were in good condition and worked perfectly. The feeling of resentment against Amundsen wag expressed by many people of Xome over the failure of tlip

explorer to take the .Norge to .Nome i alter sending a mess.ajjo to Kalph' .Uimen, Norwegian Vice-Consul, to: arrange to have iuu men ready to pull the airship to the ground by ropes.

This message assured the populace that .Nome wuuid be .Amundsen b ianuuig piaue, ana the Chamber, of Commerce went to considerable expense placing a cable and lour anchors on the .Nome landing liuld. A triumphal arch, was eiectea uu mc mam street, ami streamers and banners lined the street, while all buildings and honied were lavishly decorateu. Some persona even suggested that the decorations should be changed to crepe. The public was deeply chagrined, including hie Norwegian friends. These friends, which he had made on previous explorations into the Arctic, recalled Amundsen's quiet slip out of Nome for Point Wainwright in 1922, on his first Polar expedition.

An interesting sequel was a race by air between two rival motion picture news reel companies to obtain pictures of the Amundsen-Ellsworth transpolar expedition and an aeroplane charterod by a news reel company from the Fairbanks Airplane Corporation hurriedly left Fairbanks for Nome and Teller, 600 miles west of Fairbanks. A representative of a rival news reel company took off from Fairbanks a few hours later in an aeroplane. The greatest race occurred on the return to Fairbanks in an effort to catch a train to Seward, ac the train from that distant point leaves only triweekly on the Alaska Railway to make connections with steamers en route south. The feat of the Norge brought the highest praise from the National Geographical Society, through Dr. Gilbert Grosvenor, its president.

"Not since the great voyages of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries," he said, "has any explorer made such a long traverse across the unknown as this 3000-mile journey of the Norge from Spitzbergen to Alaska. Amundsen, Ellsworth and Nobile, as well as Commander Byrd, have added as dramatic and important chapters to world exploration and scientific progress as the greatest navigators of history.

"We take pride in the fact that American energy and American talent were so largely associated in this extraordinary triple alliance of Norway, Italy and America in a courageous and scientific endeavour."

The statement referred to the part played in both flights by the bubble sextant of Commander Byrd's invention and the sun compass, invented by Albert H. Bumstead of the society, and the "sportsmanship evinced by both men, and illustrated in Byrd's presentation to his fellow explorer of both these instruments."

Rear-Admiral Moffett, chief of the bureau of aeronautics of the U.S. Navy, pointed to the advantages of lighter-Wian-air craft for polar flights. "Storms and extremes of weather are less severe in the polar regions than in some of our own north-western states, and for this reason a large airship will be utilised in the future when advantage is taken commercially of the Arctic route for transport, between Europe and the Far East," he said.

"The success of the Norge comes at an opportune time to add material justification to America's faith in the lighter-than-air ship and her policy of continuing the development of this field of aviation."

Just before his transpolar flight, Amundsen was asked what thrill would be left for him after he had conquered both Poles. "None, probably, but marriage," he said, "although I have not yet found the girl. Certainly I think I should then retire and let younger men do something, for flying is but started, and there will be many new fields to conquer in that realm."