LETTER 12 YEARS OVERDUE

Evening Star, Issue 19275, 14 June 1926, Page 3

LETTER 12 YEARS OVERDUE

JOURNEY TO NORTH POLE CHRISTCHURCH MISSIVE WITH AMUHSDEH [Special to the ‘Stab.’] CHRISTCHURCH, June 12. “ There nro times when people complain when they receive letters through the post which are years overdue. However, one arrived in Christchuich yesterday twelve years overdue, says to-night s ‘ Sun ’; “ but no complaint will he made about that. “As a matter of fact, the people concerned had forgotten about it. iou see, this particular letter has been to the North Pole. It has a fascinating history, though where it has been and how it returned are matters for conjecture. Certainly this letter has had a most adventurous career. “In 1914, when the famous polar explorer, Amundsen, was in New Zealand with the Frara, he offered to take letters to the North Pole, where he said they would be posted and returned to fcji.s owners. A Christchurch woman gave Amundsen a letter, and it started on its twelve years’ journey. Apparently it was transferred from the Frain to the Maud, the ship which drifted for seven years in the ice of the polar sens, and returned to Seattle in August of last year, where she was arrested for debt. There is also a theory put forward that perhaps Amundsen kept it in Ids possession until his adventurous journey by airplane last year. “On the stamp of the letter is the word “ Polhavet, and the date of its posting, 14/2/14. Printed on one side nro the words; ‘ This letter will be carried by the Fram across the Polar Sea, and afterwards conveyed by post to the addresses.’ “ What a story of howling blizzards, mountainous ice packs, midnight sun, and the endurance of man this letter could toll!"