WHALER CAPTAIN DEAD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18887, 9 December 1924, Page 8

WHALER CAPTAIN DEAD.

THE ROSS SEA EXPEDITION.

GREAT NORWEGIAN EXPLORER.

WIRELESS MESSAGE TO WIDOW.

[BY telegraph.—own* correspondent.]

DUNEDIN. Monday.

News was . received in Dunodin this morning of the sudden death of. Captain C. A. Larsen, master of the Sir James Clark Ross, the mother ship of the Norwegian whaling expedition operating in the Ross Sea. The news was received in the form of a wireless message by Mr?. Larsen, who 'is- residing temporarily with friends at Port Chalmers, from her son on board the Sir James Clark Ross. Dr. Borrie, of Port Chalmers, also received a similar message from the ship's surgeon.

The receipt of these messages came as a shock to Captain Larsen's many friends at this port. The cause of death was heart trouble, Captain Larsen having been subjected to seizures recently.

The Sir James Clark Ross was 15 degrees from the South Pole when the wireless messages were despatched. The message to Dr. Borrie stated that Captain Larsen's body would be embalmed and conveyed to Norway for burial when the expedition returns early next year. Death occurred on Sunday evening.

The late Captain Larsen leaves a family of five daughters and two sons. One son is a junior officer on the Sir James Clark Ross. Mrs. Larsen and a niece, Miss Thorson, came out from Norway to Port Chalmers by the vessel.

Captain Larsen was 83 years of age ana was manager of the mother ship and officer in charge of the expedition. He was a noted Norwegian explorer, • having led several expeditions to South Georgia, and he was decorated by the King of Norway for his services. He was' considered:, a paramount authority on whaling and all matters pertaining to the industry. He was . distinguished by being the first person to develop the whaling industry in South Georgia, the result of which was the development of the whaling enterprise in South Shetlands to its present enormous dimensions. He was a clever and active Norwegian gentleman and conversed freely in English. He piloted the expedition to the Antarctic for the first time last season.

The Sir James ClarTc -Boss arrived at Bluff on November 10 from Norway, via Suez and Hobart. She then came to Port Chalmers, where she arrived on November 12, and after taking in 2500 tons of coal and 1500 tons •of fresh water, sailed .on November 18 for Stewart Island and the Ross Sea.