PRESERVING THE FRAM

Southland Times, Issue 21001, 6 February 1930, Page 14

PRESERVING THE FRAM

' • I ! ENGLISH COMMITTEE FORMED. EFFORTS TO RAISE A FUND. I Funds are being raised in Britain for lii the preservation of the Fram, Dr. Nansen’s W old ship, which lies in dock in Norway, in danger of destruction. 1 Vicount Cecil of Chelwood is president of a committee to forward the movement, which includes Dr. Hugh Robert Mill, vice- Il president of the Royal Geographical Society, “ Dr. G. P. Gooch, Mr H. G. Wells, Mr Siegfried Sassoon, M. J. C. Squire, and Mr R. ■! B. Cunningham Graham, with Mr J. Howard Whitehouse, of Bembridge School, Isle of - Wight, chairman. The Fram was built in 1892 for Dr. Nansen’s expedition of 1893-96, and was ™ designed by Nansen with the help of a || famous builder of wooden ships—Colin Archer, whose parents had come to Norway ™ from Perth many years before. [y] Nansen had long been impressed with the necessity of obtaining a ship designed rrr for spending long periods in the northern icefield; Colin Archer concentrated all his skill, foresight and thoroughness upon the nr work, and the result was a ship so designed that it was lifted when subjected to ice pressure instead of being crushed between W the floes. |H The ship was constructed solely for the purpose of polar exploration, and has be- Ml come probably the most famous of polar 11111 ships, for it has taken part in three great expeditions. It was used in both Arctic — and Antarctic exploration, and will always ™ be associated with Nansen and his colleagues. (“~ The Fram was specially cosntructed, and ™ it was necessary for its timbers to be HI! closely wedged together in a way that did not allow of proper ventilation. The result nrn is that rot has set in, and in order to save 1111 l the ship it is necessary to have it extensively repaired and protected. Four thousand tw pounds are required for the work, and no IlliH funds are available for it in Norway. It is felt that there will be a general ffint desire to support the work, primarily as an IM expresion of gratitude to Dr. Nansen, not only for his work as an explorer, but in recognition of the work he has done to ffil bring peace and order into the world after the wreckage of the Great War. He led [W the civilized world in the atempt to fight 11111 l the forces of disease, famine and pestilence which followed in its wake. He saved the ■ remnant of the oppressed Armenian nation, ™ whose stories is one of the tragedies of the world. • HI

When the repairs have been carried out the Fram will be kept on permanent exhibition.