AN ARCTIC HONEYMOON.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVII, Issue 263, 10 November 1906, Page 13

AN ARCTIC HONEYMOON.

ADVENTURES IN THE FAB NOKTH. M. Max Fleischman. a wealthy resident of Cincinnati, left London on June 4 wita his bride to sppnd a portion of his honeymoon In the Far North. Forty-seven days wore passed !n an effort to land on the north-eaec coast of Greenland, and all this time their ship was attempting to force its way through the fast-gatbering ice. They ulti 'mately landed in Spitsbergen. On the trip it is slated that 30 reindeer, 100 seals, and 23 polar bears were killed, and of thrse Mrs Fleischman disposed of two. Two polar bears were also caught alive. The trip was made on the Lanra, a sister atrip to the Fridtnjof, in whi;fc the Wellman expedition sailed. In addition to Mr and Mrs Fle-ischman there were on board several guests .xnd a crew of IS men, commanded by Captain Oyen. the first male of the ship that carried the last Swedish expedition north. The Laura left Trrroisoe on June 15, ana on her arrivaj at Spitzbergen the party Inspected and took pictures of the camp of the Wellman expedition. Here they remained a few days, and the vessel wns afterwards beaded in the direction of Shannon Island. During the trip Mr and Mrs Fleischman wore sheepskin dresses lined with leather, and the men of the party baa waterproof suits. As the ship proceeded northward tlie temperature fell so low that the crew were kept busily employed In thawing out the pumps in the fresh, water tanks. A hundred miles from the Greenland coast the Laura encountered a great wall of Ice, which bore down upon her from three sides. The captain was compelled to choose Detween fighting the floe and turning back, and a council was held, witb the result that it was decided to press on. The Laura was constructed forward like an ice-breaker, and she was thus able to force a passage after her bows had been thrust over Joe ice Two weeks were spent in bunting near and seal over the ice, as the attempt to land on the coast of Greenland was abandoned, and it was here that Mrs Fleischman killed two polar bears with her Savage rltte. One of them was the largest animal that was bagged during the tour. Mrs Fleischman, standing with Mrs Holmes about 200 yards from the ship, noticed the white fur of the bear glisten in the sun on an Ice hillock some 2(Kift away. Without hesitating she took a!m and fled. Bruin dropped, rolled over i'tvcit half a dozen times, and died from a rifle ball -which entered uu<3er his shoulder blade and penetrated his heart. A few days later Mrs Fleisehman killed her second, a smaller bear, which showed a disposition u> 3ght. Mr FleiscJUman has presented one of the two polar bears captured to the Cincinnati Zoological Gardens. » This unique honeymoon trip cost something like £15,000,