THE POLAR FLIGHT

Hokitika Guardian, 20 May 1926, Page 1

THE POLAR FLIGHT

«-J [Australia & N.Z. Cable Association.] A PERILOUS LANDING. ic NOME, May 18. as According to persons visiting Teller, 1- the dirigible Norge was so badly dam:e aged through landing on Thursday, ie that some of tho crew declare her i- wrecked. When Port Clarence was is sighted, the Norge lost her way, be- >- ing carried towards the mountains s by the wind. After some gas had ■- been released, the ship settled a little, t and men c-limbed down the rope and ■ hold her. The most damage was done s by a gust of wind which caught her just as she was beginning to rest firmly on the ice. When the Norge reached Teller, she is said to have carried about a ton of ice, over a hundred pounds of -which was on the attenae of the wireless, * thus disabling the radio. After the 1 deflation was well advanced, the air- ’ ship was pushed 350 feet over the ice ' by tlie wind, /-.despite the crew clinging to the ropes. NOBILE’S STORY. NOME, May 18. “There might be something there I that I might want to deny,” Captain Amundsen exclaimed after vainly pleading with the publisher of the “Nome -Nugget” to let him read Commander Nobile’s story of the flight, . which had been radioed to Signor Mussolini, and then cabled and wired to Nome by tlie Associated Press. “You will have plenty of time after tlie ‘Nugget’ is printed to deny any statements .you see fit,” replied the editor. I Captain Amundsen, Mr Ellsworth, I and two other members of tho crew are livng in a log cabin here, awaiting j the departure of the first steamer to I the United States, which is expected to leave on Juno 15th. Commander Nobile’s assignment at I Teller, according to Captain Amund- I sen, is to dismantle the Norge. ANOTHER EXPEDITION. NEW YORK, May 18 : Despite the negative findings of I Captain Amundsen the opinion that I 1 there is still a probability of a great f tract of land being formed between I t the Pole arid Alaska is hold by the 1 -sponsors of the American Arctic Ex- v pedition that is leaving in tlie sum- I 1 mcr in three aeroplanes for a three to five-year survey of the Polar re- I " giotis. I A

Mr Robert Pope, the Chairman of the Committee, in a statement said: “Captain Amundsen’s observations are of great assistance, but they are not final as lie lias inspected less than ten per cent, of the region between Alaska and the Pole. Permanent bases will be established at Wainwright in Alaska; at Hcrschel Island and on any new land discovered to facilitate future air navigation in the Arctic.