ROALD AMUNDSEN.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5304, 25 July 1928, Page 1

ROALD AMUNDSEN.

o THE FAMOUS EXI’LOBEB. HIS MANY POLAR EXPEDITIONS. Roald Amundsen, the famous ex' plojt'er, was boiyi in. July, 157.2, .-;at Borje, near Oslo, Norway. Though he w.as often lucky, his successes were chiefly due to careful study, foresight, ami elaborate preparat on. Half Ndl- - half Jew, he was a man of fine physique and dauntless courage. One of his, early ambitions was to find the North-West Passage, but, this could not be realised until after the .death of his mother, who had destinod him for the medical profession. Au experienced sailor, he joined! the Belgian expedition which drifted in the Antarctic in the Belgica for months. The officers fell ill, arid Amundsen took command. One of 111 s, colleagues was Dr. Cook, of Nort-n Pole, “fame,” and it wa.s he who suggested the plan which enabled the sh l P to be freed from the ice. In 1903 he essayed the navigation of the NorthWest Passage, and after three years succeeded where so many famous men had failed. This, he considered his greatest achievement. The magnetic observations were so full that after his return in 1900 scientists spent nearly twenty yents in digesting, their meaning. Before he started creditors of the expedition were pressing foil payment, and, fearing lest ‘his ship would be held up, he escaped by sailing at midnight. His most spectacular feat w,as, his .dash to the South Pole, in 1911. 'He denied that his aim was to forestall Scott, and states having beep anticipated by Perry in his plan to reach tliq North Pole, he tunned his attention to the Antarctic. Leaving; Norway -in tire' F>'am in August, 1910, Amundsen made, his winter, quarters in the Bay of Whales, on the Great Ross Barrier, and started for the Pole ■in October, 1911, the party numbering five, ’with four sledges and 52 dogs. The explorers, reached their- destination on December, 11, the month before Scott, having covered 90 miles ip 55 day& They spent several days at the Pole, where they left a tent with of their equipment, and also letters for Scott and the King of Norway. The return journey was made ip 39, days, but the party reached their quarters minus two sledgtes 'and -10 dogs. : iOu June 25, 1918, Amundsen set out in the Maud to drift across the North Pole ip the ice, but it was; not tUI August, 1922, that the ship got in.to the pack. He had taken an aeroplane, and in May. 1923', ma,de a trial flight, but conditions were so bad that ‘he gave up tih'e idea of reaching the Pole by air. The drift also failed, apd was abandoned in November, 1924.

This venture made Amundsen bankrupt. but he was soon able to obtain funds for .another attempt on the Pole, thanks to the generosity of the- American millionaire Lincoln Ellsworth, and tihe loan 'of the Fram by the Norwegian Government as a store, ship. The party of 21- set out from King’s Bay, Spitsbergen, on May 21, 1925. in two Dornieir-Wal seaplanes. On Jun,e 18 word came’ that it had returned to King’s Bay. The seaplanes had covered 625 miles against a head wind, and by 1 a.m. on the .second day half their, petrol was, used up, so that they were forced to land. One of the ’planes was caught in the ice, and they had to wait until June 14 for its release. During this time. Lincoln, Ellsworth, the son of the millionaire, saved six men'from death, thus making it possible for. the expedition to return. Amundsen then conceived the idea of using a Zeppelin for Arctic exploration, but Dr. EckenbPs collaboration with him aroused resentmen.t in Germany owing to the explorer,’s antiGerman attitude during; the war. Eventually Ellsworth bought from the Italian Government far £15,000 a semirigid airship, which was named the Norge. It was flown via Pulham, Norfolk, to Spitsbergen. There Amunds!en, Ellsworth, General Nobile, who had designed the ajrship, and who acted as navigator, with a crew of 14, took the' air on the -morning of May 11, 1926, and passed over the North Pole, sighting Point Barrow on the north coast of Alaska four hours later. As Amundsen, anticipated Scott .at the South Pole, so Commander: Byrd flew over the North Pole in an aeroplanetwo days before Amundsen. The latter’s survey established the fact that, apart from a few rocky iS,lands, there is no land in- the Polar region,i The distance flown was 3400 milc/s. The Italian Government bought back the Norge for £lO,OOO. The expedition cost £lOO,OOO. On tlie afternoon of June 18 Amundsen. accompanied by Major. Gu'lband and Captain Dietrickson. lelft Tromso by seaplan,® to fly in search of Nobile’s Patty, which was not at that time definitely located.