An Armful of Flags

Roald Amundsen, famed Norwegian explorer of the arctics, has written an autobiography.*

Climaxed by an account of the flight of the airship Norge over the North Pole, it works up to a denunciation of the Italian skipper, Umberto Nobile, who piloted the ship. ". . . This hired skipper of a Norwegian ship owned by an American and myself shall not be permitted to usurp honors that do not belong to him. This record is written to prevent it."

For long Mr. Amundsen had spurned Mr. Nobile's claim to major credit for the successful expedition: "... I will not enter into any controversy with any of my subordinate officers." But Benito Mussolini has given his countryman full recognition, has promoted him from colonel to general in the Italian Army. The growing political significance of the controversy, apparently, has goaded the Norwegian out of his dignified silence to write:

"Ellsworth [U. S. backer of the expedition] and I had each, of course, brought a flag to be dropped overboard as we crossed the pole-- Ellsworth the Stars and Stripes and I the national flag of Norway. In keeping with Nobile's injunctions to keep down the weight of all baggage, we had each brought a little flag not much larger than a pocket handkerchief. . . . Imagine our astonishment to see Nobile dropping overside not one, but armfuls of flags. For a few moments the Norge looked like a circus wagon of the skies. ... I was amused at his childish pleasure in feeling that he had 'put something over' and gained a greater honor for his country by the size and number of its flags deposited in the unseeing vastness of the Arctic. ... I laughed aloud."

*My LIFE AS AN EXPLORER--Doubleday, Page ($3).