Walter Wellman.
Walter Wellman, journalist and explorer, was born in Mentor, Ohio, November 5, 1858. He was educated in the district schools, and during his boyhood gave evidence of his journalistic instincts, for when but fourteen years of age he established a weekly newspaper at Sutton, Nebraska. When he attained his majority, he founded the Cincinnati Evening Post, the venture being of a successful nature. For many years he was political and Washington correspondent of the Chicago Herald and Times-Herald. Mr. Wellman, in 1892, succeeded in locating the landing place of Christopher Columbus, on Watling Island, in the Bahamas, and erected a monument upon the spot. In 1894 he took his initial trip to the Arctic regions, making explorations on the northeastern coast of Spitzbergen. Four years later he explored Franz Josef Land, where he discovered many new islands and made valuable contributions to Arctic geography. As a writer on subjects connected with the frozen north, he is well known by reason of his articles in leading magazines. He has also written on political and general topics.