This time is the most trying period for Arctic travellers, and many poor fellows have gone insane under the terrible oppression of the months of darkness.
When this time came, and the sun had bidden its good-by to the Fram, Nansen lighted his ship by means of electricity, generated from power obtained from a windmill. When the wind failed the crew manned a capstan, an apparatus used for hauling anchors on board ship, and which Nansen applied to this excellent use.
With light to work by, plenty of work to do, and books and games for the evenings, one would have thought the men were well supplied, but Nansen added yet one more pleasure to their store. A friend had made the expedition a present of a phonograph. Nansen had his faithful wife sing into it all the favorite songs of the day, and so the sailors had one more comfort for their peaceful evenings, in the singing of well-known ballads by a well-loved voice.
The five Competitor prisoners have been released from Cabana fortress after an imprisonment of nearly twenty months.
The names of these five men are: Alfredo Laborde, William Gildea, Ona Melton, William Leavitt, Charles Barnett.
By the release of these five men Spain has given us a very decided proof of her desire to keep our friendship.
She has not done the thing by halves either, for an order has been issued to return the prisoners any arms that had been taken from them, and to restore the schooner Competitor to its owners.
The five prisoners will sail for New York at once, and will have the happiness of eating their Thanksgiving dinners in their own country.
Three of the five men are native-born Americans; of the other two, one is an Englishman, and the other a naturalized American.