In 1926: living at the edge of time - Monoskop

POLARITIES 173
Periphery (Infinitude)], leave the losers with the challenge of setting new
goals to be reached and new thresholds to be crossed. Thus, after flying
over the North Pole on May 12 at 1:25 P.M., Amundsen and Nobile
continue their voyage and undertake the first crossing of the Arctic Cap.
They land at Teller, Alaska, near the town of Nome, on May 14, around
8:00 A.M.
The newspaper coverage of the Norge enterprise shows how multiple
interests and fascinations converge in such record flights. By dropping
American, Italian, and Norwegian flags over the spot in the icy landscape
that is believed to be the North Pole (navigation devices do not provide
ultimate certainty), Byrd and Bennet, Amundsen and Nobile not only
intend to give evidence of their achievements to posterity; they alsowillingly
or unwillingly-inscribe both expeditions in the final stage of
Western imperialism's quest for territorial possessions. Moreover, these
adventures are surrounded with an aura of lethal risk [see Immanence =
Transcendence (Death)]: the weather conditions are extreme (the Norge
loses its way in dense fog, and is coated with a ton of ice by the time it
lands) and communication with the aircraft during their flights is limited.
[see Wireless Communication] After two days during which the Norge
has been out of contact range, a transmission from the dirigible is eagerly
awaited all over the world. On its front page of Friday, May 14, the
Berliner Volks-Zeitung offers good news-but it spices its report of the
Norge's landing with gestures of uncertainty that keep alive the public's
suspense: "According to an Associated Press report from Seattle, the
airship Norge was expected at 11 :00 A.M. local time in Nome. Rumors
in circulation here have the airship passing Point Barrow in Alaska at
1 :00 A.M." Two days later the Berliner Lokal-Anzeiger definitely
confirms the arrival of the dirigible in Alaska, but the article is written
in a tenuous style that refers to unsubstantiated foreign sources: "According
to a radio report from Bremerton at 6:25 A.M., the radio station
at Saint Paul heard the Norge speak with the radio station at Nome."
The same newspaper publishes Umberto Nobile's telegram to his wife,
thus inviting its readers to participate in this enterprise from an intimate
angle: "Arrived happily in Teller, Alaska. The trip seems like a dream.
Kisses, warmest regards. Nobile."
Part of the coverage in the Berliner Lokal-Anzeiger is a commentary
by Professor Albrecht Penck, who takes a somewhat more jaundiced
view of the expedition. Referring to the dangers that Arctic weather