"ONCE IS ENOUGH."

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 59, 11 March 1930, Page 10

"ONCE IS ENOUGH."

LIFE IN THE ANTARCTIC. BYRD'S MEN CONVINCED. COMMANDER WOULD GO AGAIX. (By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.) DUXEDIN, tliis day. Among members of the Byrd Antarctic expedition the predominant feeling expressed yesterday was pleasure at being in civilisation again. "Isn't it great?" they all said as they pointed to the green fields and bush that make such beautiful scenery in Ota go Harbour. Another point where there was practically unanimity was 011 the question whether they would go to the Antarctic again. "It's like going ta see some famous building or .picture," one said. "Once is enough." Another said, "Xo, I've seen ; it, and I'm not going again." Froi\js the admiral himself there came a different tale. Asked if the call of the Polar regions was still there, there was no mistaking his meaning when he said, "Yes, it is." Tired of Adulation. "It is a famous health resort," said Dr. Francis D. C'oman, medical director with the expedition. "There was plenty of fresh air, good food, and good water. What more could a man want?" He modestly explained that the dangers of th'e expedition had been much exag- . gerated, and that all of them were a . little tired of the unceasing adulation t that had been poured upon them. There had been no sickness worthy of the name. j The appearance of the party rortainly upheld Dr. Coman's opinion. All the , men were fat and in the pink of con- j dition, the cold weather and hard work ( had apparently agreed with them. The only exception was Admiral Byrd him- ( self, who looked pale and tired. He said c he felt fine, but wanted a spell. < Mr. Harold June, the aviator, who had j been with the commander on his flight ( to the pole, was a picture of health and ] was beaming over with cheerfulness, but to get anything except "yes" or "no" ( out of him was as difficult as it would ; have been to rob him of the cup of tea t he was absorbing when the attempted 1 interview was made. £

Aeroplanes "Kept" Well. The cameramen were in tlieir glory. Themselves pictures of health, they were everywhere about the ship, taking pictures of everything and everybody.' One of. them, Captain Alton U. Parker, was also one of the pilots on the Polar flight. He paid a : great tribute to the aeroplanes used by the expedition. As, soon as they arrived, 15 months ago, the machines were buried in the snow, and when dug out they looked as though they had just been put away in a proper | hangar. The cold, there Avas quite dry and there was not the slightest suspicion of dampness anywhere. The 'planes were warmed up, filled with fuel and after one turn over they started immediately.' The cook, George W. Tennaut, a cheerful, red-haired individual, who would not be upset by unlimited ice and snow or anything else, modestly declined the title of the hardest-worked man oil the ship, but said that he had not had much time to himself. "The boys have to get a cup of tea if they want it," he said. Seal and whale meat, he said, he had cooked a ton of, and it was "quite nice" to eat as he cooked it, and quite easy to cook, too, but lie had never descended so low as to fry a penguin. "As for seals and whales," he added, "you wait till I write my cookery book." SUCCESS OF WIRELESS. ] N.Z. STATIONS HEARD WELL. j (By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.) DUNEDIN, this day. One of the interesting people on board ! the City of New York was Mr. 11. J. 1 Orbell, of Auckland. He went South in December as a wireless expert, and 1 spent a short time on the ice. ; Mr. Orbell was much struck by the : efiiciency of the organisation of i the expedition, which, lie said, appeared 1 to be complete to.the last detail. As ' wireless operator he was in touch with s New York every day, and he knew the ] care and work that had been put into the organisation. They listened to most of the broadcast stations of the world on their i-eeeiving set during the time that , he was . there. They were very pleased by the programmes put on by the New Zealand Stations. 2YA Wellington, came in best. / ' " r Speaking of his life on the ice, Mr. c Orbell sajxl that it did not seem a very abnormal existence, one was dressed for C the part, and the food and general condi- I tions were quite good, but he would not I go again. g