HEROISM IN FAILURE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 36, 10 February 1917, Page 4

HEROISM IN FAILURE.

The latest tragedy in the Antarctic is all the more tragic in that it occurred to an expedition that accomplished little or nothing. But the long story of failure and disaster that is the record of Sir Erneet Shaekleton's second expedition ie illumined by. splendid deeds of endurance, courage, and self-sacrifice. The tale of hardship and death that the Aurora has brought back from the Antarctic -with the survivors of the Ross Sea party contains spine moving incidents. The conduct of Captain Mackintosh in remaining behind in the wilderness forty miles from safety, so as to give the other sick men a chance, Teminde one of the self-sacrifice ! of Captain Gates on Captain Scott's return journey from the Pole. The whole l experience of Mackintosh's party on 1 this journey over the Barrier recalls the Scott tragedy. Captain Scott's party, weakened toy 'exposure and want of I food, were weather-bound only eleven J miles from a depot, and died in I their tent. Mackintosh's party, withinthirty miles of this spot, were weatherbound' for "six days by a furious blizzard only eleven miles from a depot. After cix days the weakened party decided to' I make a. dash for safety through,; the, I blizzard. The sick men had to be left ' I on the way, and three of the men pushed on to the depot, and returned with food. Eventually three men of the party were so ill that they had to be drawn on a sledge, and when the wind that was helping them along failed Mackintosh relieved the eledge of his ■weight and remained behind with three weeks' provisions. As soon ac the party reached the i base three of the party started back for Mackintosh, and brought him in safely. Those "who from reading the narratives of Shackleton and. Scott know how terrible the conditions can be on the Barrier will appreciate the endurance of the sick i men and the self-denial and comradeship of their companions. The faihire of Shaokleton'a expedition will probably put an end for some time to Antarctic exploration, at least by. British explorers. There has been a feeling that these expeditions, now that the Pole has "been reached, do not repay the money and energy and risk of life involved, and this feeling, 'will be strengthened by the disasters to thie enterprise. From now on there will be little money . for enterprises of this kind. This, however, is not an entirely fair view to take of Antarctic exploration. So long as man is adventurous he will not be satisfied to leave a vast region of the earth lunexplored, however forbidding it may he. To leave it alone is a surrender to Nature. Sooner or later the "world will I know what the Antarctic continent) 'is'like'on the Weddell Sea side of the j Pole, and other secrets of that region of death, tvill he wrenched from ite iron 'iheart. The world at large may not be I greatly interested in what is found, but ■I science will be, and the curiosity; and jpride of man will be satiefiedt ■ **■

Following is tie Weather Bureau fore- I cast for 24 hours from 9 a,ni. this day: I; "The indications are for southerly strong winds to gale at The ■'; weather appears likely to be cloudy and , unsettled, "with rain following. Baro- . meter rising shortly. Tides moderate; . sea rough off shore." , ■ The Aramira, which was to sail for the East Coast to-day, did not leave, and i her passengers for Gisborne were taken j by the Tarawera, which is also going to Southern porta. The departure of the,! Arahura has been postponed- indefinitely owing to the labour trouble at Napier. A motorist named "D. Muir had a narrow, escape irom death on .the River Road at Tuakau. His car collided with a telegraph pole, the latter snapping off at the base. The radiator, one wheel, and the body of the car were smashed. The driver escaped unhurt; It is really wonderful how far-reaching are the effects of the war. At a meeting of creditors yesterday afternoon one solicitor stated, in explanation, ."Our clerk who drew this is now in training," and later his legal brother had to state, "My clerk, who issued this notice, has gone to the front." ■' ' New Zealand mechanics are anxious to go to England to assist in munitions manufacture: A number of Port Chalmers men are, through the Mayor of the 'borough, asking the Defence Minister to send them Home, or, failing action iby the New Zealand Government, they ask that trained men from the Dominion shall be permitted to go to Australia to " take advantage of the Commonwealth scheme. "Solicitors' fees are sacred," remarked a member of the legal fraternity yesterday afternoon at a meeting of credI itors. He added, "I had the experience of having to blush yesterday in Court." This evoked laughter, which was increased when the Official Assignee inquired in an incredulous tone, "You blushed!" with the accent on the "you"; and the solicitor replied in a sad tone; "I did, sir." The Defence Minister will on Saturday week, the 17th inst., visit Dunedin for the purpose 'of presenting at a special parade at the Oval the D.C.M. to Sfcrgt:Major Little (of Dunedin Group Staff), and the Military Medal to Private Allan Church, of the Army Medical Corps,'both honours having been awarded for cervices in the field. Sergeant-Major Allen will at the same time receive the -New Zealand Long Service Medal. The hearing of an assault case at the Supreme Court, Wellington, yesterday was suddenly interrupted by a juryman fainting. A doctor in the Court reported that the juryman was unfit to serve, having recently recovered from a severe illness. The jury panel had been diecharged for a week, and the only, way out of the difficulty was to discharge' the jury and order another trial next week. ■ • . A member of the Wireless Troop, writing from "Somewhere in Mesopotamia" to a friend, states that he is still, alive and doing well, but the one draw-' back in that country is that "one is' aliye and well to-day, and to-morrow dead andburied."- He also mentions that of the original troop of 52 men who went out there only twelve remain. He and his mates liked the country around them,, but they would be glad to get back to. New Zealand again. Another case of a breach of.-the Gaming Act came before the Police Court .yesterday, when a man named William' Lane pleaded guilty to.a charge ofjhaving published a "double" bettjng chart. Chief Detective McMahen stated that defendant was not what might be termed a bookmaker in a big way, and Mx - ? , . V. Frazer stated that ordinarily he would have fined defendant half the maximum of £20 fixed by the Act, but, in keeping with hie previous determination to add an extra penalty at this time as a kind: of war tax, he would .add £2 to that sum. Consequently defendant would I*? fined £12 and 7/- costs. The Claims Board of the Auckland Patriotic Association met yesterday afternoon. Thirteen returned soldiers requested that their allotments be .continued. In eight cases the -votes -were renewed, and in the remaining five reduced sums were allowed to add to the insufficient wages being received. The Board refunded to other centres votes made' by them to Auckland men, and communications from Whangarei and Waihi, asking advice re applications received by them, were discussed in detail. Applications for assistance, in..taking up land were refused because of. the policy of the Government to assist men in tills direction. The output of wedding rings is seriously curtailed, for the want of gold (says the -London "Evening News'* of December 11).. "We have numbers of orders we cannot fulfil," said the manager of a big firm of- manufacturing jewellers. Until a little while ago it was possible, with great difficulty and at a high price, to obtain a little gold for manufacturing/purposes. .Now, however, not a particle is to be obtained, for every ounce of gold coming into the country goes direct to the Bank of England, to be used for Government purposes only. But the cheering thing is that not even the absence of wedding rings will, stop the number of marriages. If young couples cannot have gold wedding- rings, they can have them macie of. palladium, Palladium is worth four times as much' as pure gold,, but that is sot likely to prevent young couples from having their wedding rings made of it if they are bent on getting married." Literature (books and magazines) is urgently needed by the • 'Auckland I Women's Patriotic League for use on transports and in camps and hospitals. The following extracts from letters recently received will show how deeply appreciated the literature is:"The games and reading matter will be and are the. cause of spending many a happy hour on board. Thanks to the good people of New Zealand, we are not wantingi for anything, and hope we will prove a credit to dear old New Zealand." (At eea.) "Please convey to the ladies of your Association the hearty thanks of the' ; N.C.O.'s and men for your thoughtful gift of books and periodicals."—Commandant, Motuihiv The generosity of • the, people of the Auckland province is proved by the fact that for nearly 18 J months now no transport has left lout , ; shores without a liberal supply of games, music, and literature. Games such as chess, draughts, dominoes, etc., are , a very welcome addition to the books. A request from the Napier Chamber of Commerce for co-operation and support in representations to the Minister of Defence to have the Territorial : camps dropped thie year, on account of uthe shortage of labour, came' before the Auckland Chamber of Commerce yesterday. It was mentioned that the iiinieter had already replied to the Napier people declining to drop the camps, but stating that the dates of the camps would, be arranged to best suit the districts concerned. In view of this pronouncement the Chamber decided it' cquld not "carry the matter any. further: '[,' '\ . Prior to leaving for Australia this week a Chris tchurch manufacturer told a "Sujtt" representative that his passport ■was issued only after depositing* £200 with the Government "as a guarantee for hie return. ~"-' : •'■>'.■'*• eawvw -■.' .r*:&T t

Leet evening » peculiar accident, and <mc tliat -was fortunately not attended, By eerious eonsecjueiicej, Befell * Jnan: « lower Queen Street.- He came arto the street from the Customs corner, and crowed the firet of the double linee there well in front of aii advancing tram. A eecond car was just passing the corner on its way from the city, aiid the Iflan stood ewaying gently between the linee until the car was paesmg him. ae evidently decided then that he was in need of support, for he clutched at the car, missed, staggered, aiid fell againet the back of the tram, which was by thM time slowly receding. He fell in a eittinz posture, measured his whole length on the. roadway, and tht* arose and walked quietly away, evidently quite unhurt; . A returned soldier named David Allan, employed as billiard marker at tbe Sol-1 diers' Club, was found to be seriottsly ill | at Onehunga about 10 o'clock last night (by Constable A< McLeod, Dr. Harry jTressider was called in, and on his instructions the man was removed to the District Hospital. Allan was suffering from severe burns in the mouth and throat, which gave the impression that they had been caused by carbolic acid. He returned from Gallipoli last May, and is a eiqgle man, 32 years of age. Upon inquiry at the hospital to-day it was stated that Allan's condition showed a slight improvement. "the manufacture of pig iron from ironsand-will be commenced early in March at the works now in course of erection at Moturoa by the New Zealand Iron Ore, Smelting and Manufacturing. Company. The works consist chiefly of a magnetic separator, -which separates the iron from the sand; a coal disintegrator, which pulvereis.es the coal; a mixer, where the coal-duet and ironsand are mixed with a solution; retorts, where the coal and iron are made into coke;' and the.furnace, where the coal is burnt and the molten metal is drawn off into pigs ready for use. The various portions 1 of the plant are excelently arranged, and tho best advantage is taken, of the law of gravitation. A branch-line connecte the -works, which lie within easy distance of the Breakwater wharf, with the Government railway line. Some months ago a well-known Invercargill citizen, whose son is piit on the Allied frontier, took it into his head to relieve the lad's faithful mother of pending him one of the regular parcels of good things («ays the "Southland Times"). Father decided that his should' be a parcel of parcels, and, for a little he was quite busy running in and put of confectioners', tobacconists', and grocers'. Finally the box was packed to the lid with soldiers' if clothing' , wero-needed, mother could send it in one of her parcels. Father's was ;tp be one solely for internal use. There .ensued the..customary long wait, until the! worthy townsman received a letter from : his soldier son, who expressed sincere thanks for the big box winch he Jiad; received, and added that its sole contents. —a pair of socks^-^wer e a splendid fit. The following is an extract from a letter recently received \n connection with the. Maitai wreck;—" Owing, pre- ; sumablyj to rotting cargo in the holds; "(whicli are full Of water) a truly awful; smell is wafted along the sea-front. So malodorous, has the wreck become that unless the Union Company will deal wjth it in some .way the administration will be. compelled to i-do - something. A public:'inquiry into' the',cause Of" the' wreck ..-was. held iby Mr. W..J. Stevenson,; Collector of Customs at Karotonga. The evidenwe (which has 'been sent to the' Customs Department at . Wellington) shows that shortly after the Maitai anchored, . and in the dark, the . cable ; parted, and ehe, being but a short distance fvx>m the reef, touched-the tail-of the reef; ipef ore way could ;be got on the "vessel;''that the captain was ; on the bridge the -whole time,-and-the-officers at -theij- stations; that at that time, of he jear, and especially nearing,high, water, ja swift current, four knote or more, ajjte from the anchorage ,dn : to the poie t of the reef "where the Maitai struck."" ■ ' ; " """ ;''."'" ""• ;V At thti beginning of next month two new Catiholic schools will be opened in Auckland. In Alexandra Bpad, Kemuera, oneT ie now nearly completed, the building of -which is costing £1,500. It has been built to replace the old school, and 300 children will be accommodated there under the direction of the Sisters of St. J<tseph. Tie other is situate in Grey Ly.nn, and is capable of accom-i modating an attendance of 350. The] two new -schools : will probably be opened by the administrator of the diocese, Monsignctr Mahoney. By notise in the "Gazette" the disease known as trachoma, or granular conjunct\vitiß, or granular pphthalmia, or granular eyelids, is declared ah infectious diiease wSthin the meaning of the rPublUs Healtß Act. Aeoittcert ie being tendered by the .Selinskyi-Aniadio €oinpany in aid of "a fund for the relief of distress amongst the Jews in the war zone. The concert will take place to-morrow (Sunday) evening at the Town Hall concert chamber, commencing .»$. 8.30 p.m. """-" ■ HIGH ADItERAI, is a tobacco of very special cliarili and distinctive flavour cool to the last draw. Your pine will like it.—(Ad.) ~ * x "Are you engaged?" was a question recently put to a» elevator attendant at the J.CL. Ever since the occupation of the additional storeys the elevators have been extremely buey. From Monday there will be four new elevators in commission. Xoe. 1 and 2 running to all floors; sfos. 3 and 4 to Ist, 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors only. There should be no delay in the future, as it is our intenV tion to run a first-class service.-^(Ad.) HIGH ADIMIEAL tobacco will appeal to unionists and -workers generally. Its the new nutty emoke. Full strength ilso aromatic—(Ad.) " A big Tednction. Oak book shelves 2-ehelf, 5/6; 3-shelf, 8/6.—Tonson Garlick'e Gigantic Cash Sale.—(Ad.)