ON A DRIFT.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 162, 10 July 1937, Page 22

ON A DRIFT.

THE POLAR NORTH. CAMP ON ICEFLOE. SOVIET ADVENTURE. (By EZRA YILKXSKY.) NORTH POLK, June 2. While waiting for T. T\ Mazuruk, whose 'piano In ruled about 2"> miles from our main eniup, to fly toward us, we have n<>( been twiddling our thumb*. A whole town hns grown ,ip in the vicinity of the Polo, with .'o.itpath streets l.etween the '•building."." Around ,i "skyscraper"—the black lint of the paity that will upend a year here—:lipr;> are 12 other buildings, t''i:ts coloured pii;k, white, green, etc. They have been fastened (irmly to the ground and fenced off with snow blocks to guard against snowstorms and blizzards. Several additions have been built to the hut of Ivan Papanin's party. There is a. Huow-block kitchen, with' a. storm door. hiside the lint, it is warm and cosy. 'the temperature is above zero, which cannot be said of our other "houses." A deerskin serves as a tablecloth, and a. warm rug covers the floor. Noisy Streets. The utrcets of our North Pole community are noisy, crowded and gay. Outbursts of laughter are heard continually. The windmill hums ceaselessly. The engine* of the radio station purr steadily. The vigorous life—and the appearance of the camp itself—what a wonderful subject for. a cameraman! Mark Troyanovsky's large camera usually stand*, ready in the open air while he runs all over the village with a smaller one, constantly taking pictures. According to the calculation* of Pytor ShirshofT and Eugene Feodoroff, we are at 89 degrees seven minutes north latitude, 33 degrees west longitude. The drift of the icefloe has slowed down considerably. Weather Murky. The barometer is still falling. Solid clouds cover the sky at an altitude of 300 metres. The weather is murky and it is snowing slightly. The temperature is still two degrees below zero centigrade. Yesterday and to-day we talked again to Mazuruk (who landed 25 miles away) by radio telephone. "We are ready to take off any minute, but this damned weather nails us to this place," Mazuruk complained.—(Copyright, N.A. N.A.)