BYRD ARRIVES.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 19460, 6 November 1928, Page 10

BYRD ARRIVES.

PARTY AT WELLINGTON.

PURPOSES OF EXPEDITION.

[THB PBESS Special Sarvice.] WELLINGTON, November 5. The big whaler, C. A. Larsen, mother ship of the Ross Sea Whaling Company, arrived from San Pedro this morning. On board her were Commander Byrd and fifteen of the party which he is to lead on a scientific expedition to Antarctica, and some of the expedition's equipment, including four monoplanes. The scientific staff and their apparatus are aboard the City of New York, which is now on her way from America and which is expected to leave Stewart Island for the Far South on December 15th. The Eleanor Boiling, the second ship, is expected here in about ten days, and should leave for the Ross Sea about December 20th.

Commander Byrd and his present companions will spend about three weeks in this region. "I do not set out to solve all the mysteries of the Antarctic," he said this morning. "So much has been done already by men such as Scott, Shaculeton, Mawson, and others that if I succeed in adding a little to the knowledge of the Antarctic I shall be very pleased." The other members of the party which arrived to-day are: Messrs tt. G. Brophy, business manager;' Dean Smith; Captain Alton M. Parker, of the United States Marine Court » Bernt Balchen, a Norwegian, who has previously served with Commander Byrd; and Harold I. June, of the West Navy—all four air pilots; Lieutenant Ralph Shropshire, assistant navigator to the scientific staff; Willard Wander Veer, a movie man j Russell Owen, representative of the "New York Times," the only newspaper man aboard; Kennard Bubier, of the United States Marine Court (a mechanic); Martin Ronne, who was sailmaker with Amundsen on the Fram and who will make all the tents, special clothes, etc.; Benjamin Roth. United States Army mechanic: Eparminodas Demas, which is only half his real surname; Charles Lofgren, chief yoeman of the United States Navy, the secretary of the party.. There are amongst the member of the expedition Jews, Greeks, Italians, and French. Nearly all are mechanics, some are engineers, and with a fair sprinkling of genuine "Yanks who are proud of the name. There is hardly a mail in the party who could not turn his hand to another man job with a fair hope of success. Commander Byrd and the members of his party will remain in Wellington some three weeks. Their stay is expected to be a very busy one, as there is much to attend to, but the latter part of their stay should provide an opportunity of their seeing something of the country, to which they are all looking forward Commander Byrd is a keen angler and is also fond of a game of golf. Beyond their three weeks' stay here their plans are somewhat indefinite, as much depends on the movements of the two ships which will carry the expedition south. _ Commander Byrd was met m the stream by Mr W. Ardell, on behalf of the Internal Affairs Department, the American Consul (Mr B. Gotheb), the harbourmaster (Captain Dawson), Mr A J Barnett, secretary of the Wellington Harbour Board, and others, who were entertained by Commander Byrd in the captain's cabin. Commander Byrd was much mora keenly interested in New Zealand than one would have supposed. "I have read all the books of previous Antarctic explorers," he said, "and they have all made such kindly references to New Zealand and its people that I am keenly interested to stop here. I gathered from these books that it was a most attractive place—in fact, one of the garden spots of the world, tt is a great pleasure to me to leafn that Sir Douglas Mawson may be here during my stay. "I would like to emphasise that the primary object of this expedition is scientific and not in any sense a dash on the Pole. We want to stay there long enough to get scientific data. So many have already been to the Pole that though it would be a new thing to go there by 'plane, that is not the primary idea of this trip. But we shall endeavour to add a little, if possible, to what Scctt, Shackleton, Mawson, and > some others have already l found out. They have done such a great deal that we oannot hope to do as much by onv means. All that we can hope for is to add a little bit to it. We will be very well satisfied if we can do that. first expedition did a great deal and he had some great scientist? with him. Shackleton got stopped only 7£ miles from the Pole Both of these parties were land parties, and with the tremendous obstacles they did a wonderful thing. "I have foiind it very difficult to know just What scientific men to use in order to avoid old ground. 1 did not want an ornithologist nor an icthyologist as that ground had been well covered and we could not hope for anything new. But we have a geologist and a meteorologist and an aerologist and we consider these men very important. We have also a topographer, a surveyor, and a geographer all in one, a physicist, and also a glaciologist. We are going to look for fossils, of course, and we think we may get something new "I hope to acquire a boring plant before we leave New Zealand and this will be used to determine the depth of the ice cap at various places and it may help to determine the history of the whole Antarctic Plateau. One of the most important things we can do is to make a geographical survey of such a vast territory hitherto unknown. We will be right on the edge of an unexplored region, and if we can get our planes over it we will try to map the whole island with the camera.' It should be explained that some of the tolans sent out showing the pro,Xd course to the Pole are incorrect. TWre will be no attempt to fly to and perhaps over the Pole and then on to P the Weddell Sea, returning in a direct line to the Rosb Sea base, but • lilla nfter a flight has been made to S Pole Commander Byrd will return towards his base on a course only i- i,X diverging from his. outward t if the f ip out'and the return forming two sides of a triangle. with a iwrt b-ise With the panoramic camera short base. ", h j of tfa co , m + TcltSed in the triangle will be in the resulting photographic mlns and what is too wide will be ZU bv short lateral trips at _approximatelv right angles to the original o^S^anTe r ra e 'to be used takes auto+;n nirtures " continued Commander ft the whole will be made into 5S' w tl,e weath -? r ls r l ght W Y- a E Commander -Bvra on aH sides, „ t ending its preciate the »ov In represents out wefeel already that we are us that we we are we]^ among Srestld in Antarctica than any other place in the world. |