EXPLORER STILL KEEN

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21727, 9 March 1936, Page 5

EXPLORER STILL KEEN

MR ELLSWORTH’S HOPES VALUE OF AVIATION IN POLAR WORK (PRESS ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM.) AUCKLAND, March 7. After six expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic, the enthusiasm of Mr Lincoln Ellsworth for voyaging in polar regions is as keen as ever. When he passed through Auckland on the Mariposa to-day, on his way to California, he said he wanted to get out of cities and away from civilisation. “I would certainly like to go back to the South Pole regions, or even the Arctic,” said Mr Ellsworth, “but I am making no plans. I have no proposals for the future. I really would like to tackle the Antarctic from the other side, going in from Enderby Land. It contains vast, unexplored regions that I would like to traverse. “If .1 do go south,” continued Mr Ellsworth, “I would probably consider flying from the Bay of Whales to Enderby Land, but I suppose the idea will : have to remain a dream. My recent .flight across Antarctica shows the'possibility of exploration by air. I landed four times. It was not very difficult to land or.to take off. ‘'The aeroplanes that will be used for Polar exploration in future will carry dogs and all the necessary equipment, in order that they may be .able’ to land almost anywhere, thus allowing explorers to carry on their surveys and clear up all the problems as yet unsolved.” Mr. Ellsworth, who was met during the morning by the Minister for Justice, the Hon. H. G. R. Mason, expressed his gratitude to the Government arid the people of New Zealand for assisting iri the search. He and Mr T. Hollick-Kenyon would like to have gone to Wellington, but they had been unable to get an earlier boat from Australia. If they stopped now, it would mean months of delay. They were fond-of New Zealand, and felt deeply grateful for the help they had received in their time of need.