INCLUSION IN N.Z. PARTY

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27679, 8 June 1955, Page 12

INCLUSION IN N.Z. PARTY

300 APPLICATIONS RECEIVED

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, June 7.

Three hundred New Zealanders with qualifications ranging from proficiency in steer-riding to taxidermy are anxious to join the Trans-Antarctic Expedition, and applications are still being received. Other applicants seeking selection in the New Zealand team to join the Commonwealth Antarctic Expedition have enumerated their proficiency in such pursuits as boxing, wrestling, and football. The more daring are represented by a parachuting expert. Another claims in support of his application that he can play a guitar, and still another hopes to impress the selection committee by telling it he is a collector of beer bottle labels.

Since it was announced early this year that New Zealand had agreed in principle to take part in the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic journey, both Mr A. S. Helm, secretary of the New Zealand Antarctic Society and of the recently-appointed Ross Sea Committee, and Sir Edmund Hillary have been receiving a stream of letters from willing adventurers. The letters have varied from brief notes, giving the applicant’s name and address, to applications with most exhaustive details. Most applicants are anxious to be considered in any capacity. The applications have come from many parts of New Zealand, and from Korea, Australia, and India.

Some of the applicants have had tramping, mountaineering, and seafaring experience. There is scarcely a skill not mentioned.