U.S. Observers Report On South Polar Area

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27862, 10 January 1956, Page 7

U.S. Observers Report On South Polar Area

(New Zealand Press Association)

The GTON - Jan «ary 9. t R -Jw *ll P 2 le cannot be climbed— States acCQrdin ? to United over the J air men. who have flown _ ar the area in the last few days This tinn -7Si ei^ ed from the expediWellingt™ todays* 65 Army ° fficers in darts °f the south polar ice raff 'niln? t ri SO K fla r ■ A Spymaster airder Henrv T b 7 Lleutenant-Comman-umnsmS Jorda flew over previously unmapped mountain ranges which mdls °A h ™ 00 !° 10-000 ft within 480 m th n pole ,tse]£ - The range, about 60 miles wide, was only partly matio’n° V 4- the ,. brow n rock foZ ptaces Wlng through in many

arSc d r Unlted States An ‘- Exp'orations (Rear-Admiral rl?™ d T? ,? yr< L ) and Rear-Admiral Geoige Dufek, Commander of Task Force 43, addressed the Seabees reA 3 moW ble ,? r construction of Little America V at the flag-raising ceret'wn y a for the main American base will a F°’ The township, which mn n! K lts 2 wn electricity supply. P?umbmg facilities and 17 buildnS,r ls . nhnost half completed. i Nespelen, which sailed trom Lyttelton last month, and is now acting as local bowser station—aircraft are taxi-ing to her side to be refuelled has reported that she has a damaged hnt P th t r . blade caused by pack ice. but that she can still sail at nine knots without danger. Other ships which sailed at the same time from Lyttelton and which formed a safety chain for the aircraft which took off from Harewood to be the first air bridge between New Zealand and ‘“ e .-Antarctic are steadily unloading their thousands of tons of supplies at nut Point. Air operations are now based at Hut Point instead of the or.gmal landing field at McMurdo Sound * or a time, the ships were unloading at Cape Evans, nearer the mouth of the sound, but since the arrival of the icebreaker Glacier last Thursday, a channel has been cleared for the cargo base S tO within 10 miles of the new

Glacier when she arrived at the base were weather and flight experts who are working to co-ordin-ate the flight of two Dakota aircraft ? ais , ri airport on their second the south. The date of the flight will depend on when a special airstrip is ready, when supporting snips are at their stations, and when the weather is right. The Dakotas, which had to return to Taieri when almost half-way to their objective lasi month, will probably attempt the journey again within . the next few weeks.

N.Z. Base Sites Building sites are as difficult to

find in the McMurdo Sound area of the Antarctic as they are around Wellington harbour, reports Dr. Trevor Hathc . < ? R - J^ oss S Ga . Committee observer Freeze” mer * can “Operation Deep

After his five-day, 95-mile trek by man-hauled sledge with LieutenantCommander W. J. L. Smith, and an American cameraman. Mr W. B. Hartigan, of the National Broadcasting company of America, Dr. Hatherton today sent by radio details of the advantages and disadvantages of several possible sites for Scott base. This is the name to be given to the New Zealand Antarctic Expedition’s headquarters to be set up in McMurdo Sound this time next year. These are the team’s observations on the possible base sites inspected: Dry Valley (an indentation running New Harbour on the western side of McMurdo Sound, and separated Dy a rocky ridge from the valley of the glacier)—ldeal, building area. Difficult sea access, poor access to Ferrar glacier.

Butter Point (the southern promontory at the entrance to New Harbour, flanked by stranded moraines from the Ferrar glacier, named by Scott’s 190104 expedition because its Ferrar glacier party left a tin of butter here, m anticipation of obtaining fresh seal meat at this point on the return jour-ney)-—Suitable base for the present, except in certain scientific requirements. but unsuitable for long-term occupation. Access by sea proven good by previous expeditions (Scott’s Terra Noya was here in 1912).* Airstrip possible most of the summer on sea ice. later on Ferrar glacier. Excellent access from Butter Point to Ferrar glacier.

Cape Chocolate (seaward end of a .ong moraine bordering the western wall of the Koettlitz glacier, which "l t 0 i he shelf ice at ‘he head of McMurdo Sound)—ldeal building site access to both sea and air very poor' Dailey Islands (or Dailey Archipelago—group of five small volcanic islets lying i n the northern part of the shelf ice of McMurdo Sound about nine miles north-east of Cape ChocoL ate ’i n d A 1 1 SC o° < vered by Captain Scott on his 1901-04 expedition, and named for Fred E. Dailey, the expedition’s carn^enfi 1 —Nothing whatsoever to com-

Hut Point (small promontory at the southern end of a 12-mile peninsula projecting from the slopes of Mount Erebus on Ross Island. Scott’s 190104 expedition built its hut here. The second Scott expedition, 1910-13. wintered on Cape Evans, several miles farther north)—Hut Point is being evacuated by the American force as the problem of a long supply line is too great. They are (shortening it by moving to Cape Evans.