COST OF POLAR CROSSING

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28518, 22 February 1958, Page 13

COST OF POLAR CROSSING

Expedition Short

Of £30,000

LONDON, February 20. The Commonwealth . TransAntarctic Expedition still needs £30,000 to cover its estimated cost

of £500.000, it was announced today. If Dr. Vivian Fuchs and his party, estimated to be still 400 miles from Scott Base, do not arrive in time to leave the Antarctic before winter and have to stay there until November, a further £lO.OOO will be needed for food and salaries.

Sir Miles Clifford, a member of the expedition’s management and finance committees, said today that Dr. Fuchs had "more than a sporting chance” of reaching Scott Base on time. “It is a very cheap expedition really.” he said, pointing to the £26,000.000 being spent by the United States in that part of the world.

Asked if the expedition had gone short of anything as a result of.lack of funds, SirJMiles Clifford said: “No. It is the best-equipped expedition that has ever left these shores. We did not attempt to save money on anything at all.” Dr. Fucbs sent this message to London today: “Sitting in a two-man tent which I now share with Sir Edmund Hillary, at 9000 ft on the southern Polar Plateau, it is difficr.lt to think of values in terms of pounds, shillings and pence.

“But we all know that unless our supporters at home are able to raise a considerable additional sum of money in the next three months we shall return home to find the expedition funds insufficient to meet our commitments.

"We believe that the scientific work we have done and continue to do will prove of great interest. All we require to complete it and to ensure that we do not spend another winter here is the continuation of reasonable weather conditions for about another twe weeks.”