ANTARCTIC RELICS

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30062, 21 February 1963, Page 16

ANTARCTIC RELICS

Preservation Planned

(From Our Own Reporter) WELLINGTON, Feb. 20. The first Scott expedition hut on Hut Point, in Antarctica, and the memorial cross at the end of the point, are likely to remain in their present condition this season, but active steps are being made to preserve them and to safeguard them from the weather and from souvenir hunters.

This was made clear tonight by Mr L 18. Quartermain, whose illustrated booklet, “Two Huts in the Antarctic,” is being printed this week by the Government Printer.

Mr Quartermain said that the restoration committee was concerned at the condition of the oldest Antarctic hut, and had decided on certain action at a recent meeting. It was thought advisable, however, to leave the hut in its present condition until all was ready to proceed with the plan. The memorial cross was erected on Hut Point by the members of the first Scott expedition, in memory of George Vince, a seaman who fell off the cliff at the end of the point and was drowned. It was known that erosion was making the site of the cross unsafe.

“We hope to preserve both the cross and the hut," Mr Quartermain said. “If possible we shall preserve them on their present sites. If not, we may have to resite them. But rest assured, ti.sy will be preserved.”