Museum’s Antarctic Collection Grows

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31381, 29 May 1967, Page 10

Museum’s Antarctic Collection Grows

The Antarctic gallery, which will form the major part of the Canterbury Museum’s proposed centenary wing, will have many exhibits for the historical displays if the collection continues to grow at the present rate. A large number of items, some of them unique, have already been collected and promises of help in gathering ‘Antarcticana’ have been made by many individuals and organisations, according to the honorary curator of Antarctic relics for the Museum (Mr B. N. Norris). The gallery will be used to illustrate the Antarctic, both past and present, and the stages of its exploration. The first collection of historical Antarctic items came from a woman whose father was a crew-member of the Morning, which was a relief ship for the Discovery expedition of 1902. Items from this collection include a cabin chair from the Morning, a set of hickory skis and a ski pole, a heartshaped pendant of Antarctic granite with the Morning’s crest inset and several photographs. The museum hopes to take possession soon of a collection obtained largely through the efforts of Miss R. McLean, a member of the Canterbury branch of the New Zealand Antarctic Society. It includes a dogs’ medicine chest equipped with medical supplies for the slel dogs used in the Discovery expedition.

Also included in the items are a handkerchief with the

name Bowers on it, a piece of the flag that was flying from the tent in which the bodies of the team which accompanied Captain Scott to the South Pole were found, and a menu card from this expedition for the midwinter dinner of 1902. Several miniature sleds and skis carved in wood by the men of the Discovery are also in the collection. Mr Norris is giving his own collection of Antarctic items which includes tins of biscuits from both the Scott and Shackleton expeditions and several pieces of pony harness. The Antarctic gallery, when completed, will be promoted as a national centre for the subject and all countries which have worked in the Antarctic will be represented. . The museum would appreciate any offers of items of interest connected with Antarctica, Mr Norris said.