Midwinter Day tomorrow

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33874, 20 June 1975, Page 12

Midwinter Day tomorrow

Antarctica’s only official holiday, Midwinter Day, will fall tomorrow, and celebrations will be held at most of the 30 bases where men are wintering.

The day is usually given over to special meals, a holiday for most, and exchanges of good-will messages between the various nationalities. Yesterday, for example, the traditional message from President Ford, of the United States, was dispatched to Antactica. President Ford, on behalf of the American people, in his greetings to the international community, said their pursuit of knowledge under the terms of the Antarctic Treaty had a farreaching impact on individuals throughout the world. “Your efforts provide a splendid example of constructive, international cooperation under difficult physical circumstances towards goals which will benefit all mankind,” he said. He wished all those wintering in the Antarctic success in their endeavours and a safe return home. In Christchurch, the day will be marked with the traditional Midwinter Day dinner at a city hotel, to be attended by almost 80 members of the Canterbury branch of the New Zealand Antarctic Society and their guests. The guest speaker at the

function will be Mr Murray Ellis, of Dunedin, who went to the Antarctic as an engineer and with Mr J. Bates kept Sir Edmund Hillary’s farm tractors rolling on the journey to the South Pole.