THE ANTARCTIC TRAGEDY.

Clutha Leader, Volume XXXIX, Issue 53, 14 February 1913, Page 3

THE ANTARCTIC TRAGEDY.

II (Continued from Page 2.) 1 RECORD OF HEROISM. ' CAPTAIN SCOTS APPEAL. THE NATION'S RESPONSE. + CHRISTCHUROH, Feb. 12. I At one o'clock this afternoon Comi niler Evans and his executive ofCfaSn mot a group of pressmen in the r .rdroom of the Terra Nova in order I'? rve such additional particulars as Ite could of the expedition. He pre-li-Hl his remarks Dy explaining that ; r^. as under no obligation either to i J?, or withhold the story, except in so j f as he was an officer of the Royal \«vvand as such was not subject to in- - He recognised, however, Jut the people of New Zealand were necially interested in this matter, and - he was prepared to give some particu- ! hrs H e reserved to himself the right I to decline to answer any questions that I 'i-ht subsequently be put, and to for\f tj,j any other members of the expedi- * tioh answering questions except within limits. Wi tn this explanation the com- ' maiider entered on his statement. THE VOYAGE DOWN. fle first said that after the Terra Son feft New Zealand on her recent vovage a stowaway was discovered. He ff as subsequently transferred to a Norman barque, the master of which promised to End him in New Zealand. I line «'as steered for latitude 60dog. south and longitude 170deg. west, in order to run a new line of soundings for scientific purposes. At 60deg. sooth the vessel steered due south, jjd rather to their surprise did not encounter pack ice till latitude 69.20, and until the 71st parallel was reached their progress was not sufficiently stopped to trouble them. The day's r un was frequently of 100 miles, which iras very good for a ship of her class, [ travelling in ice. I PACK ICE. In latitude 71.3-5 a pack belt of humaocky ice was encountered and progress became so slow that the engines fere stopped and fires banked. Ice was , observed to be rapidly melting, and by January 12 it became so loose that the ship successfully worked through into open water and made a fairly easy passage to Cape Evans, which was reached on January 18. A GREAT BLOW. "We had prepared," said Commander Evans, "to give the southern party a great ovation. Accommodation sas'made ready for them and luxuries got up from the store-room. We steamed rapidly towards our winter quarters and anchored less than a quarter of a mile from the hut with our colors flying.. We could see a larsre party on the beach waving and gesticulating, and as the anchor was dropped they gave us three ringing cheers, which we answered. I identified Lieutenant Campbell, next in command to Captain Scott there, but could not see Scott, and so shouted out to him, 'Are you all well?' ~ "After some hesitation Campbell j shouted in reply: 'The southern party reached the Pole on January 18 last year but were all lost oh the way back. We have their records.' "This news, of course, was received in silence. It was a tremendous shock to us. We shall regret the loss of the southern party all our lives. Details of that loss you already have, and I need not further dwell on them. BREAKING UP CAMP. 'Our boats were lowered from the ship, and the shore party came on board and told us the history of the past year. It was full of adventure and excitement. The remainder of that day was given to reading home letters and discussing events. Thereafter the camp was broken up and all material to be removed placed on board."

"Now," said the commander, "J may give you a few details of the preparatory work for the southern dash. I took part in it, as you know, but have so far said nothing as I did not wish to trench on Captain Scott's records.

THE SOUTHERN JOTJRNEY. | "The scheme of this journey was ;.s follows: Sixteen men were employed in the advance to the pole. Of'these four went ahead under myself to pio- ! neer the way. This party consisted of ; Day (motor engineer), Lashley (third engineer). Petty-officer Crean (Captain | Scott's old petty-officer), and Hooper (a j steward), and myself. "We took with us two motor sledges ] and a large quantity of foodstuffs, to [ relieve the ponies of the heavy loads for j the first 50 miles of their journey. This i was between our base and Hut Point, *here the sea ice was very slippy, and from Hut Point to Corner Camp, which consisted of 34 miles of barrier soft snow. We did not want the ponies to suffer through these conditions, of which we knew, and so we took the Motor sledges in advance. THE MOTOR SLEDGES "Although these sledges did not come up to our expectations they did succeed in advancing some three tons weight for 30 miles from the base. But in doing so they gave us frequent trouble from incessant breakdowns and over-heating. Tliis gave those in charge much discomfort, to put it mildly. The motors, being air cooled, became very hot frequently. The temperature was rougaly fight degrees below zero, and when they became overheated we had to wait for them to cool, and we cooled too. When they got cold we had to warm up the carburetter with a blow lamp to get Eoing again. The whole business was most trying, and we were really thankful when they did break down altogether, although we mended them and used them as much as possible.''

A LONG MARCH. | "The last motor broke down at Corner Camp, and the party was, really Pleased. Leaving the motor we took 8801b weight of foodstuffs on 10 foot sledges, and marching 20 geographical * miles a day reached the rendezvous appointed by Captain Scott in latitude 80.30 south. Here we built an enormous snow camp, which we called Mount Hooper, after the youngest member of our party. W r e waited here * week for Scott to arrive, which he did on November 21, 1911. He had been . delayed by bad weather at the start, i, anw when he reached us he relieved us ;of most of our weight, and sent ue- ft few miles ahead,' 1

"We erected cairns to mark -the leturn and did all the navigating and surveying required. We were really a pilot "party, and kept afterwards ahead of the main party. The pony party behind us established depots, which were approximately one week's march apart, and marked each with a big black flag. These were situated approximately art 81.30, 83.30, 85.30, 87.30 south. The various supporting parties returned, and were taken back to the base at Cape Evans by Day, Meares, Dr Atkinson, and Lieutenant Evans respectively. 1842 MILES. "The-total distance to the Pole and back by Scott's route was 1842 statute miles, and gauging the speed of the southern party by that oi the parties led by Lieutenant Evans and Dr Atkinson, he should have returned to Hut Point. 15 miles from the base, on March 10. Some thought tiu.t ho would return before this date, but having five men as against three in the last supporting party a longer time might be required. No real anxiety was ever felt for the sledging party employed on the southern journey, as the organisation, equipment and selection were so excellent, thanks to Captain Scott's experience and remarkable ability. When I was returning ill with scurvy my life was very gallantly saved by Lashley and Crean. We had then been employed on sledging for six months. Captain Scott's last misfortune was due to weather conditions, which it was impossible to overcome, as is proved only too clearly by the dreadful hardships which brought about the loss of the southern party." PETTY-OFFICER EVANS. Asked for some part'culars concerning the accident which betel PettyOfficer Evans, Commander Evans pointed out that the nature of the ice in the vicinity of where the accident occurred was very rough, and it was then necessary for men to have to climb over steep cliffs of ice*, which were very slippery. Apparently Petty-Officer Evans met a difficult spot to negotiate and he probably slipped and fell on his head, sustaining concussion of the brain. NO MORE DETAILS. Further particulars of the last hours and deaths of Captain Scott, Dr Wilson. Captain Gates and Lieutenant Bowers were sought b- the rejjorters. but Commander Evans said that he did not wish to go into those matters at all. He said that the particulars already published gave a general idea of the fate I of the men, and he did not desire to make the tragedy more painful than it is by adding more details. THE DIARIES. Commander Evans said that in addii tion to recovering Captain Scott's diary the rescue narty had also found diaries wh'ch were kept by other members oi the southern party. None of the diaries, however, had been opened. Commander Evans said that he thought it was right that Captain Scott's diary should be handed to Mrs Scott just a.; it was found by the rescue party, and in the case of the other diaries he had decided to hand them to the nearest relatives of their late owners. Consequently no information contained in the diaries of the men who had readied the Pole will be available for the public for some time.

THE RECORDS. Commander Evans went on to say that every written record of the journey had been recovered. Questioned regarding the publication of the story of the expedition, which in the ordinary ••Murst' of events would have been comP'Uhl by Captain Scott, Commander L-.ims said that he would arrange the book in conjunction with other members ni the exi)eciit : on, who had different ncrtions of the story to record. Capta ; n Scott's last book was published by Smith Rider and Co., and Commander Evans said that Captain Scott had again arranged with Mr Smith, of this firm, to publish a history of the expedition now brought to a close. I desire to ru-ry out Captain Scott's plans in their entirety, and whatever he intended to do in this matter I will do,'' added Commander in jus. Rel'e.'-i"? !•) the extensive ground that will be covered in the book, Commpiler hvans said that there were 60 ruen in the expedition and Captain Si (u pud a very big scheme in hand, in addition to. Captain Scott's journey to the Pole ether exploration parties v.-ere led hv Lieutenant Campbell and .M.r Griffiths Taylor, while a 'great deal of survcv and other work was done a:ound New Zealand and the Antarctic reg'ons by the Terra Nova, while the shore parties were at work. All these undertakings will be fully dealt with. THE TERRA NOVA. The Terra Nova will remain at Lyttelton for a month, when she will sail i for Cardiff. A number of members of the expedition and officers of the Terra Nova, including Commander Evans, will leave here in about a week's time for England, and the Terra Nova.will sai. Home under the command of Lieutenant Pennell.

On the motion of the Rev. Mr Miller, the Clutha Presbytery, at its meeting on Wednesday last, agreed to the following, the members of the Presbytery standing:--" The Presbytery desires to express its deep gratification at the news that Captain Scott and his party succeeded in their endeavour to reach the South Pole. At the same time the Presbytery is greatly moved by and deeply deplores the death of these heroic men on the return journey. The Presbytery expresses its deep sympathy with the mourning relatives, and prays that the God of all e'omfort may uphold them in the time of their great sorrow.''