ANTARCTIC ARGOSY

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 52, 24 November 1928, Page 8

ANTARCTIC ARGOSY

ELEANOR BOLLING ARRIVES LOADING THE ’PLANES Something of the stern reality of Antarctic adventure was brought home to the people of Wellington yesterday when the Eleanor Bolling, storeship of Commander Byrd’s expedition, arrived from Dunedin to load the equipment and stores brought from America in the whaler C. A. Larsen. So tiny she looked as she steamed into port with the American flag fluttering from its staff at the stern, the New Zealand merchant ensign at her foremast head, and the “house flag” of expedition at the main. To those who had never seen an Antarctic expedition ship, the Eleanor Bolling seemed all too small to venture on the 2300-mile passage through stormy seas and grinding pack-ice to the Ross Sea. Those who had known previous expeditions wondered how this tiny steamer was going to stow four great aeroplanes and the piles of other essential equipment and stores waiting to be transported to the Ice Barrier. But the Eleanor Bolling is a stout ship, and though her smallness was accentuated by the contrast with 10,000-ton liners near which she moored, she surprised the unknowing ones yesterday by her capacity to swallow cargo. The aeroplanes apart, what she is taking from Wellington is but a small part of the expedition’s belongings, and although the City of New York will carry part of the load, the problem of transport is still an exceedingly knotty one. But Commander Byrd, who has a “horseshoe in every pocket,” will find a way out with the able assistance of his indefatigable business manager, Mr. R. Brophy, and the resourcefulness of his loyal companions in adventure. Everything essential will be got into the ships somehow. From War to Peace. The Eleanor Bolling resembles nothing so much as a large trawler — she might easily pass as a big sister of the Nora Niven or the Futurist. Although she has been much altered in her upper works, a Harbour Board pilot who saw much service in the Navy during the war, recognised her as the Kilmarnock, one of a class of large double-ended trawlers built for the Admiralty. These ships, armed with a gun at either end, were much used in convoy work and went as far afield as the Suez CanaL After the war the Kilmarnock worked for a time in the North Sea and then under the name of Chelsea she went to America. Confiscated as a rum-runner caught redhanded, she was subsequently acquired by the Byrd Expedition, and considerable alterations were made in her. Her bow has been strengthened by the addition of a number of steel frames and otherwise reinforced for working through the packice, and if time permits when she is docked at Dunedin some timber sheathing will be worked on to her bow plates. There is not a square foot of room to spare anywhere in the little steamer, but her mission is one of arduous service, and her crowded company will cheerfully put up with the discomforts of her limited living space. Yet, taking her full and by, she does not lack anything in the way of comfort that could be given her. Loading the Big ’Planes,

All preparations had been made for loading the Eleanor Bolling when she arrived, and the Harbour Board had spared nothing in men or machinery that would help on the work. A strong northerly wind made the outer berth astern of the Karamea somewhat lively, so the Eleanor Bolling was shifted round to the inside of Pipitea Wharf. The great floating crane Hikitia was placed at the disposal of the expedition, and after taking on the huge crate containing the fuselage of the Ford 'plane, and those housing the wing sections, it went alongside the Eleanor Bolling to supplement the two hydraulic cranes on the wharf. No hitch occurred with the loading at the after hatch, but although the fore hatch of ‘he Eleanor Bolling measures 40ft. long by 22ft. wide, it was not until well on in the afternoon that the crate containing the body of the Ford ’plane was stowed,. The crate measured 49ft. in length by about Oft. deep and sft7 wide, and weighed between five and six tons. At the first attempt the monster package, slung on a cant, would not pass down into the hold, and had to be hoisted on to the wharf, reslung, and turned on to its side. ' The slings were then readjusted, and after some careful juggling by the cranemen on the Hikitia and the stevedores it was safely lowered down into the hold. There still remained half a dozen huge crates containing parts of the other ’planes and the motors of the Ford, and the uncrated 50ft. wing of the Fokker ’plane to take in, but several of these were disposed of before work ceased for the night.

Commander Byrd Leaving To-day. The loading of the Eleanor Bolling will be completed this morning, and the ship will sail about midday for Dunedin. Nine members of the party which came from America in the C. A. Larsen will travel south in the ship. Commander Byrd, Mr. R. G. Brophy, Lieut. Shropshire, Mr. Russell Owen, Mr. W. van der Veer, and Mr. C. Lofgren will leave for Christchurch by the Maori to-night. After paying their tribute to the memory of Captain Scott, they will go on to Dunedin by train. The barque City of New York is expected to arrive at Dunedin from New York to-morrow or Monday. After loading the small 'plane, all the stores that can be crammed into her and the 100 sledge dogs, the City of New York will sail from Dunedin for the Antarctic about the end of next week in order to meet the C. A. Larsen at the pack ice. Yesterday morning, Her Excellency Lady Alice Fergusson and a small party from Government House paid a visit to the Eleanor Bolling. They were received by Commander Byrd, and spent some time in inspecting the ship. - ■