SLEDGING DANGERS

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 55, 28 November 1929, Page 11

SLEDGING DANGERS

CREVASSES AND SNOW BRIDGES PERILS OF COMMANDER BYRD’S PARTY PRECAUTIONS FOR SAFETY (By Russell Owen—Copyright by Sydney “Sun” and New York “Times.”) In the dangerous crevassed portion of the Antarctic Continent, which Commander Byrd’s men are now traversing, great caution has to be exercised to preserve the lives of men and dogs. Unseen dangers lurk on all sides when sledging parties set out. Little America, October 1. The work of the supporting sledge party is of the utmost importance to the success of the geological party, as it will lay depots half-way to the Queen Maud Mountains. The supplies it will leave at these depots will consist largely of dog food for the geological party. It will also mark the trail for the geological party over the most dangerous part of the Barrier, attempting to avoid crevasses, and when they must be crossed, finding the best way through them. The teams will leave Little America with a heavy load, and after they pick up the supplies on the Barrier which are to be distributed from the first to the fourth depot, their load will be about 1100 pounds. This will decrease rapidly, of course; as the first depots are laid, and when they come to the worst crevasses just before reaching the fourth depot, the load will, fortunately, consist only of the supplies for the last depot to be put down by them and the food they need for the return journey. Another fortunate thing is that before picking up the maximum load, forty-four miles south of Little America, the dogs will have become accustomed to the trail, and will be in better condition for the heaviest pulling. Depot Laying Found Essential.

Depot laying has' been found absolutely essential in all polar travel. Peary established depots on his journey to the North Pole, men turning back after leaving their sledge loads at regular intervals, and the English explorers of the interior Antarctic also established depots in this way. Amundsen put down one depot during his first season, and extended it early in his second season when he was forced to abandon an early start because of the cold.

The importance of the depot is that it enables the advance party either to travel light part of the way, or, as in this case, to avoid the necessity of laying down their own depots by relays, or some other method, before making their final start on their journey.

The geological party will be able to follow the route marked by the supporting party half-way to their objective, the Queen Maud .range, and to use dog food in the depot so that, when they finally begin the last half of their journey, they will do so with practically the same loads with which they left" the base. Little America. So it can be seen that the work of the supporting party is an integral part of the trip south and necessary to the success of the geological work. Supporting Party’s Equipment. The equipment of the .supporting party is somewhat different from that of the geological party. There will be three teams of nine dogs each—each team pulling two sledges, fastened together with cross-chains so that the rear sledge follows in the track of the front one. The front sledges will be freight sledges and two of the trailers will be basket sledges, with high sides at the rear. They have a brake on which the driver can jump in case of emergency. The third trailer will be a light sledge made by Christopher Braathen. and to be used by him, as his dogs are somewhat lighter than the others. All the trailing sledges have geepoles at the front—strong poles—sticking upward at an angle of about 40 degrees. on which the driver can throw his weight and guide the sledge around obstacles. The dogs will be harnessed in pairs on either side of a long line, called the gang line, with the leader at the head. The harnesses are somewhat different, as, instead of a stiff collar, a harness of webbing easily adjustable to the size of the dogs has been made to suit the individual liking of the drivers of the supporting party. It is light and strong. Two tents will be carried by the supporting party, tents of the lobster pot type, curved from the bottom to the top and with curved ribs. Two men will sleep in each of them, and at night, when camp is made, food will be cooked in one. while whoever operates the radio set uses it in the other tent to communicate with the base. Men Tied Together.

Every possible safety precaution will be taken in going over new ground or over crevassed regions. The men will be tied together with alpine rope, fastened to a belt which will ease the strain on anyone falling into a hole, and one man, also at one end of an alpine rope, will go ahead to look for crevasses.

The sledges will be lashed together at reasonable intervals so that if one breaks through a snow bridge it will be held by the two others and can be hauled to the surface. Bamboo poles will be carried for use in particularly dangerous areas. The loads will be packed on the sledges in sleigh sheets, pieces of canvas which are wrapped around the load and are lashed with rope. Some of the supplies, particularly the dog food cached last year, are bulky and clumsy, and, therefore, sleigh sheets will be better than the canvas tanks, or boxes, which will be used by the geological party. This year the dog food was moulded into cakes. Man food for 30 days will be carried by the supporting party, which is about the time they expect to bo on the trail, and their safety factor in food is provided by surplus provisions already cached in a depot on the Barrier. The food is packed in hags. Daily rations of biscuit, pemniican soup, and bacon will be packed in separate bags, and only one of them will be taken from a sledge each day. The other items of food, such as tea, sugar, chocolate, dried milk, and other things making up a balanced diet, will be packed in bags holding a week’s supply. [Copyrighted 1928 by “New York Times” Company and "St. Louis Post-Dispatch. All rights for publication reserved throughout the world.]