MISSING NAUTILUS

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 292, 5 September 1931, Page 7

MISSING NAUTILUS

Weak Signals Reported By Steamer GRAVE CONCERN FELT By Telegraph—Press Asan.—Copyright. Oslo, September 8. Serious concern is felt for the Nautilus, of which nothing has been heard for four days. The authorities have appealed to wireless amateurs to try to communicate with Sir Hubert Wilkins. The Norwegian collier Ingestre, which has arrived at Svalbard, reported that she heard weak unintelligible signals from the Nautilus on Tuesday evening. The Bergen wireless station Is still without news. The Nautilus Is able to remain submerged for 94 hours. The fact that nothing definite has been heard does not necessarily mean that she has been overtaken by disaster. SEEKING “STAR DUST” Submarine’s Romantic Work LIKELIHOOD OF SUCCESS New York, September 3. “Star dust” on the bottom of the sea, among other scientific things, has drawn Sir Hubert Wilkins farther north than anyi Mother man has ever sailed or steamed, and into greater danger, in the opinion of Mr. Vllhjalmar Stefansson. “Sir Hubert," he says, “undoubtedly cannot' much longer delay his return from the ice because the summer season is virtually finished. “When he started the chances were four to one in his favour, but with winter approaching the odds are reversed. I thinks Sir Hubert is overconfident of the powers of his very efficient radio. In all likelihood he is safe at present.” Mr. Stefaneson emphasised the importance of the Wilkins trip, explaining that in no other way could certain important scientific phenomena be obtained. Star dust was probably the most romantic of these. Scientists hold that the dust from the outer space Is deposited in the polar regions In comparative purity, whereas elsewhere it is mixed with terrestrial dust. Obviously any samples from the bottom of the sea would be of use. Wilkins also seeks to weigh the earth from the north, which is the shortest radius to the centre of the globe. The earth has already been weighed from the Equator, where the radius is longest, and a comparison l of the two weights will disclose important phenomena, about, among other things, the mineral constitution of the earth. Also by the use of a special depthfinder, Wilkins can make an almost unbroken contour map of the bottom of the Arctic, and he can observe water life a« no other explorer could. Also important weather observations and recording of water temperatures otherwise will fill innumerable gaps in Arctic information.

Probably three years would be needed for the completion of the work of the expedition, Mr. Btefansson said.