ROMANTIC SEQUEL TO EXPEDITION

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 124, 19 February 1935, Page 10

ROMANTIC SEQUEL TO EXPEDITION

Dr. T. C. Poulter Hustles Up to Altar SECRET PLANS; PROPOSAL BY WIRELESS Dominion Special Service. Dunedin. February IS. There was a romantic sequel to tne arrival at Dunedin to-day of' the members of. the Byrd Expedition on the Jacob Ruppert Less than six hours after the vessel appeared inside Hie heads, Dr. Thomas C Poulter, second in command of tlie expedition, was married to Miss Helen Gray, in tlie manse of First Presbyterian Church. The wedding;-about which the utmost secrecy had been preserved, was the ciiimlnation of a romance which began in lowa and which, it is understood, led up to a proposal ef marriage by radio when Miss Gray was in Dunedin and Dr. Poulter in Little America AU the elements of American' hustle were revealed in the progress to the altar. When the first launch met the Jacob Ruppert as she was lying off Port Chalmers waiting for the doctor about 1.20 p.m.. those on board saw an anxious face over tlie rail. Eager inquiries followed as to when the launch could land a passenger at Port Chalmers, and then a face disappeared When the launch returned to Port Chalmers it took with it Dr. Poulter. for whom its best .speed was far too slow, for on the wharf awaited him the woman who was to become Jt bis bride before nightfall. Admiral Gives Bride Away. The next few hours were full of action. A license was procured, the doctor removed all traces of the stress of a year’s exploring work amid ice and snow, and shortly after 6.30 p.m. he and his bride entered tlie gates of First Church manse. There he was joined by Rear-Admiral Byrd, who bad left his vessel about half an hour previously, and by five other members of the expedition. Together they passed into the manse, where in the homely dra.wing-ropm the Rev. W Allan Stevely performed the marriage ceremony. Admiral Byrd giving the bride away. So secretly have arrangements been made that a reporter and photographer were the only outsiders present. Dr. Poulter, who is a widower, aged 37 or 38, met Miss Gray while lie -was a professor on Hie staff of lowa Wesleyan College, where, it is understood she assisted him with his scientific work. When lie joined the expedition Miss' Gray came out to New Zealand, bringing with her the doctor’s three little sons.' She lias lived in Dunedin about a year, keeping n home' for tlie children during that. time. She has been in constant touch with Dr. Poulter by radio and it is believed that tlie decision to marry was reached while the two were separated by many hundreds of miles of ocean and ice. Tlie bridesmaid at the wedding was Miss J. Pearce, of Dunedin, who, with Admiral Byrd, signed the marriage register.