THE SOUTH POLE

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 74, 28 March 1931, Page 19

THE SOUTH POLE

CONQUERED BY. AIR

BYRD'S OWN STORY

Tlio bookshops arc now featuring .Rear-Admiral Byrd's "Little America," which is a popular account of his expedition which led to tlio conquest of tlio South Pole by air. Radio kept the world fully informed about tho doings in Little America, but thisbook fills in the gaps and makes a more or loss consecutive story. Many will be sorry for the statement in tho introduction that "there are many things which, I have been informed, are not interesting to tho general public, but belong rather to the four fat volumes dealing with tho scientific results of tho expedition on which the scientific staff is now working. So, presto, out they go-" Gut other renders will be entirelyRoutent with what is left, and "Little America," written without fuss or, affectation, will dispel the illusion that Byrd and his party conquered tho Polo without hardship and tragedy. Little America was established on tho icebarrier at tho Bay of Whales, a spot known to Scott, Amundsen, and others. It was chosen "because (1) it seemed to offer tho likeliest circumstances for flying, and (2) because it was surrounded by unknown areas. . . Here lay hundreds of thousands of square mi lea of territory utterly unknown to geography, a vacuum abhorrent to scientist and cartographer alike. To the south-cast lay the supposed Carmen Land discovered by Amundsen on his Polar journey awaiting the inquiry of precise science." This inquiry, it may be said at once, as conducted by Admiral Byrd and his Polar party, disproved the existence of Carmen Land as Amundsen reported it. But to Amundsen, who lent him strong help during his months of preparation, to other Antarctic pioneers,' and most of all to Scott, Admiral Byrd pays frequent and generous tribute. However, "the advantage lay with us in that we possessed three of the most efficient instruments given to tho explorer: radio, the airplane, with its wonderful speed and independence of surface obstructions that vex the foot-traveller, and the aerial mapping camera, which sees everything and forgets nothing." The expedition certainly achieved | much, how much "the four fat volumes dealing with the scientific results" will show. Byrd added territory to the possessions of the United States, in the only remaining part of the- world where finding is keeping. He saw and named Marie Byrd Land from the air; but the geological party left evidence of the claim on the spot, and were "not only the first Americans but the first individuals of any nationality to set foot on American soil in the Antarctic." What was the use of it? Byrd leaves it to tho good sense of his readers to answer. Any discussion of the Antarctic problem, except perhaps in scientific circles, soon comes up hard on tho question: "... but what's the use of it? W<liat's the value of snow and ice so many miles away?" It is sometimes difficult to answer what earthly purpose the great white continent serves. . . Wo lack, most of us, tho universal, philosophical point of view. As is natural in our own crowded affairs, we sco things narrowly, especially in a matter such [ as this, in trite, personal, and commercial terms of worth. Antarctica, "a vast wonderland laid out on a giant scale, in which littleness has no place," cannot be judged or appraised according to limited values. Vainly did I try to impress this fact upon a well-known American business man. "But whore's the money in it? Where's the profit?" he demanded. WONDERFUL OKOANISATION. The narrative impresses one with tho superb organisation that carried' the thing through. It was no light task to look after the eighty men who took part, of whom over forty wintered at Little America. That gear and 'planes were finally left behind, in no way reflects on the organisation. Byrd undoubtedly added to the technique of polar exploration. Admiral Byrd doubts whether a single man was eager to stay when the time came for return. Tho Antarctic is "no pleasure resytt." The modern conveniences they possessed, including wireless which kept them in touch with the outside world, scarcely relieved the hardships. It offers little enough solace and satisfaction to the scientist and explorer with work to do. When work is done it seems "the loneliest, most God-forsaken spot on this globe." But Ms final words are: "Glad aa we were to be back in the comparative luxury of Little America, it was, with a feeling akin to the forlorn that we looked back nt our sledge tracks disappearing into the limitless white to the south. We had liad a good time and had, in some measure, known the joy of achievement." THE HISTORIC FLIGHT. Naturally the now well-known story of the actual flight to tho Pole is told in. full, with its anxious moments ■when it seemed as if the 'plane could not climb the pass through the mountains. But when they cross the calculated position of the Polo they drop a flag weighted with a stone from the grave of Floyd'Bennett,,the friend who stood with Byrd over the North Pole in. 1020.' The altimeters register a height of 11,000 feet:— I'or a few seconds we stood over the spot whore Amundsen had stood, 14th December, 1911; and where Scott had also stood, thirty-four days later, reading tho note which Amundsen had left for him. In their honour, the flags of their countries were again carried over the Pole. There was nothing now to mark that scene; only a white desolation and solitude disturbed by the sound of our engines. The Pole lay in the centre of a limitless plain. No mountains were visible. But besides narrative, there are many pleasant reflections such as this: "Enough clothes to keep warm, enough food to eat, a few things to divert the mind occasionally—these arc tho only things that are required in the Antarctic. It is amazing what contentment can be had from them. 'What do you miss most in the Antarctic, Taffy?' I asked our ' physicist. He replied, 'Temptation.' " Of course, photographs are n feature of the book. Many are excellent, but they do not convey the wonderful colour of some of the scenes. That of the South Polo itself, taken from the fir^t aeroplane to fly above it, might be a partially fogged and developermarked plate—such is the appearance of the snow plateau from above as seen through 'the medium of half-tone.