Sudden End To Plans

Evening Star, Issue 21620, 16 January 1934, Page 6

Sudden End To Plans

Ellsworth Antarctic Expedition Monoplane Seriously Damaged on Ice Wyatt Earp Now Returning to Dunedin A ‘ Sydney Sun ’ story from Lincoln Ellsworth says: “ The aeroplane Polar Star, which was threatened with disaster when a shelf of ice suddenly broke up, casting the Wyatt Earp adrift, was rescued from the heaving slab on Sunday morning. The aeroplane has been dismantled and stored in the hold of the Wyatt Earp, and as it is found impossible to repair here the damage done when the skis slipped through the ice we are obliged to return to Dunedin. The damage to the plane is considerable.” There is no suggestion in the ‘ Suu ’ story that anyone was injured.—Press Association cablegram.

This cable, received in Dunedin st 11.15 a.m., fully confirms the rumours of the sudden end of Ellsworth’s aspirations of Antarctic exploration which had been in circulation since last evening. Radio messages from the Wyatt Earp were thick on the air, but under the regulations all short-wave listeners were held to secrecy. The substance of the rumours was that the Northrop Gama monoplane, with which Ellsworth intended to make the 2,900-mile journey from the Ross Sea to the Weddell Sea and return, had been' seriously damaged, and that the small steamer Wyatt Earp was already heading back to Dunedin. The restrictions of copyright prevented authoritative news being released earlier in Dunedin. Under his contract with the ‘New York Times ’ and the ‘ Sydney Sun ’ Ellsworth is forbidden the issue of news to other sources. That accounts for the devious route by which authentic news of the minor disaster has reached Dunedin, the nearest port of communication and the land base of the expedition. When Captain Scott’s death was announced to the world the tragic news cam© from London, although two sea-booted officers had landed at Oamaru at the dead of night

and had travelled to Christchurch', from where they had sent a cable to Reuters in London.

Until last night Dunedin had not been in communication with the Wyatt Earp for over a week. The last message reported the arrival of the ship at the Bay of Whales, and intimated that all was going well. However, catastrophe has suddenly swooped down on the expedition. Radio contact has been restricted owing to the shortage of transmitting tubes on the ship. The Wyatt Earp’s departure from Dunedin was delayed for two days to await the arrival of a package of tubes from the United States, but it is now apparent that in that equipment the supplies were short. Apparently, with every jarring of the ship in the ice damage was done to the wireless grid, and the tubes were quickly destroyed. Years of preparations and tremendous expenditure have been rendered futile by the unexpected aedident to the monoplane. Ellsworth had planned to make what was described by Shackleton as the last great adventure in the history of South Polar exploration—the crossing of the Antarctic continent. His machine was considered to be the last word in aviation equipment. A low-winged streamlined monoplane, the Polar Star had a top speed of 260 miles an hour, and Ellsworth anticipated that the flight from the Ross Sea to the Weddell Sea, across the great unknown quadrant, would be made at an average speed of 150 miles an hour.

His ambitions have crashed at the very gateway to the unexplored, land. The 2,900-mile - flight was the sole effort of the expedition, and when it was made impossible of attempt by the damage to the plane the expedition ended its actual career. There was nothing to do but to place the machine back in the hold of the Wyatt Earp and head back to Dunedin. The leader’s plans were -that a clearance would be made from the Antarctic immediately the flight was completed.’ • >

His work is not done. > That will be a colossal disappointment to Ellsworth, as this journey, it is believed, was to be his last in the realms of exploration. After he had announced his intentions to make the transantarctic flight, he was married to a Californian lady, and there is every reason to assume that a man of his age—he is’ fifty-three—would have forsaken his extremely hazardous life. This expedition was, exceedingly well organised, and all expenditure was met from Ellsworth’s personal purse. The expense was great, involving the purchase and manning in Nprway of the trawler, Wyatt Earp. His crew of thirteen men were paid full rates for their various positions; volunteers mostly are employed on the Byrd expedition. The Wyatt Earp left Dunedin on December 5 and had a stormy trip to the Bay jof Whales. The ice conditions will be improved for the return trip, and the vessel should be in Dunedin again in a fortnight or three weeks. The future movements of the expedition are still uncertaih. When Ellsworth left Dunedin he had made no plans as to where the vessel would go on her return from the Antarctic. It is understood, however, that ,the ship will probably go to the United States.