COWS ON ICE

Feilding Star, Volume 11, Issue 4181, 2 March 1934, Page 7

COWS ON ICE

First on Antarctic PUZZLED AND FIIIGHT'ENED BUT THEY “AIILKED WELL” “An incident of note in Little America during; the time I was there, said Air B. It. O’Brien of Wellington, -who returned by tile Jacob lluppert, “was the transportation of the cows over the hay ice and up to the first cache. This work was entrusted to Byron Gay, the New York composer, .Tim Sissions, of the G.P.O. Radio Denartment in Wellington, Aluir. the third mate of the Jacob lluppert. and myself- The cows were unloaded at 15 degrees below zero under a battery of movie cameras. Tlie reaction of the c-ows to the snow was interesting. They did not, seem to know what it was about. They smelt tlie snow for a while, and then become frightened. I led ‘Deerfoot,’ a purebred little Guernsey, and when she- made a break she decided to take me with her. I hung on to, her head like a cowboy at a rodeo, hut it took a, while before I had her steadied clown, and, indeed, all the cows seemed frightened of their surroundings. They narticulaiy distrusted the red route flags hut after they were led up to them and allowed to sniff at them they seemed more reassured. They were heavily wrapped in blankets, for it was below freezing point, and even in the shelter they trembled like leaves. On the way across their eyes, which watered a lot. began to cake with ice, and long- icicles formed, and these had to he broken off. “The idea, of taking the o.o'v= was to have the fresh milk, and they milked wonderfully well. They did not seem to mind the sea trip. Their cache would he about two and a half miles from the barrier face. After till that journey, and the frights they must Rave received, one of them was milked on arrival, and gave nearly a, bucketful of milk. The journey as you can well imagine was quite adventurous. The four of us have the distinction of being the first cowmen of the Antarctic. After delivering and sheltering the animals at the first cache, Gay, Sissons and myself continued our journey on foot to Little America j T,lxe weather got gradually worse as we approached the harrier, until on reaching it we were in the teeth of a 45 miles per hour blizzard. Reel flags every 50 yards marked tlie route. ‘Tlie snow blotted out the flags entirely, and our method of progress was to string out singly, each keeping within sight of the other until the next flag was reached. After several hours’ strenuous walking we eventually arriv cd.”