SHACKLETON’S TRIAL

Greymouth Evening Star, 12 November 1928, Page 3

SHACKLETON’S TRIAL

A HINT TO THE KING. SYDNEY, November 2. When Shackleton made up his mine to conquer the Antarctic he had neither ship, nor money, nor friends willing to finance an adventure sc hazardous, but, as Captain' F. P Evans explained to members of the Legacy Club yesterday, he had a very captivating tongue, a will as voracious and implacable as a menagerie of emaciated pythons, and a very pretty invention. Shackleton told Captain Evans — ; who accompanied the expedi tion —how he managed to inspire the Empire with-a generous enthusiasm for polar exploration. A young Cambridge graduate came asking for a place in the expedition. “What could you do at the Pole?” said Shackleton. “Nothing. .Of course, not.” But Shackleton found a use for him in London. “Your uncle’s equerry to the Queen, isn’t he? Yes, I thought so. Well, if you can persuade him to persuade the Queen to visit the Nimrod before she starts there might be some chance of her starting.” So it was arranged. The Queen came and the King and the Prince of Wales, now King George, and the grandson of the King, who to-day is Prince of Wales. A brilliant entourage. ' But the Nimrod was only about as big as Cook’s Endeavour, and when they had looked at it for two minutes they had seen all there was to see. Prince Edward, aged about 10 or 11, was embarrassingly interested, however, in a lot of places which Shackleton had not prepared for Royal inspection. He wanted to go into the engine-room, a vile hole scarcely intended in size or cleanliness for the entertainment of such a great king. “You shall,” said King Edward, but to Shackleton’s immense relief he changed his mind when he saw how small the place was. Shackleton feared that the King would stay 100 long and by a more ex haustive inspection of the old Nimrod,

-spoil his visit. So, although one should never introduce a- new topic when speaking to Royalty he looked up suddenly and pointed to. the sky. “I think itts going, to rain, your. Majesty,’’’ ho said: ■ “Very well, I’m going-now,” the King assured him, wagging a finger and smiling. Shackleton Was always very proud to reflect that he was probably the only man in tho world who had given Royalty a hint that it ought to S°- ' Anyway Shackleton got Ins money. When ho was' cabling to England the’ account of his trip ho spent a great deal of valuable space in describing how he had killed the Manchurian ponies as the trials exhausted them. “Fearing that the emotional stress of watching the death of Jacky would be too great for Tomato and Tambourine, we led. them some distance away, and taking Jacky behind the tent shot him,” he wrote. “That’s not true,” Captain Evans pointed out, “It’s absurd asAvcll.’ “Of course it’s absurd,” said Shackleton, “but don’t you know that I got a lot of money for this expedition from two tenderdiearted -old ladies who believe in kindness to animals. They .v.’eTe shocked by the stories of how Scott, killed some of. his dogs and fed them to - the. rbst, : and when I agreed' that such conduct Was brutal, and promised never to do anything of tho sort they gave mo a big subscription.”