ARCTIC EXLORATION

Greymouth Evening Star, 2 April 1929, Page 5

ARCTIC EXLORATION

WILKINS’ NEW PLAN

SUBMARINE TRIP

(Australian Press Association.) (By Cable—Press Assn.—Copyright.) NEW YORK, March 29. Sir Hubert Wilkins informed the “New York Tithes” to-night that he was conducting active enquiries into the possibility of making a submarine trip across the Arctic Sea, but that he has no definite plans yet for doing so this year.' Admitting that he would like to bore his way through the waters beneath the Polar ice to study ocean depths and currents, Sir Hubert Wilkins said: —“I have had this trip in mind for 15 years. I believe that the journey could be made in a month, and that July would be the most favourable time. It wauld be possible to do it this summer and be back in time to resume my Antarctic work in October next.” Sir Hubert Wilkins was non-com-mittal when asked whether he planned an expedition for the coming summer, but admitted that it would require the aid of some Government and he had been making enquiries. He said that Steffansson had suggested the idea in 1913.

Many submarine experts at Washington regard Sir Hubert Wilkins’s plan to cross the Arctic in a submarine as highly impracticable. It is learned that Sir Hubert asked the De partment recently to provide a submarine for the venture, but the “request was not looked upon favourably.” The great depth of the Arctic ice field, and the limited underwater cruising range of submarines, were considered the outstanding deterrents to the accomplishment of the plan. It is pointed out that Arctic icebergs are often submerged to the extent of many hundred feet below the surface of the sea while the greatest depth attained by an American underwater craft is 318 feet. The underwater cruising range of a submarine is only 200 miles, and should Sir Hubert’s boat exhaust its batteries while beneath the ice floe, he would be trapped unless he could blast a way out. It is seriously doubted whether a depth bomb would be sufficiently .powerful to work through the heavy sheet ice. STEFFANSSON’S OPINION i NEW YORK, March 31. Sir Hubert Wilkins announced that he was consulting the Lake Torpedo Company for a Procural submarine. He estimated that the distance in the Arctic to be traversed by the vessel, which would be one of a type already available, with aln “airlock” 1 which would enable egress while submerged would be approximately 2000 miles. The cost of the expedition would be 150,000 dollars. Steffansson, commenting on the venture, said: "Of course it pleases me' very much that Sir Hubert Wilkins is adopting my plan, but I am also worried, because it is a very dangerous enterprise. Ten or twenty years from now a submarine voyage of this nature will be a commonplace thing without danger, but at present it is a mighty dangerous thing.” He added that it was feasible to blast ice upward from a submarine.

DR. NANSEN’S PROJECT WASHINGTON, March 30. Dr. Fridtjof Nansen will arrive at Washington shortly to consult with the Government on his plans for a 1 North Polar voyage in the dirigible Graf Zeppelin in 1930. He will have a base in Alaska with a mooring mast. The area to be explored will be the Arctic Ocean north of the American continent, between Alaska and Greenland. Terrestrial magnetic electricity and questions of geography will be studied. IN THE ANTARCTIC. HAIR-RAISING EPISODES. (By Russell Owen, Copyrighted, 1929, by the “New York Times’' Company, and “St. Louis Despatch.” All rights for publication reserved throughout the world. Wireless to “New York Times.”) BAY OF WHALES, March 31. “This being Easter Sunday, there is no work. The camp is getting into such good shape that a day off weekly will be possible, whether or not there are blizzardfe outdoors, which make work impossible. Everyone is reading, or fixing personal effects. It is twenty-eight degrees below zero, so strolls on the barrier are not part of the Sunday programme. There is no Easter parade here, and if there were it is unlikely that the fashions would prove popular at home. There is one fashion which would certainly be frowned upon. Many of us have cut off our hair and shaved our heads. The idea is to see if it will prevent those bald spots which are threatening our appearance, although some are doing it just for fun. The result is amusing, for some have luxurious whiskers of all colours and designs, and the'contrast with the shaven polls makes an ensemble which one’s nearest relatives •vould not recognise. “It is warm enough while around the base, but would not be welcomed if any flying or trail work were going on. At night, one sees. a group of youthful but bald men holding a book with one hand and meditatively •rubbing their crowns with the other, like venerable members of a sedate club. At least, it feels good. Moreover, there is no one down here to care what we look like.”