LONG WALK IN ANTARCTIC

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 November 1929, Page 7

LONG WALK IN ANTARCTIC

SNOWMOBILE WRECKED A PERILOUS JOURNEY (By Russel Owen, Copyrighted, 1929, by the “New York Times” Company, and “St./Louis Despatch.” All rights for publication reserved throughout the-'world to :s New iork Times.”), ißy Cable—Press . Assn.—Copyright.) .BAY OF WHALES, November 7. . Three men who started off in the snowmobile a fortnight ago, in another attempt at mechanical transportations in Antarctic, are back in camp. They walked back eighty miles, having left \ the snowmobile parked in a drift, with its rear end broken from bucking 'soft snow. . . ....;... ■ They made the eighty miles in eight days, one of which was. spent in their tent during a blizzard, and were greeted with streamers from the Radio towers, signal rockets, and much goodnatured razzing.. The experience gained’ on this trip leads Commander Byrd to the opinion 5 that a specially designed snowmobile would work; a long lbw flexible machine with very wide and carefully designed treads. ; • The returning . trio had, a fairly rough trip. The overcast sky ' made visibility very bad, and frequently they ccitld not see thirty feet in front of them, particularly when the wind kicked up the light drift. .They frequently had difficulty in picking up the flags on the trail, and the sledge and snowmobile tracks were almost obliterated. They would keep one flag in sight behind them until they would see another ahead, but sometimes the one ahead would not show up when it should. One man would leave the group and keeping them in sight would hunt round till he'found the marker, sometimes away off down one side, showing how easily one can wander from the’ straight line over these snowy wastes. ‘ ’

Visibility played queer pranks. Sometimes a flag would jump out at them before they expected it, and at other times they would see. one apparently only-a short distance ahead and ; then walk: miles apparently before reaching it. They could see. water and sky at the seaward edge of the barrier, after they got about half way back to the camp, and steered on the cornerof that. BALLOON PHOTOGRAPHY. (Recd. Nov. 9, midday.) COPENHAGEN, November 8... Dians for simultanepu-s Dolar exploration in 1932/3, in which Australia ' and New Zealand will co-operate witji America in the Antarctic, include the use of a new Russian invention Already tested, by which a balloon fitted with a camera will take photographs at the height of twelve miles. Immediately the pictures are taken; the image will automatically be wirelessed to the base. "■ " ,■ ;/ ’j