BYRD EXPEDITION

Greymouth Evening Star, 18 February 1930, Page 5

BYRD EXPEDITION

CITY OF NEW YORK’S PROGRESS [By Russell Owen—Copyrighted, 1929, by the New York Times Company, and St. Louis Post-Dispatch. All rights for publication reserved throughout the world. Wireless to New Yor Times.] (By Cable—PresM Assn.—Copyright.) BAY OF WHALES, February 16. The City of New York has been blown under the lee of the Barrier as far west as she could go, after the worst trip through these seas ever reported. Last night she sighted Pass Island at. the western extremity of the Barrier, and is now working her way eastward in comparatively calm water under the Barrier. I Captain Melville’s radio message 1 stated: "Our position is latitude seven-ty-seven degrees forty-three minutes, longitude one hundred and seventy-one degrees thirty minutes east. We are running along the face of the Barrier, half a mile off in smooth clear water. The weather is overcast and withy a strong breeze. We are making good time. All hands are working at chopping ice clear. We estimate that we ha.ve chopped twenty tons of ice off the head gear alone. It is fortunate that we arrived at the Barrier when we did.”

ELEANOR BOLLING’S ROUGH TRIP DUNEDIN, February 17. A wireless message received to-day by Messrs 11. L. Tapley and Co. from Captain G. L. Brown of the “Eleanor Bolling” states that the vessel was then 440 miles south of Otago Heads, and was encountering strong southwesterly gales and heavy seas. Even under favourable conditions the vessel cannot now reach the Barrier before the end of this week. WHY WILKINS RETURNED. NEW YORK, February 16. Sir H. Wilkins, in a wireless message, says: “The unprecedented weather in the Antarctic has caused a cessation of exploration for this year. The steamer John S. Scoresby’s three weeks’ cruise through the ice sea has been of constant danger and hardship. Frequently she was plunging in icecrested waves twenty feet high. Unfavourable atmospheric conditions rendered wireless communication with Deception Island impossible.” A TOURISTS’ TRIP (Recd. Feb. 18, 9.30 a.m.). LONDON, February 17. _ A romantic scheme of holidaying in the Antarctic, has been devised by Captain J. R. Stenhouse, Commander of Shackleton’s Aurora, and the Royal Research ship Discovery. He intends to equip a seventeen thousand ton trans-Atlantic liner, and carry BritishAmerican passengers to the Antarctic. He proposed to sail from Southampton on December 10, on a four and ahalf months’ cruise to the southern limit of navigation. The passengers will be able to join in a. two days’ dash on dog sleighs on the Antarctic continent. The cruise is expected to appeal to women as the Antarctic continent is the only remaining part of the earth on which they have not set foot. It is also proposed to visit Byrd’s base, and the winter huts used by Scott, and Shackleton, and Amundsen’s base in the Bay of Whales.