ANTARCTIC PLANS.

Grey River Argus, 27 August 1928, Page 5

ANTARCTIC PLANS.

WILKINS’ EXPEDITION. To Seek Site for Meteorological Station. (Received Augest 26, at 5.5. p.mJ NEW YORK. AugU't 25. , A jinessage from Dcsmosiiics, luwa, states tout Wilkinsi denies reports ihui lus expedilic*! intends to com pete with Byru's> expcd-itiun, in Aii.tarcuc or that he- is bei|ig lured to the Antarctic by a spirit of ven ;ture. j . Wilkins, on his way to the East, :o:iliined his plans f-»r his bouih i’olar venture. lie said that Eileson and himself, with some as yet unnamed companions would leave New York on.'September 22nd. tb join a fleet of Norwegian whalers off Montevideo. These would take t.icm \o land, hit tlie Antarctic, where thiir first, base would be established eight hundred mi.es south of Cape Horn. A second base would be established in Ross S?d for further exploration. Wilkins said their jnime motive would be the finding of a suitable location for a. meteorological station, wherewith it would be possible to uetermine the weather conditions for al least three years in advance, this making it. possible to ward off crop faijlprecs t'a;roughouc -tlie cultivated South rn areas of the world.He said that he expected to fly i iwenty-five hundred miles over vhe icifitud, but he would be prepared to walk his way out- of the Antarctic if lorccd down. He remarked: “Always, thos e who know the Polar regions go prepared for all the emergencies under the sun.” Eileson and he intended to finance the expedition personally. BYRD’S EXPEDITION. SAILS FOR DUNEDIN. (Received August 26 at 5.5 p.m.) NEW YORK, August 25. The barque. City of New York, the Flagship of .Commander Byrd’s Antarctic Expedition, carrying thirty-two men and two hundred .tons of supplies, sailed to-day for Dunedin, New Zealand. Commander Byrd will leave later.