The Hawera Star. SATURDAY, APRIL 17, 1926. POLAR FLIGHTS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 17 April 1926, Page 4

The Hawera Star.

SATURDAY, APRIL 17, 1926. POLAR FLIGHTS.

Delivered every evening by 5 o’clock in Hawera, Mnnaia, Norrnanby, Okaiawa, Elthani, Mangatoki, Kaponga, Alton, Hurleyville, Patea. Waverley, Mokoia, Whakamara, Obangai, Meremere. Fraser Road and Ararata.

Driving steadily into the bewildering whiteness, where there is no earth, no sky, no horizon, brings a semi-consciousness that one must continually fight off. . . • _E° r a hundred miles coming and- going, there was nothing in the sky or oni earth, .except the ’plane and its shadow on the snow waste.

Prom the simple wording of Captain Wilkins’s account of his flight from Fairbanks t 0 Point Barrow'and! back, it is possible to imagine something of the lure of the frozen wastes which stretch northward to the Pole, and of the immeasurable courage of men who will attempt the task the Australian explorer has set himself. Captain Wilkins plans to 1 fly over the Pole to Spitsbergen. From Point Barrow to the Pole the distance is 800 miles; right through to Spitzbergen is about 2200 miles. So the shortest possible journey, in the event- of the quest being successful, will be 1600 miles —out from Point Barrow and back. The expedition will carry fuel for 2500 miles, so there is little provision for deviation from the direct air-line if the through flight be attempted. It is a great adventure which, win or lose, will add! to the traditions of Australian enterprise in Polar regions. Mawson and Hurley have made, their names famous in the Antarctic, now Wilkins, with prior experience both south and north, is to storm the Arctic. He flies from America, with American associates, and l backed by American money, but Wilkins himself is an Australian, and, if he can carry through has l object, lie will be the only Britisher who has seen the end! of the earth and returned to tell the taler With the experience of the Amundsen /expedition of last year so? fresh in the mind, it would be idle to discount the risks of the flight; but it is significant that Vilhjalmur Stofnnsson, than whom no man living knows the Arctic more intimately, is optimistic that the party will succeed. ‘‘ T. believe that* Wilkins has at least three chances out of four of success,” says Rtefansson. “He is better than* any other man I know for this enterprise, not only because of his qualifications, but also because lie will bring back the. least sensation,al story, and will contribute to the rapid advance of science and commerce” Yet, although praise from Stefansson is praise indeed, the world may well be pardoned if it regards the prospects of the venture with considerable disquietude. No at-

tempt on the Pole lias hitherto been

made from this quarter, aud although, to an aeroplane, one route will be very much, like another, the dangers of the unknown. ’ would have to be reckoned with if it were found necessary to send out a rescue expedition. Then there is the risk attending to every landing in the polar regions, • a risk which Amundsen’s party overcome only by effort that was almost superhuman. This year Amundsen is making another attempt, but- by airship. He has proved to his own satisfaction that ’planes are not, suited to the purpose. . inci-’ dentally, the “Norge,” the Norwegian veteran’s craft, is already on her way north to commence' the same flight that Wilkins lias planned, but from the opposite end—Amundsen is to set sail from Spitsbergen for Point Barrow. The romance' of the race would be complete were the two explorers to meet in mid-air over the Pide! Meanwhile, Wilkins is in fair way to be started first, and the eyes of the world will be upon him. If he fails to return or to report at Spitzbergen, he does not wish a rescue party to be despatched for two years, holding that he and his party can live off the ice indefinitely. In any ease, all they take, with them will be supplies for two weeks. Two weeks’ provisions, possible rescue in two years—and a wave'of good-bye! It is the spirit that lias made history.