PERILOUS TRIP.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLIV, Issue XLIV, 3 June 1924, Page 7

PERILOUS TRIP.

TV c.urm AJIERICA.I

1 A large seaplane with Wmbe to be •'UiSed against cannibals, apparatus tor the establishment of a powerful broadcasting station and high speed," -shallow draught-power boats form part of the equipment taken by Dr. Alexbander H. Rice, noted surgeon and explorer who saiteJ. recently on the first lap of an exploration trip which will last two years and-will take him into •sections <..•:' ?>.•■• oili America not yet reached hy f.bo v, I rite man (says tlw" •I^ew York Tiniefc).

•Accompanying ;:.e explorer is his wife, the former Mrs. George D. Wid■ener, who lost her first husband and. son. in the sinking of the Titanic. Walter Hin.ton, who made history when he piloted the N.C.-4 across the Atlantic, is also a member of the .party. Tbe> objective of the expedition will be- the headwaters of the Rio Orinoco. This trip will be the most extensive <ever undertaken by Dr. Rice, who already has made six attempts to reach the river's source. Mrs. Rice has acfeompamed her husband three times. | The leader of the expedition hopes to Tbe able to tnace the Orinoco to its ■source and return with accurate maps. One of the most, serious obstacles 'the members of the party will have to overcome is the hostility of a tribe K>f cannibal Indians. The route of the lies through country never trodden by white men. It is populated by fierce and warlike natives, I and it is to fi,c;ht these Indians that ' the bombs are being taken. Hinton will be in charge of the aviation section of the party, and James ~W. Swanson, radio expert, will super- ■ "vise the erection of a powerful radio "broad-casting station and receiving set. with which it is hoped to keep in con--stant communication with' the outside j world.

The country which Dr. Rioe has set -as his goal is probably the least known of any part- of the earth. Colonel -Roosevelt in his. famous expedition up the River of Doubt discovered parts x>f it, but, according to Dr. Rice, there -are still thousands of square miles uncharted.

The party will make its first stop at Para, Brazil. Swianson will go first to Rio Janeiro and then travel north to meet the rest of the party at Mamas, where the Negro River joins the Amazon. At this point a steamer ■will be chartered for the voyage up the Bio Negro to a. point where the radio station will be established near Bon a Arista, An effort will be made to cover the whole journey by water, and for this reason a. specially built shallow xiraught motor boat is being taken It is known that the river follows its t»urse through almost impenetrable lungles abounding in poisonous insects and reptiles. Besides the miain power boat the l>arty is taking several smaller craft, Tvith portable engines. Canoes will be procured at Para, The radio set has «ost 12,000 dollars. It will be listed in the code book as WJS, the letters recently assigned to the station by the l>eT>artm^Tit of Commerce. Or. Rif>e is' <i Harvard graduate, class of '98. . He formerly was one of the lesuling surgeons of the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and is a, member of many leadin-r Boston clubs. *

-m£r ' Mrs- Rice. Trere married in 1916 and spent their honeymoon on an expedition up the Amazon River On this trip Mrs. Rice founded schools lor Indian children, and durino- the present voyage she. will take the opportunity to visit these schools and where practicable, establish new ones In 1919 Dr. and Mrs. Rice made a second exploration in search of the source of the Orinoco, and also of a tribe of supposed "white" Indians which are believed to be in that region.