The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1927. SOUTHWARD HO !

Hokitika Guardian, 21 November 1927, Page 2

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1927. SOUTHWARD HO !

The news that Commander Byrd, the American naval airman, proposes to establish a New Zealand base for his South Polar flight, says an exchange, invests his enterprise with considerable local interest. This country has had an intimate association with South Polar expeditions of the past. Scott and his heroic co-adventurers, who I sloop under the snows in the great silence of the grim terra incognita which challenged their daring souls, set out from New Zealand. Shaekleton, j who died at sea in mid-Atlantic on his way south to make another attempt to win through, also previously ' had made New Zealand his base. Now comes Byrd, fresh from his aerial conquest of the North Pole, to penetrate the secrets of the South by air. The flight has possibilities of some scientific value, attended by conditions of great peril. It is a well-established fact that the meteorological conditions of the South Polar latitudes differ very greatly from the North. Further, the path of the explorers, both by land and by a.ir is beset with obstacles which are not encountered in the North. Chief of tlie.se is the great mountain barrier and prevalence of terrific blizzards. If these difficulties can be surmounted by Commander Byrd, it is conceivable that a much more deliberate survey of the South Polar territory will be possible than has been the’ case in the past. Previous expeditions have accomplished much valuable exploratory work on the Antarctic littoral, hut advances veryfar into the interior have been mainly concentrated on a tip-and-run dash to the geographical Pole itself. It- is here that the American airman mayeclipse in scientific results the achievements of his -successors, and British sportsmanship will wish him all success in his endeavours. The South Pole, hitherto, has been challenged hv sheer animal prowess, the prowess of man assisted by ponies and dogs. It lias been a conflict of dogged physical endurance against the silent and passive resistance of the fortress of nature. To the human factor has now been added the resources of aeronautical science, represented by a flying machine which has proved its efficiencyover vast spaces of land and sea. and conquered the North Pole. Land expeditions and aerial flights to the Northern Polar regions have yielded in practical results, nothing more, apparently, than meteorological data,, and the information that the only thing to he seen is a wilderness of hummocks. But- the South holds greater promise for the explorer. Once it is established that South Polar flights are practicable, a systematic examination will be possible. The Antarctic continent is the last of the great unknown regions of the world, and. to scientists and adventurers alike, makes.a powerful and irresistible appeal. Both from the point of view of sportsmanship, and of the possibilities opened up by this latest attempt to reveal the secrets of

Polar South, Commander Byrd may be assured of a hearty welcome and all good wishes when he comes to New Zealand.