MESSAGE FROM BASE SHIP.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXII, Issue 2668, 18 December 1928, Page 5

MESSAGE FROM BASE SHIP.

CLOSE TO BAY OF WHALES. PLANS FOR FLIGHT NEXT YEAR. (Australian and N.Z. Cable.) (Received 11.45 a.m.) New York, December 17. In a copyright report from the Byrd expedition received on December 16, Mr. Owen says: “We are far into the ice pack to-day, having startthrough on the anniversary of Captain Amundsen’s arrival at the South Pole in 1912. He started out a year before and laid his bases towards the South Pole during his first season, but it appears now that we should arrive at the Bay of Whales sooner than he did, because we are only about 700 miles away. Captain Amundsen did not arrive there until January 14. With good luck we should be unloading stores in the Bay of Whales in ten days, although it is rash to make predictions down here. Captain Byrd, like Amundsen, intends to lay his bases as far inland as possible this season, that isbefore March, when winter sets in, and do most of his important work next year, when he will be able to start flying long before it would be possible for a ship to get through the ice. Captain Amundsen began his South Polar journey on October 19, when, despite tire cold weather, it was fair for travelling and it should be equally good for flying. Whereas Captain Amundsen spent two months toiling over the snow and crevasses and up dangerous glaciers to* the South Pole from the Bay of Whales, Captain Byrd will make his flight in less than a day, and will be able to map and examine the route for some distance on each side.”