TOWARDS THE POLE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIII, Issue 309, 27 November 1933, Page 7

TOWARDS THE POLE.

ORIGIN OF STORMS. ADMIRAL BYRD’S RESEARCH. (Special to the Press Association from the Byrd Expedition aboard the JACOB RUPPERT.) Rear-Admiral Byrd has announced plans for a spectacular experiment in polar exploration. After arriving at his base at Little America, he expects early in January to establish a winter base on the rim of the South Polar plateau for continuous meterological observations. This base will be completely isolated even from Little America. He will leave one or possibly two men there for eight months, four of which will be spent in total darkness. The man or men will live in a hut specially constructed to withstand weather 90 degrees below zero and a 150-miles an hour gale. It is reinforced to stand for months under snow. The dimensions of the hut are 13 x 9 feet and 7 feet high. The structure will retain 90 per cent, of the heat generated from a special liquid fuel, and will have equipment capable of maintaining continuous weather observations. A small portable radio with a hand-crank generator will enable the observer to communicate with Little America. Rear-Admiral Byrd said the reason for establishing the base was to study Antarctic weather. “The South Polar ice-cap is the greatest weather breeder in the world,” he said. “Storms originate there which affect crops and living conditions throughout the Southern Hemisphere. Heretofore all Antarctic weather observations have been confined to coastal bases. We want to push inland as far as possible and maintain a continuous watch in the area where the storms are bred. By co-ordinating these observations with those at Little America, we hope to develop important information dealing with how these tremendous storms are born.”

He said he had. not yet chosen the man or men to staff the outpost.