SOUTH POLAR FLIGHTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19932, 28 April 1928, Page 8

SOUTH POLAR FLIGHTS.

COMMANDER BYRD'S PLANS. ' ELABORATE EQUIPMENT. SHIP AND THREE* AEROPLMES. , STRONG PARTY AND DOG TEAMS [FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDS NT.] NEW YORK. April 4. The plans of Commander Richard Byrd's South Polar expedition have gripped the imagination of scientists, who believe it will be productive of data of far-reaching scientific value. If the Antarctic ice cap is lifted, they see hitherto unsolved problems revealed 1o the world. Dr. David White, America's foremost geologist, emphasises the importance of endeavouring to solve the question, of the earlier relations of the Antarctic continent to the continents of Africa and South America, and even the AustralianIndian archipelago. The Smithsonian Institution, National Geographical Society, Carnege Institution, and the United States Geological Survey are all keenly interested in the disclosure by fossil remains in Antarctica as to the possible ex- '* istence of this "continental bridge." Sora«i unsolved riddles of animal life lie beneath the surface of the ice of Antarctica, says Dr. Waldo Smith, curator of marine invertebrates of the National Museum.

Commander Byrd will leave New York late in August or early in September, in; the wooden ice ship Samson—formerly mother-ship to an Antarctic whaling fleet —carrying three aeroplanes, 75 dogs and 55 persons all told, for the Ross .Tee Barrier, there to attempt to reach the South Pole. He hopes to reach the ice barrier about December 16. If he is delayed by the pack ice, extending for hundreds of miles outside Ross Sea, it may lie early in January before he establishes his baiie. If he is fortunate, he may bs able to mak«i his flights and get out before winter sets in early in March. If not, he will winter with 25 men on the ice barrier, sending his ship back to New Zealand, doing little in the long night of isuc months, and continuing his exploration in September.

Details of the Expedition. Latest details of the expedition am contained in a copyrighted article in tho New York Times, which will have the only press representative with the expedition, and which will be in radio communication with it throughout. Two complete shortwave radio sets will be taken, one for use on the ship, another for use on shore at the main base. An additional portable set will be taken to the advance base, and a set will be installed on the plane with which most of the work of exploration vrill be done.

Staff-Sergeant Joy, of the North-west Mounted Police, mentioned in despatches last year for the longest patrol in tha Arctic, will leave shortly for Greenland with Mr! Arthur T. Walden, a noted Yukon dog puncher, to select the dogs. Mr. Walden will go in command, with three Harvard students as his assistants. One Boy Scout, to be chosen by competition from the Boy Scout 3 of America, will accompany the expedition. Commander Byrd plans to have a hundred tons of seal meat killed for the dogs. Certain pedigree dogs, accustomed to police work in the Arctic, who understand English, will be used under experts to "civilise" the Eskimo dogs, all of which will be selected for their capacity to sleep in snow at 60 degrees below zero. The Danish Government is being asked for the services of Eskimos to make garments from the skins of 100 reindeer. Light Dog Team in a Plane. Remembering that Captain Scott died storm-lbound only 11 miles from ibis relief station, a light dog team, of from four to six dogs, will be taken in the biggest of the planes, with which the main part of the exploration work is to be done. This is in case of forced ianding, in which the party might be hundreds of milus from the base or any of the sub-bases. The leader of the dogs will ba Chinook, a. half-bred Eskimo, whose mother, Mingo, led Peary's team to the Norlih Pole. The dog teams will go ahead of the planes, following probably fcho rout® that Amundsen took toward the Pole. They wiil make n search at a point 100 mijes out for & snowfield, in which a plane can land. Then the two smaller planes will land supplies of food, petrol a,nd repair materials for sleds, and a subbase will be established. The last of these bases, Commander Byrd hopes, will be laid down on the northern edge of the great plateau, which rises at latitude S3 and extends to the Pole itself, and beyond into an a/ua which has not yet been explored. The last dash for the Pole wilf involve rising to a height of 12,900 ft., av this plateau. Flying on this plateau, which is swept by fierce blizzards, will be the real test of the expedition. If Byrd and! his men are forced down, they Intend to stay their plane strongly into the ice, so tnat it may resist the force of the blizzards. Comprehensive Science Programme. While Byrd is devoting himself to t-ho Polar flight the scientists, with dog teams, will make expeditions of their own, extending their field of operations as far as possible into the unknown. Extensive study will be made of meteorological data, wind direction and velocity. More than 5000 applications have besn received by Commander Byrd from persons desirous of accompanying the expedition. He states at the outset that he is averse to taking women. More thin 200 applications are from scientists. There will be Norwegians in the crew. There will be a master, two mates and 16 of a crew. The scientists will be a compa.ct body of three, combining the majority of uciences. There wili be a geologist, who will combine the functions of geographer and zoologist; a meteorologist, and an icthyologist, who will also be an ornithologist. Two doctors will go and there will be five air pilots, including Commander Byrd. The latter intends to do considerable flying on the trip. The three aeroplanes have been selected and the wireless sets are being constructed by Captain S. C. Hooper, wireless expert of the United States Navy. The expedition will cost about £IOO,OOO. Commander Byrd ;says that success depends upon care in preparation and that he has provided for every possible detail, special attention being paid to the matter oi: food for both men and dogs.