EXPLORING BY BYRD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20241, 29 April 1929, Page 12

EXPLORING BY BYRD.

[LOWERED INTO CREVASSE.

iTHE TEMPERATURE WARMER.

FOG IN PIERCING COLD. (Received April 28. 11.15 p.m.) [United Service. NEW YORK, April 27. TEy Mr. Russell Owen. Copyrighted 1928 by the New York Times Company nnd the St. Louis Post Dispatch. All rights for publication reserved throughout tho world. Wireless to the New York Times.! BAY OP WHALES. April 26.

Commander Byrd went to the bottom of tho crevasso near tho camp yesterday and found sea water about 35ft. down or, rather, slush-ice in a crack which was salt. Wo had long believed that there was water under the Barrier on which our base is located and also that there must bo land somewhere near here to hold it for so many years'in its peculiar formation.

The location of that land is a secret which would explain the existence of tho Bay of Whales. If we did not believe in land we might be somewhat uneasy as to the permanence of our winter quarters.

This crack has interested us for some time because it has become wider in the last -few weeks. Whether this is due to contraction in the cold weather or to the Barrier movement, or vo a tendency on the part of a section of the Barrier to carve off, no' one knows. Tho majority are of the opinion that it tends to the contraction theory, and the commander's inspection of it seems to support that opinion more strongly than any other.

Little Known of Barrier. So little is known, however, .about the movement of the Barrier here, the location of land, the strains to which our portion of the Barrier is subjected, and the action of currents and tide on the great ice mass, that any opinion is hardly more than ap intelligent guess at present. If possible, however, Commander Byrd intends to know something more definite about it by the spring by making soundings. / It was a cold day for playing about in crevasses, 50deg. below zero and a light breeze blowing. While a suitablo spot was being found for entering the crevasse those in the party were busy part of tho time watching for frozen spots on each other's faces.

It was so cold 'that hand flashlights could not bo used as the atmosphere stopped the chemical action of tho dry Latter ies. / Light was provided by a portable gasoline engine generator which Hanson took and attached to a locomotive type of searchlight that was pointed down into the dark fissure.

Byrd Lowered Into Ice. When everything was ready a ropo was placed around the commander under his arms and he was lowered into the cre.vasse. The crevasse did not go straight down and there were many sharp projections of ice which broke off and tumbled about his ears. It was much warmer at the bottom of the crevasse, and a thermometer placed on the ice registered lSdeg. above zero Fahrenheit, although it was 50deg. below at the surface. Byrd could walk only a few feet in either direction, so, after satisfying himself that the ice below }iim really contained salt and after taking a sample of that and Of the bottom of the Barrier snow, he was pulied up again to join the frost-bitten crowd above. On coming up he examined more carefully some unusually largo ice crystals which projected from the sides of the crevasse. ,

Another period of storms seems to be upon -us. The wind is again blowing hard, and tho temperature is still 21 below zero. Last night it was 40 degrees below, and Iho day before 58 degrees. The wind started yesterday afternoon, and slowly and steadily increased in force until the drift outside hid everything in a smother, which blinds and confuses anvone who ventures out in it.

Protection Against Wind. Commander Byrd has been trying all sorts of arrangements recently, in an attempt to find something to protect us against' the wind. If the wind can be kept from the face, which is the only exposed part of -one's body, he has found that he can keep warm for a long period of time. He has been experimenting with face masks to protect the nose and cheeks, and has devised one which although it gets wet and frozen does not tou'ia the skin, and acts as a.- shield. Furs have proved the perfect clothing, except for fast travelling, when they are too warm. While Byrd was on tho bay ice yesterday there was a perceptible fog, in spite of the low temperature. It seems inconceivable that moisture could exist in the air in such cold weather, but th 6 fog was real. This is explained by the fact that the humidity may be relatively just as great here as in a •warmer climate, although the actual amount* of moisture contained in the air in extreme cold is infinitesimal. The air will hold only a certain amount of water at a certain temperature. For instance, it will hold about 200 times as much water at 50 degrees above freezing point as 50 degrees below, but the air at 50 degrees below has a certain saturation point, so when the wind comes up as it did yesterday and stirs up the warmer and the colder air the change in temperature causes the condensation of a small amount of moisture, and makes a fog, unnatural in appearance but very real.