POLAR REGIONS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21273, 29 August 1932, Page 9

POLAR REGIONS

WILKINS' WORK TWO MORE EXPEDITIONS ANTARCTIC AND ARCTIC PLANS OF THE EXTLORER SCIENTIFIC OBSERVATIONS By Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright (Received August 28, 5.5 p.m.) 1 NEW YORK. Aug. 27 The Australian explorer Sir. Hubert Wilkins, in a special interview to-day outlined two projects which will complete his Polar investigations. These will supply the remaining data on which to organise an international bureau for the purpose of establishing permanent meteorological bases in the Arctic and Antarctic zones, in order to give the northern and southern hemispheres weather forecasts years in advance. Already Sir Hubert has spent 11 years in this work. He is particularly interested in the Antarctic. He declares that meteorological information will be of great value to Australia, New Zealand, South American countries, California, 1> lorida, South Africa, India, Malaya and China. The first expedition will be to the Antarctic. This will be an aeroplane flight which Sir Hubert's financial backer, Mr. Lincoln Ellsworth, is to conduct. It will leave Dunedin, New Zealand, in November, 1933, and will call at Australian ports on its return. Aeroplane for Antarctic Flight The explorer has purchased a 500-ton Norwegian whaler with auxiliary engines. In this his aeroplane will be taken to the edge of the icefield in the Ross Sea, thence a flight of discovery will be made from the Pacific to the Atlantic and back.

It is 1500 miles across to the Weddell Sea. Mr. Northrop, designer of the Lockheed aeroplanes, in one of which Sir Hubert flew across the Arctic ocean, is now building an aeroplane in a New York factory. It is a. new type of singleengined aeroplane with a speed of miles an hour. The machine will carry a weight of 10001b. and be capable of flying 5000 miles non-stop, thus giving a margin of 2000 miles. Sir Hubert says he will not land on the Weddell Sea. He will merely fly there arid straight back with the idea of discovering whether the Pacific centre consists of a largo continent or whether it is split into a group of islands. Another Submarine Venture Sir Hubert in 1928 and 1929 discovered 14 new islands in an area formerly thought to be part of the main Antarctic continent. Beyond these to the south the continent apparently extended but was not explored. It is important to know the exact formation. There will be four people in the aeroplane, namely, Mr. Lllsworth, Sir Hubeit, a meteorologist and Mr. Bernt Balchen, the Norwegian airman who flew with Sir Hubert to the Arctic in 1925 when the explorer, failing to obtain assistance from Australia for an Antarctic expedition, changed his plans and went to the Arctic. The second project is another submarine crossing of the Arctic ocean in the summer of 1934. Sir Hubert himself will command the expedition. He says the submarine cruise of 1931 accomplished all that was intended, namely, to ascertain the conditions under the ice. The explorer says the first submarine venture was experimental, but the scientific results were so successful that one American institution immediately voted him £2OOO to enable him to publish his data. This publication would bo issued next month.

The data concerned oceanography, bottom samples, water contents, ocean tem- j peratures, gravity measurements, and the influence of gravity under northern conditions, giving an idea of the geological content of the earth's formation. The aim of the second expedition across the Arctic was" to determine the condition of mid-Arctic ice during the summer. This would make it possible to decide whether it would be safe to establish a camp 011 the ice or whether it would bo necessary to maintain the submarine beneath the ice for meteorological observation. American Backer's Personality Sir Hubert said the new submarine, which would be simple in construction, would cost £15,000. He had obtained tenders from Britain and from Germany, but seeing that Americans were backing him probably he would have the sub marine built in the United States. The voyage would be less expensive than the previous one becauso the explorer still has £50,000 worth of scientific equipment. The party will number seven and the expedition will start from Spitzbcrgen. Mr. Ellsworth, who is backing Sir Hubert, is a remarkable man. He is 55 years old, and a wealthy bachelor. He is a geologist and civil engineer. He has a castle in Switzerland. His hobby is mountaineering. He shuns publicity and is devoted to scientific work. In 1925 Mr. Ellsworth flew with Amundsen to the Arctic. Also he participated in an airship flight across the North Pole in 1927. Although American finance has enabled Sir Hubert to earn fame he still cherishes his Australian citizenship. When Sir Hubert was attending the conference of transoceanic airmen at Rome las*, month he saw an American flag stuck in the bonnet of his car. He would not enter it until someone found an Australian flag. This he has carried ever since. He understands that there is difficulty in obtaining Australian support for scientific enterprises, but conditions are | very different in the United States, where many millionaires are eager to give them substantial backing. Help From New Zealand Wanted Nevertheless, the explorer hopes to persuade the Australian and New Zealand Governments later to participate in his international weather bureau. He says his scheme for a chain of meteorological stations is important from the points of view of those two Dominions. Reasonably accurate seasonal forecasts will be possible many years in advance, declares the explorer. He explains that the Antarctic mass of ice is a refrigerating unit. It is important, he says, to have details of the distribution of the ice in surrounding waters, also surface conditions and the influence and direction of low temperature currents from the Antarctic. Complete international co-operation is necessary for success. Peru and Chile are delaying their projected meteorological programme in the hope of wider combined action being taken. Sir Hubert says his work hitherto has been practically without Government assistance. There only remains to be made a little geographical investigation to determine the best sites for weather stations.