ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20644, 16 February 1929, Page 13

ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION

WORST OF THE STORM OVER. BETTER WEATHER EXPECTED. By Russell Owen. Copyright, 1928, by the New York Times Company and St. Louis PostDispatch. All Rights for Publication Reserved Throughout the World. Wireless to New York Times. BAY OP WHALES, February 13. The storm appears to have broken. The wind is shifting to the south-east, and, although the sky is again overcast, there is a long line of pale green on the southern horizon, which indicates that clear weather is coming. Ever since we put to sea we have been cruising back and forth outside the ice capes in a narrow lane of water between two enormous packs of heavy floes. Fortunately the currents around , the capes kept the space clear, despite the wind. If Commander Byrd had not ordered the City of New York seaward the moment this pack began to appear it would have crushed us like matchwood. Where we formerly lay there is a berg a mile long and 40 feet high, which would have crushed a battleship. About 10 o’clock at night the light has been perceptibly growing fainter because of the overshadowing clouds. . One can feel that winter is coming, although as yet temperatures are- fairly high; it being 27deg at 6 o’clock this morning. BABY AUSTIN FOR THE POLE. GIFT OF ENGLISH MOTORS j COMPANY. A ueful addition to the equipment of the" Byrd Antarctic expedition was handed over to Mr R. G. Brophy (second in command) yesterday afternoon at the garage of the English Motors Company, in Moray place, when Mr R. S. Black made the presentation of a Baby Austin motor car on behalf of the English Motors Company of Dunedin, and the New Zealand distributors. The car is specially constructed to allow of the necessary fittings required for work on the ice. The front wheels will be replaced by skids, and at the rear of the chassis will be fitted an extra pair of wheels to make a four-wheel drive of the one drive-shaft. By means of this equipment it is anticipated that the machine will be able to reach a speed of from 25 to 40 miles per hour under the arduous conditions which will be encountered in the Antarctic regions. Mr Black, in making the presentation, said that the car was simply another evidence of the esteem in which the explorers were held in Dunedin and the interest which the local community was taking in the work they -were doing in the polar regions. It was a gift from -the English Motors Company and the New Zealand distributors, and he sincerely hoped that it would prove of great value in assisting those at the Pole to carry out their work, at the same time making their methods of locomotion a little less strenuous. Mr Brophy, in thanking the donors of the machine, said that he could think of -no car better suited to the conditions under which .this one , would be expected to work. He had had personal experience of the economical operation and reliable running of the Austin car, and he felt sure that it would do all that was required of it in the south. Com: mander Byrd would certainly find plenty of use for it, and it would do a lot to make progress across the 'ice easier. He explained the refitting that would be done, and assured his hearers that the big task which Commander. Byrd was undertaking would be made lighter as a result of this gift. He could only thank those responsible for the* gift' for the fine spirit that had prompted their action.