LIFE IN THE ANTARCTIC

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20781, 29 July 1929, Page 10

LIFE IN THE ANTARCTIC

THE BYRD EXPEDITION. COLD EXCEPTIONALLY SEVERE. By Russell ’ Owen. Wireless to New. York Times. BAY OF WHALES, July 27. (Received July 28, at 11.45 p.m.) This has been the worst day we have had so far as temperature and wind are concerned. Severe cold on a calm day ’can be withstood for a long time, but when the wind blows and the thermometer stays down, which is unusual, one cannot stay outdoors any length of time without danger of getting badly frostbitten. The thermometer registers 67 below zero to-day, and the wind has been above 20 miles an hour, and for most of the day it has been strong enough to whip up drift snow. The wind is also from the south-west, which is the cold quarter. The puppies, which seem tougher than any other animals in the world, as they have known no other existence than this cold life, ave playing about as happily as ever. They rolled and jumped about, perhaps to keep warm, but they could still curl up in a sheltered spot and go to sleep. Their insistence to cold is astonishing, for they never sleep in tunnels if they can avoid it.