"VIA ARCTIC."

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20874, 14 November 1929, Page 13

"VIA ARCTIC."

"\ ilhjalmur iStefausson, in America i coently . received a- wireless message from Commander Byrd sent out from a corner of the Ross shelf ice in the Antarctic. Stefanssnn has been official adviser to Sir Hubert Wilkins in all of the latter’s Polar expeditions, nnd unoffi cially often receives requests for suggestions from the leaders of expeditions into the frigid zones. Byrd’s difficulty, it seems, is in the use of tents. In cold atmospheres bed rolls can be kept dry only in snow houses. , ’ The younger generation may. be well advised to tuck that bit of information away for reference and probable use in case of forced landings on the air route.of the future. For Stefansson dreamana prophesies of commercial air trails over the world’s, top to Europe and the Orient. A glance at the map of the northern hemisphere,” says Stefansson, “is convincing proof that the route is shorter. I contend that it is safer. For the is the safest ocean in the world. ’ The foregoing statement has been one of theses of the explorer’s recent series of lectures in the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. . f aCG of it, Stcfaussou’s remark is absurd. Perhaps it is less absurd, however, than the prophecy of 50 year* ago that men would fly; and Stefansson would suggest that the absurdity is due only to the set ot our minds from the study oi geography texts which continue to falsify “ the friendly Arctic.” “ For example ” he says, as he picks up a western school text iu geography ’ it is commonly reported that the Eskimos drink oil for food. That is a phenomenon that I have yet to see. But this book says that Eskimo children drink quantities of animal oil to quench their thirst. It might pay an enterprising refreshment concern to carbonate cod liver oil and sell it nt the Aldavik soda fountains.” In defence of his stand on the safety of the Arctic Oceau, Stefansson points out that there is no other part of the world, let alone an ocean, containin'* so many safe landing places for aeroplanes. Sir Hubert Wilkins on Polar flights was forced, down three times and landed safely on the ice fields. In the second place, the longest necessary over-water flight on some of the important Arctic routes of the future is shorter than some of the standard Jiops on the larger continents t Q: day. In the third place, if you do have a forced landing in the Arctic, you can usually walk to shore. People who have tried walking to shore from the middle of the Atlantic will appreciate the last point. A-New York-to-Paria flight is spectacular, Stefansson thinks, but if as much time, effort, and money had been spent in establishing routes over the top of Canada, commercial flying to Europe would now be in regular operation, * He does not make his startling statements in' any bombastic wav, but as plain matters of fact. The explorer is one of the most unassuming, of men who have, national achievements to their credit. It is difiicult to think of this softvoiced, mild-mannered man of the drawing room and. the lecture platform as the Stefansson of more than 11 years of Arctic exploration and hardship. Stefansson, of course, will not admit that trave! m the Arctic is a hardship Nothing that we enjoy,” he says, “ can be termed a hardship. So many people ask me about the cold and the dangers of freezing; but anyone who has lived in the Arctic thinks no more of a frostbite than people of the south think of a sunburn. As a matter of fact, they are very similar. A bit of frost, and the skin turns red. A little more frost, and the skin blisters. I have never suffered from frost more than p have f ro m sunburn.”