BOUND FOR ICE BARRIER.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20930, 21 January 1930, Page 7

BOUND FOR ICE BARRIER.

| DEPARTURE OF ELEANOR I BOLING. | HAZARDS OF THE ICE. On her final voyage to the frozen south, ■ the Byrd Antarctic expedition supply ship Eleanor Boling left Dunedin shortly before noon yesterday for the Bay of Whales, in the Boss Sea. The ship is carrying a full cargo of provisions and bunker coal, and also a large mail for Admiral Richard E. Byrd and the members of his ice party, as well as 50001 b of fresh meat for transhipment to the whaling factory ship Kosmos when the two ships meet in the Ross Sea. The departure of the Eleanor Boling was witnessed by several hundred persons, and when she moved out from her berth at the Rattray street wharf her crew received, the parting cheers of many friends. At the invitation of , Captain G. L. Brown, over 40 persons made the trip down the harbour with the ship, the visitors landing in the lower harbour. Chalmers the flags on the shinning at WeT^sTO^urthe Eleanor Boling’s ensign being dipped three times. About 1.30 p.m. the ship passed through the Heads, and she was soon steaming southwards on her long journey. Among those on board the ship on the run down the harbour was Mr H. L. Tapley, who, before coming ashore, wished Captain Brown and his crew a speedy voyage to the ice barrier and a safe return to Otago. Although Captain Brown would be faced with great difficulties, Mr Tapley said, his friends felt sure he would overcome them all and succeed in navigating his ship through the ice pack. The captain and his crew, and also the personnel of the City of New York and Admiral Byrd and his < intrepid men, would be assured of a very warm welcome when they returned to Dunedin early in March. ' It is expected that the Eleanor Boling will reach the ice pack in 10 days’ time, and that she will overtake the City of New York within a few miles of the ice. The barque, which left Port Chalmers on the morning of January 6, will be towed through the ice by the Eleanor Boling. The pack ice is about 400 miles, in width this year, and it will depend entirely on the condition of the ice and the progress made when' the two ships reach the Barrier. Should the vessels experience little difficulty In negotiating the ice, they should reach the Barrier about February 1. The distance from Otago Heads to the ice pack is over 1200 miles, and once through the pack the vessels have another 1000 miles to cover before they arrive at the base. Once they reach their destination it will be a race against time to embark Admiral Byrd and his party to give the ships an opportunity to get . through before the ice begins to close in again. Should the ships fail in doing this, the crews and the expedition party will not -be short of food, as both' the Eleanor .Boling and the City of New York are -.carrying sufficient supplies to last all ' hands for 12 months. If all goes well , the two ships should arrive back at Dunedin about the second week in March. Before the Eleanor Boling sailed Cap,;tain Brown handed the following mesi sage to a Daily Times representative for | “On behalf of Admiral Richard E. ■Byrd, myself, members of the crew of ;the Eleanor Boling, and the Byrd Antt arctic expedition, I wish to express our 1 deep appreciation and thanks for the hospitality extended to us during our stay in Dunedin. We wish to assure one and all that we will always remember and deeply appreciate the many evidences of true friendship and the assistance extended to the expedition.” Included in the crew of the Eleanor Boling are the following New Zealanders:—N. Newbold, J. Morrison (oilers), G. Samson (junior wireless operator), W. Dobson, D. Blair, C. H. Hamilton (firemen), L. Walling-Jones, C.' Wilson (coal passers), R. Perks (chief cook), and F. Paape (seaman).