BYRD EXPEDITION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22505, 25 February 1935, Page 14

BYRD EXPEDITION

SHIPS ATTRACT SIGHTSEERS MEN LONGING FOR HOME Although the members of the Byrd expedition are revelling in the comforts of civilisation after spending more than a year'on the ice, they are anxious to continue the voyage and reach home with as little delay as possible. They have been absent for nearly 18 months, and the attractions of their homes are gaining added appeal as the days go by. "When Sandy Hook and the Statue of Liberty come into view and I can see* my wife standing on the wharf to greet me, it will be the finest sight I have seen for many a year," said one member of the expedition on Saturday. There still remains a good deal of work to be done in Dunedin, however, and. the boats will not get away for some days yet. In the meantime they are a centre of interest for large crowds of people each day. Principal attention is paid to the huskies, which are chained in rows along the decks and respond to all advances with the greatest friendliness. The reputation which such dogs have gained by the writings of novelists dealing with the life of Northern Canada /is thoroughly belied by the behaviour of the dogs, on the Jacob Ruppert. The penguins, which spend their time in the special ice chest amidships, can be seen through a small window, beside which at times is formed a queue of sightseers, and the aeroplanes, of the last expedition which have been brought back are also attracting a good deal of attention. LITTLE AMERICA MAIL DUE BACK IN TWO MONTHS Those people who posted letters to Little America by the Byrd expedition ships will receive them back in about six weeks' or tw,o months' time. At present, the letters, bearing the special stamp and the cancelling stamp of the post office at Little America, are lying in the mail bags on the Jacob Ruppert ready to be despatched by the Mariposa, which sails from Auckland about March 9. From America the letters will be returned to their addresses in New Zealand.

The postmaster at Little America (Mr Leroy Clark) stated on Saturday that a number of people had failed to observe the condition that 55 cents, or .its equivalent in New Zealand money (about 2s Od), should have been included with each letter sent, to cover the cost of a stamp and the carrying charge. Some of these people had sent a sum of less than 2s Gd, while others had forwarded only' the cost of the stamp. All such letters were being forwarded to the Byrd Expedition Cover Bureau in Washington, and their fate would be decided there.

Mr Clark added that a large nuihber of blank envelopes, bearing the special stamp, had been brought back from Little America. Those people who had not included the full amount with thenletters might, if they cared to do so, correspond with the Washington bureau, enclosing the extra amount required at the current exchange to bring the total up to 55 cents. It was possible that in these circumstances such envelopes would be sent on to the required address in New Zealand. TOUR OF NORTH ISLAND Mr Harold June, the chief pilot of the Byrd expedition, left Dunedin on Saturday foj Timaru, where he was to connect with a special aeroplane and fly to Wellington. It is understood that Mr June will undertake a tour of the North Island, and may not return to Dunedin before sailing for America.