ARCTIC EXPEDITION.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LII, Issue 17009, 16 April 1926, Page 7

ARCTIC EXPEDITION.

PREPARATIONS FOP, WILKINS’ ' 1 ' DASH. TUNING UP THE ’PLANE.' (Elec. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn. (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.)

VANCOUVER, April 15

A; Fairbanks message states that the final flight north from-,here and the dash ’ ihto the Polar regions'of the Arctic 1 air [ expedition, headed by Ca'pt.' (1. \V. Wil- • kins, will soon be made. The ehgines in the expedition’s' three-motor ’plane Were . tested and ■ found i-n ’ good condition. [ Metal propellers replaced wooden ones to make damage to the less probable in case of 'accident. • The ’plane is now practically in'flying condition. It, is on gined and. the machine fuelled and tuned up ready to take the air. *AAItINDSEN”S AIRSHIP., (Keuter’s Te'egram.j OSLO, April 15. Amundsen’s airship Norge has departed Leningrad. / , BYRD’S PARTY SAILS! NEW YORK, April 6. Commander Byrd’s Arctic expedition sailed for Europe to-day with two aeroplanes stored' in the steamer’s holds. 1 The obtaining of meteorological data , will be the scientific object of the expedijtion,’ which has’ the final backing, of the ; U.S. Government, but .their ambition is lo fly to the North Pole and back if they get a chance. t ; ; WILKINS’, FLIGHT. • RATTLE AGAINST.HEADWINDS. EXCURSION OVER ARCTIC; BURIED TLA NT’. FAIRBANKS (Alaska), April 7. Captain Wilkins’ story of his flight to Point Barrow and back, reads like a novel. ■ • . . Leaving Fairbanks a - week ago yesterday, his Liberty motor worked like a charm, and within five hours the adventurous flyers found themselves over tlie roofs of huts which the commander, from his previous experience of the district, knew to be the village at Point Barrow. “Things then were ’going so well" with us,’’ continued Captain Wilkins, “that we decided to keep on going north, and during the next three hours we accomplished a sally of 75 utiles. to seaward, into that great unknown. We reached 75deg. 30min. north, and flying at- an elevation o£ | 7CCOft. the visibility was good. | .“From that, height we cquld see for many miles in every direction. Leaving Point Barrow, we crossed a broad expanse of fairly smooth ice, and then traversed a rough, hummocky area that stretched as far as the eye could reach ir) every direction, broken hv leads to open water on all sides. We saw no evidence of land. ■ WHY THERE WAS NO WORD. “By 1.40 p.m. our fuel supply became none too plentiful, so we turned. The npise was too great for my voice to be heard, so I tapped Eielson on the shoulder and motioned him to swing southward. At 2.30 we came to an easy landing at Point Barrow, where the people gave us a great welcome. “For three nights 1 used, the radio, and then our apparatus got into dis- ■ repair, and we were unable to communicate further. 1 “Sunday and Monday were stormy, with heavy, drifting snow. On Sunday night it was especially bad. and on Monday morning I got 50 Eskimos to dbr the ’plane out of the drifts. Tuesday morning broke fine and clear, so away we started homeward. All the way wo ‘bucked’ bead winds. We missed Fairbanks by 50 miles, and while , searching round, came upon Circle City, ! where we stopped for. gasoline.’’ 1 OVERLANDERS’ PREDICAMENT. j With Captain Wilkins safely re- i turned, interest swung to-day. to the : predicament of the overland party. . Rossman and Waskey reported by radio early this morning that they were feeling,well, and getting plenty of birds to eat, but that the dogs were in pitiful shape. 1 The three rnen in ihe party can ,i easily get away safely, they declare. £ if they kill the dogs, and abandon ( their supplies, which might be picked up later. However, they will hold cn for a few days yet. - EXCITEMENT AT CIRCLE CITY. The 1 life and death tension was relieved yesterday afternoon, when the , Government raido picked up a message , that, a strange airplane had been . sighted in the sky over Circle City, 150 ( miles to the .north-west of Fairbanks. , : A few minutes later a message came . from Airs Barnett, wife of the operator 1 at Circle City, stating that she had ; watched the ’plane descend on a sand j ] bar in the Yukon river, opposite the < town. She hurried dtown and assisted . Captain Wilkins and Pilot Eielson, who ] were numb with cold and fatigue. They j had been eight hours steadily in the air, < since early this morning, corning from ] Point Barrow.

Captain Wilkins told Mrs Barnett that they had had a successful trip, landing their supplies 0.K.; but to-day, on their protracted return trip, they ran out of gasoline and oil. That was why they descended at Circle City.