STRUGGLING AHEAD

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16836, 27 December 1928, Page 7

STRUGGLING AHEAD

THE BYRD EXPEDITION ROSS SEA REACHED A Pit'TFRESQUE DESPATCH (Elec. Tel. Copyright—Uniled Press Assn.) (Australian mid N.Z. Press Association (Copyright I’nuu Byrd Expedition) I B ISS SKA. Dec. 23. Mr, Owen, on hoard The City of New York in (lie ltoss Sea writes : “We arc Old of the ice. pack sailing along in a calm sea with a bine sky overhead and the sun so warn) that wo can stay on deck without hat or gloves, and not lee.l uncomfortable. The pack is behind ns ami only one iceberg shows to the east, sliming white in the sun. And, oddly enough in this lonely sea, we see the smoke of a ship oil the horizon. It is one of those whalers which come here, each year. All the way- across the Pacific we did not see a slop and now we have three ships and 15 small chasers moving about within 100 miles of us. “We came through the pack in Todays, towed by the Larsen, the big winder which brought Commander Byrd and some of his men from California to New Zealand. Yv'e have been towed nearly 2C(X) miles. “The Larsen, which is <>i 17.000 tons, goes through the ice every year, and we were fortunate in being able to use the pathway it - left ahead, when its powerful engines forced aside the ice, which we :-ould not have tackled. As a result, we came through quickly and easily, using verv little coal and. if the good weather holds, we should he at the harrier several days before it. lias been reached by other expeditions. “We hope to he at Discovery Inlet, in the ice harrier on Christinas night, but we don't know bow much ice, lies between us and that point. The barometer is P.jgli and steady lor (lie first time, and we hope it will stay there. A GRIM WHITE WALL “Our last day in tho pack was one of the most interesting of the entire trip. The ice was heavy and, with all our manoeuvring, we could not avoid some violent collisions. Once, we sidled up to a huge (100 and scraped along it, trying to go round the corner, but nearly knocked off our port lifeboat against tho top. We bad several false calls of sea ahead and, when we actually did reach the edge of tho pack, it came upon us so suddenly that we were taken by surprise. 'Hiis, was due to several reasons, the must important, of which was the peculiar alignment of tho bergs along its edge. “For some time before we reached the bergs, wo bad seen them outlined against the sky and wondered at their cause. They stretched to tho right ar.d left of us, as far as we could sec—small table bergs, with perfectly flat tops, which rose about 30tt. above tho water. They formed a perfect natural "all, which reminded one of tho Gra.it Wall of China. “As we drew nearer, we c-.uul see the dark water between some of them ar.d realised that we were only- a few miles from the open water. The heavy bergs had completely stopped the swell which usually warns that the edge, if the pack ice is near. Ross Sea was almost as calm as Long Island Sound on a pleasant summer day. As wo drew abreast of this ice rampart, through mi opening between the two largest bergs, we began to rise and fall on the little swell and we were outside in the midst of mushv ice that was to the seaward of the bergs for upwards of a mile. “Before us lay the smiling, smooth surface of Ross Sea, which, after the storms of tho higher latitudes, and the threatening pack ice, was the pleasantest sight we had ever looked upon. We turned to look back at the pack that grim white wall. The bergs were even more imposing from the open water. Bevpnd them was an unbroken stretch of white and the passage through winch we had come might almost have written upon it, ‘Abandon hope all ye who enter here.’ so desolate it looked.

CAPTAIN NILSEN’S AID

“After our swift release, tho Larsen cast us off and, in a short time, the little chasers were dashing away, stretching out like skirmishers, looking for whales. In not more than an hour there was the banging of a gun to the windward, and tiie fishing had begun again. “Captain Nilsen, of the Larsen, camo aboard the City of New York for a moment to bid Commander Byrd goodbye and wish him luck, and we toasted him as one of tile finest sportsmen and friends any one could wish for in tlieso forsaken waters. Busy as lie, lias been, he lias found time to give us good advice and help us in innumerable ways which did not interfere with his operations. He has given us a lot of whale meat, which inis been a welcome addition to our fresh meat supply, and we have had it in almost, every, form George Tennant, our cook, could devise. It seems best cut thin and fried, or chopped up with onions in meat balls. II is tender ami as good meat, as one could desire. About two tons of it is hung in our rigging, and some will be dried for use on tlm trail. It is foci to the dogs as well as the crew, and both are thriving on it. ‘Pass the whale’ is one of the phrases at the mess at which' we have long ceased to laugh.

“Captain Nilsen was of opinion that I lie berg harrier at the edge of : the ice pack, which ho had never seen before, was due to tho breaking off of a large hut low piece of harrier ice, which had floated to the edgo of the pack before disintegrating.’’ HUGE! ICE CAKES “Our days go on in ramming the pack and pushing the huge ice cakes aside. Now backing now struggling ahead, the sturdy little ship makes her way slowly south. Always there is the grumbling, the crunching and the hiss of the ice alongside, shouts of orders, and the barking and winning of impatient. dogs. Outside is a white held of snow-covered ice smooth or rolling or * twisted into a thousand fragments that have been welded together under the touch of the winter’s'cold. “Life goes gaily nevertheless. All are busy with their many tasks. Resting in their bunks between watches, men joke and laugh at each other, hurl good-natured jibes over mistakes, or break into song from sheer light-liearted-ness. 'There is much humor in the heterogeneous crew. Uuvs scientists and stokers eating side by side tends to cement that good fellowship which finds refuge in the banter of each other's foibles. We would he very uncomfortablfe of we could not laugh, as no more loyal and unselfish crew ever sailed the sea. This is evident in that queer way man will show consideration for another’s feelings or do something to help him. “Down in the tiny forecastle forward of fho larger forecastle and mess room, in the midst of a severe storm the first mate is playing liis big accordion to the (lelieht of those around him. Tt is a small room, with four large hunks along I each side in two tiers. An electric hull* ■ overhead shines yellow through the . smoke of manv pipes. A blue haze against the ceiling, curluig around the ponderous beams and elbows, is thick like the snow and fog outside, luakine dim the corners of the room. A litter of packing cases, hags and suit ease lies on the floor, wbch is paved with hits of miner and string, matches, and things which tired men drop and forget to pick up. ! A MASCULINE PLACE “Hanging from the partitions and ceiling and hooks and strings are ski-hoots, j lanterns, bags and bits of clothing, heavy 1 coats, and oilskins. There is a smell of dampness and tobacco and the musty odour of boots. _ I “Some pictures of those left behind ( are tacked on the inner walls of the bunks, smiling faces of women looking I down on one of the most masculine places on earth —a ship s forecastle. Old Martin Rontii the sailmaker, across the > wav, leans on his sewing machine, a smite creasing his leather cheeks on each side of his beaked nose, his eyes blinking continuously, as if lie were ■ about to fall asleep." ‘Walrus’ we call I him. , ! “Bert Balchen, the aviator, sprawls on a pile of bags contentedly listening, and Babe Smith, another pilot, •stretches liis long legs half way across the room, I caressing the howl of liis pipe with grimy I bands. ‘That is good,’ says Balchen, 1 with a characteristic nod of his head as j the mate finishes playing something reminiscent of bis homeland and liis face (relaxes in a half smile. There is something fine about this man, whose life lias been spent wresting a living from tho \ eternal ice of the north. His gentleness and courtesy are more marked because of his rugged strength. He loves a gay song, his grey eyes smiling at us as lie moves his head in tune to the music and our bodies unconsciously sway and i our feet tap the floor, j “The whole forecastle sways sideways as tho ship runs up on a floe and slides j off again and a ruinblimr, tearing sound 1 comes through the planks. No one pays attention. We are used to it now. “Through the open door to the larger forecastle, which runs almost t*> amidships can he seen the conipanionway steps coining down Iron* tfic hatch. Smoke blows through and flows upwards to he torn apart in eddies by the cold | air rushing down. The long mess table is on one side in this large room. EveryI one, including Commander Byrd, eats from it, and around the sides are hunks ! for 50 men. A light from the hatch and a few bulbs illuminate the forward end, hut the end of the room fades away into a dense shadow, from which comes the sound of men arguing or laughing, as they await their turn at the table. A CCU MU DATED C’ONEU Si ON “Dishes clatter and there are cries of ‘more soup’ and demands to know ‘What in tho blazes has become of the butter?’ Even during the meals, some of the .men are sleeping behind the curtains of nonedescript material which cuts off some of the light. “We eat in three messes and the long table is filled each time, Charles, our major domo, having brought order out J of the chaos which existed at first when I everyone tried" to eat. at once. He is resplendent in dundreary whiskers- and carries a towel of indeterminate grey around liis neck. His hands are the cleanest, aboard, for which all art? thankful, as it is Charley who dips out the soup and passes the cake. “Svd Gvenson and Dick Center, the assistant stewards, help him, Kyd rushing the food from the galley and Dick washing the dishes. The ship lurches j against an ice cake, and Lofgren spills the soup on someone’s hair and down,liis neck and while the besprinkled one roars picturesque object,ions, Eotgrcn calnih mens up his victim with a dish-towel. “Stumble up the steep steps and you I find the decks littered with boxes and dog crates. The cases of stores arc opened there because there is no other place to open them. This accumulated con fusion is cleared away on one side, sc the gallev may he reached. “A breath of warm air. laden with the smell of roasting meat and the appetising odour of new bread, floats out of tTTe open door. It is warm in there and there is good .shelter from the chill wind that Mows off the ice. and someone is oenevlly hugging the stove, chattiinr with George Tennant, the cook, round arid benign with a calm which nothing can disturb. George smiles upon all who come and discusses in low mono-1 .mes which never vary the incomprelien-

sidle things which men do outside the galley, his ordained world. No matter how we roll, with the water sloshing about liis ankles, imperturbably he turns out the good things to cat.”