THE POLAR FLIGHT

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16865, 31 January 1929, Page 7

THE POLAR FLIGHT

OVER UNKNOWN AREAS A GREAT PERFORMANCE « BYRD’S GRAPHIC! NARRATIVE (Copyrighted 1928 by the New York Times Co., and the SI. Louis Post-Dispatch. All rights for publication reserved throughout the world.) (By Wireless to the New York Times.) (By Commander Byrd' Ausi ratine uni N.Z. Press Association. (Received January 31, 11 a.m.) BAY OF WHALES, Jan. 29. There are not many good flying days down here, on account of the unnatural conditions of visibility, where one appears simply to be in a big and indeterminate bowl of misty white, which merges into an equally misty grey sky. I herefoie, when “Cyclone” Haines, the trusted weather mapper of our North Pole expedition, told us the weather was OK we felt that it would he a pity not to take oil. We started at 2.50 o’clock and got off with a heavy load in 30 seconds, thus indicating the strength ot the skis landing gear and the practicability of getting off the Tee Barrier with a full load. We were delighted when tlie skis left the ground without breaking, and we saw Little America, looking little indeed, as she faded away behind us.

For this take-off we must give Bert Balchen credit. Wo were almost immediately looking into an unknown area. To our left was the uncharted coast- of the Barrier cliffs, and ahead and to our right wo had a visibility of unexplored parts of the Barrier surface for at least 40 miles. When conditions are best down here the visibility is extraordinary. As long as the bright sun would hold we could check the magnetic compass with the sun compass, and could be certain of our course. We knew before starting from pilot balloons Haines had sent up to a high altitude that we would have a strong wind with us. We were making about 120 miles an hour.

The cabin was so full of gear that we could not stand up. It was necessary to have 7001 b. of equipment in place in case of a forced landing.

Twenty minutes after our skis left the snow we sighted a bay in the Barrier to our left, and to the right, iforward of the bay, was a long deep fissure and pmessura ridge, which indicated that there was land somewhere about. After an hour or so we passed a beautiful hav in the Ice Barrier, the mouth of which was several miles wide and four or five miles deep.

MASS OF UREVASSES. The Barrier surface on the right began to mount higher, which indicated that land was beneath and on our left. Between the plane and the coastline there was a chaotic mass of crevasses extending for about 20 miles that no foot traveller could make headway over. We were exploring to tho right of our course over a 4000 square miles’ area hitherto unknown. On we went until a snow peak JoomecT dead ahead. It was the Scott nunataks that we were heading for, a bit of bare rock showing on the northern side. The valiant Scott had seen this peak from the sea in 1902, when he had fought his way through some ice packs, and then in 1911 men had been able to reach it with a dog team after weeks of struggle along the coastline. We looked down upon the spot where the explorer Brestaud had been stuck in his tent for days in a snowstorm, finally having to dig himself and his dogs out. From, then on we were over an area never 'touched by human feet. We could see a number of peaks running south-eastwards. Scott had named them the Alexandra mountains. They were around 1500 ft. high, and several of them showed bare rock on the northern side. It is extraordinary how the pleasing sight of this rock was after so many weeks of nothing but ice and snow. Snow-covered land from these peaks evidently sloped rapidly to sea. There were extraordinary terraced effects, and the whole area was greatly erevassed. To our left the Ross Sea was frozen over for miles, and we noticed a large number of ice islands in it. Most of them wore round, and some seemed tft project up 100 ft. from the ice edge. A few minutes later we began dodging snow squalls. We were now over the frozen Ross Sea, and there continued a number of large ice islands.

NEW PEAKS FOUND. The visibility to the southward seemed excellent, so we set our course back to the first peak we had passed, and directed a course to the southward. The air got very rough here, and one bump dropped us 500 ft. There appeared a channel to the northwards of Scott’s nunataks. so it is possible that King Edward Land is an islandBalchen has expressed this opinion. However, it is a point yet to be proved. There was perfect visibility to the south of us. Presently there was an exclamation from Balchen that there were mountain peaks dead ahead, and showing a lot of bare rock. We were then flying at an altitude of 4000 ft. Soon other peaks appeared to the southward, all of them showing bare rock. Wo must admit that we got, a kickout of this. We had found a new group of mountains. They run about north and south, and in all we found 14 peaks extending about 30 miles. They are not more than 2000 ft. above sea level, but the solid rock certainly looked good down there in the snow.

ft was apparent that there was little movement of ice over the land in this area, as there were very few crevasses. This was quite different from the situation around Scott’s nunataks. There was far more ba'e rock visible here than the peak'j we had just left. The first peak lies a little over 50 miles from Scott’s nunataks in a west by south direction. We picked out one place where an aeroplane landing might be made. Later on we hope to bring our geologist, Larry Gould, there to make scientific investigations. Some rocks were brownish, and others much darker.. Before we reached the southernmost peak Balchen wrote a note saying that the gas was getting low, and that perhaps we had better return, so we reluctantly changed our course for Little America.

A DESPERATE SITUATION ICE DOCK BREAKS AWAY A STARTLING EXPERIENCE (Copyrighted 1928 by fixe New "York i.*nef Co., and- the St. Louis .Post-Dispatch. AM lights for publication reserved throughout the world.) (By Wireless to the New York Times.) (By Russell Owen.) (Australian and N.Z. Press Association.) BAY OF WHALES, dan. 29. The Antarctic played another of its little tricks to-day, and for two hours in breaking and heaving cakes of ice tlw man. showed a reckless which alone saved a desperate situation. Cur dock pier, the one to which we wor tied so neatly yesterday, broke up undm

a heavy swell, and with portions of the Barrier crumbling off ahead, huge cakes buckling and heaving up against .he ships and between us and the Barrier cakes on which the precious aeroplane pails were resting, 40 men worked like Trojans and risked their lives to get every thing aboard again. I hoy -succeeded, and by a miracle no man or important article was lost. The thing occurred with star.ling suddenness. Where all had been quiet, hut swift and efficient work a moment before, on what was apparently a. solid pile of snow 20ft thick, everything began to disintegrate under the men's feet, j broke all at once in a swift setting and heaving, as if an eaithquake was taking place, and slowly, tmt wita ominous power, these huge blocks upended, and for a time threatened to overturn and possibly crush ttie Eleanor Rolling, which was lying next to them. It, seemed that they rniglv. easily have punched a- hole in' the ship and sunk her. As i we are now safe, and tin ships are mooring out until the broken dock drifts out, and we can go back alongside the low part of tho Barrier and resume unloading.

East night., whi.e the men wore work ing on '.lie (lock and hauling tilings u| the slope to the Barrier, a blizzaid came up from (lie north-west. It. blew hare and thi-k tleaw snow obscured the entire bay so that it was impossible to see more than a few feet. It caked the clothes of the crew hauling at the crates and getting stuff over the side, and tin cold wind froze it to them, so that they were cased in a crackling armour, ie a, thick smother of snow they could bear the sighing and moaning of the ice under pressure of the wind along the Barrier, a sound like wind blowing through the trees of a. mountain slope, and an occasional distant rumble -aused by a detached piece ot the Barrier to the north breaking away.

The experience of a dog driver, (roodale, was typical of the others, lie felt something like an earthquake below and then he saw a crack opening jus l behind him. He jumped across and started for the ship, leaping over more cracks, which opened all round him, and no sooner had lie reached one of he large cakes which had been half of out dock than the whole slope slid with r hissing sound down into the water, and a piece of the adjoining Barrier fell Where there had been a smooth high pathway a moment before was a broker moss of big calces, sliding up and down again in mush-fired water.

EVERYTHIN a IN MOVEMENT. Our dock had first broken near Hi*> Inner. The top of the crack was about 3ft apart at first, but gradually opened until it was 10H wide. The inside niece rose until, for a time, it threatened to turn over, and if it had done so it would have raised havoc with the ships As the big crack widened an aeroplane skis' pedestal, a heavy piece of laminate'* wood, slid down to the smashed ice be tween the 'cakes, and another pedestal hung over tho edge, t vie section of a portable house toppled off into the water. Everything was in movement for there was just enough commotion u tho water, partly caused by the break ing of the slope and the dock, and partly by the slight swell. to. ma>'< enormous cakes sway and lift their pon derous sides as if to gnaw at us. There was a rail for all hands, and the men eagerlv tumbled over the side to the broken ice. The most important thing to save was the centre wing of the big Ford nlane. which lav on the slope of the inner dock cake, so far down that it could not be seen from the steamer. Bill Gavrooski, the stowaway of the Bolling, lav down, and while others held his legs he slipped over into the big crack and got hold of the pedestal and plane sections, and nulled them out. Pieces of the house, heavy clumsv things which ordinarily would have been moved slowly, were hurried from the ice on to the men’s shoulders and tossed aboard as if they were matchboxes.

The'ice on which the m'en were standing sloped more and more, and the crack widened. Commander Byrd ordered all the men to don lifebelts, and directed operations with a megaphone handy in case the men were unable to hear him in an emergency. Getting the section of the house out of the water was something of a job, but a rope was passed round it under the slush, and it was rescued before it had time to get soaked.

We saved everything except half dozen sacks oi coal which sank to flit bottom amid a heavy swell. Ibe short lines were cast off and the ice anchor* wero drawn in by winches and for tunately we did not lose one of'them. The two ships, still lashed together, began to drift out, into the bay, and work was immediately begun loading the cargo from the Bolling into the City of New York, so that the Bolling may get back to New Zealand and rome down again on another trip before the bay begins to freeze. The remains of our dock drifted out to sea, and the last wr saw of them they were far awav, a pile of pieces of aerop ane crates lying or ton of the cake, but we do not need them.