ELABORATE PLANS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18264, 6 December 1933, Page 8

ELABORATE PLANS

ANTARCTIC RESEARCH BYRD’S SHIP ARRIVES VARIETY OF EQUIPMENT (Per Press Association.) WELLINGTON, this day. The Jacob Ruppert, the Byrd expedition ship, berthed at 10 o’clock to-day, and will remain till next week, sailing probably on Tuesday. The Bear ol Oakland is expected on December 27. During the .Ruppert’s stay in Wellington, various details of organisation will bo ’carried further, and probably 10 or 12 New Zealanders will bo taken . on as members of the erow, the majority of whom will return with the Ruppert, though some- may go on the ice during Ifie winter months. It is too early yet for the. steel built Ruppert to penetrate the ico and approach the barrier, and Admiral Byrd s intentions are to carry out oceanographic work. lie will bo mot later by the Bear, which is a wooden vessel, and will precede the Ruppert through the ice, if necessary, to the Bay of Whales. It is intended to place the Ruppert alongside the barrier if this can he done. Commodore Jertsen, a- captain in the Norwegian navy, who has a great deal of ice experience, will have charge of this operation, and will be the first man to take a steel ship through the ice in the Ross Sea. In the event of conditions making it impossible to take tho Ruppert alongside the barrier, it will be necessary to tranship the goods to the Bear —a long task.

The main camp will be Little America, where it is expected t& find the big Kord aeroplane, for which new engines are being taken, and also a considerable quantity of stores. It is proposed to establish an advance base 4CO miles to the south, where two men will spend the winter months in the, loneliest outpost in the world carrying out weather observations. THREE COWS CARRIED Admiral Byrd’s main object is to fly over and map out the vast territory so far completely unexplored. Various parties of scientists will be transported to tho plateau, and to the Maude and Edsell Ford Ranges, possibly by aeroplane. Tractors and snow mobiles will be used as well as 150 dogs, which will be in charge of Captain Innis Taylor, formerly of the North-West Mounted Police. the scientific personnel, equipment, and plans are by far the most elaborate of any polar expedition. The food question has been tackled in the light of Admiral Byrd’s previous expeditions. A number of the officers and men have been with Admiral Byrd for several years, and have wide experience. Four aeroplanes are carried, including an autogiro which will be used chiefly for scientific observations at the base. Three cows are on board. They will be the first to enter tho Antarctic, and a calf is due to be born shortly after arrival in Antarctic waters. Nearly ICO tons of dog food is being taken. A United States post office is to be established in Little America.

Heavy stores include 15,000 gallons of petrol, several hundred gallons of lubricants. 12,500 tons of crude oil, and, as ballast, 2500 tons of coal for the Bear. Among quite unusual stores is a _ very large supply of artificial vitamin C sufficient to meet all possible requirements in guarding against scurvy. This markotin was prepared at Oslo from oranges. Ruppert’s forepeak has been strengthened by stanchions and concrete.