LONE VIGIL

Southland Times, Issue 22464, 29 October 1934, Page 5

LONE VIGIL

REAR-ADMIRAL BYRD. GRADUALLY POISONED BY FUMES. (United Press Assn— Telegraph Copyright.) Little America, October 26. The following is Admiral Byrd’s special account for the Australian Press Association of his experiences while m solitary isolation at the advance base:— “Coming back, even to Little America, is like returning to a different world. No intelligent man could live isolated in that shack through a polar winter night enduring some of the coldest temperatures ever recorded, and not discover something new about himself and about people and things. There were several weeks when I was kept busy and happy. The phonograph and books occupied me during my more leisurely hours in the afternoon. Besides meteorological and auroral records I kept a diary. Out there I was utterly beyond urgencies, and the transient crises of everyday life. There were no telephones, traffic noises, creditors, importuning friends, formal dinners, stock market reports, economic crisis, defeatists, bores, or stiff collars. It was great. Then during the last weeks my trouble began. Unknown to me I was gradually being poisoned by fumes from the kerosene stove. My eyes commenced to smart. Puzzling aches and pains developed in my body. About the same time I was also seriously poisoned by carbon monoxide fumes from the small gas generator for powering the radio. The poison settled into my body, I was all but helpless. The first two weeks of June were really hell. I did not think I had a chance. First it was bewildering, then dismaying. I counted my time in minutes. Finally I think I accepted it calmly. There was nothing else to do. Then to my great surprise a slow improvement set in toward the end of June. With more strength I was able to take greater care of my diet, but again in July, during the period of the greatest cold, my health began failing until Poulter arrived. I have been through a wonderful experience. I have been enriched.”