GREAT DESERT OF ICE

Southland Times, Issue 23735, 6 February 1939, Page 7

GREAT DESERT OF ICE

Ellsworth’s Flight Over Antarctic TERRITORY CLAIMED FOR U.S.A. I (United Press Assn.— Telegraph Copyright) (Received February 5, 7.20 p.m.) HOBART, February 5. “In a great desert of ice, extending hundreds of miles to the south, I saw areas where in one day may be found minerals and oils as rich as in those in the 'United States,” said Mr Lincoln Ellsworth, the American explorer, upon his arrival in the Wyatt Earp from the Antarctic today with the injured chief officer (Mr Liavaag), whose knee was crushed in floating ice. Mr Liavaag will undergo an operation at Hobart; his condition generally is satisfactory. Discussing his flight, Mr Ellsworth said: “When I left on this expedition I expected to find a rugged, mountainous land. Instead, I found this desert of ice. resembling a vast plain and gradually rising to 7500 ft. Our aeroplane continued as far as 72 degrees south latitude, and the land I saw was totally different from that flown over on the South American side of the South Pole on my 1935 expedition.” Mr Ellsworth has claimed for the United States 81,000 square miles north of Princess Elizabeth. Land. His two visits to the Antarctic have gained for the United States more than 430,000 square miles.