The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1911. THE ANTARCTIC.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 57, 21 October 1911, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1911. THE ANTARCTIC.

The Australian press freely expresses the hope that those States that have not yet contributed to the fund ’ for defraying the expenses of Dr. Mawson’s Australian expedition to the Antarctic will perform their share in this work, and that an appeal to the Australian public also will not be without response, seeing that unless the total is made up to £50,000 fears are expressed that the proposal to connect the expedition with Australia and New Zealand by wireless will have to be abandoned. Professor David has explained that a sum of £SOOO is required to establish an intermediate base at Macquarie Island, whch is nearly midway between New Zealand and tiio Antarctic Continent. The chief advantage in having such a base is that it can bo made a wireless station for the reception and re-transmis-sion of messages between Australia or New Zealand and the expedition, which is to take up its principal quarters in tine neighbourhood of the South Magnetic Pole. It is hoped that greatly increased accuracy in the forecasting of the weather will be secured if there was am intermediate base at which a meteorological staff could keep in touch with the great storms which have their rise in the far south, and which affect the weather systems of New Zealand and Australia. The regular reporting of these storms by wireless might supply weather experts in Australasia with invaluable data. Hence it is probable that even from the rigidly commercial point of view an expenditure of £SOOO in establishing a wireless station at Macquarie Island would speedily bo repaid by the increased correctness of the forecasts >\ Inch are so valuable to Australasian interests. Apart from that aspect of the question, it is held to be highly desirable that the Commonwealth should be kept in touch by wireless with an expedition in which it is so strongly interested, and that Dr. Mawson should have the means of promptly reporting his discoveries on the unknown coastline which he proposes to examine in the interests of possible commercial development as well as in the interests of pure science.