NO RACE TO SOUTH POLE

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 443, 27 August 1928, Page 9

NO RACE TO SOUTH POLE

WILKINS AND BYRD PLANS OF AUSTRALIAN fUnited P.A. —By Telegraph—CopyrightJ (Australian and N.Z. Press Association.) NEW YORK, Saturday. Iu an interview at Des Moines, lowa, the Australian explorer, Sir Hubert Wilkins, denied the reports that his expedition intends to compete with that of Cemmander Byrd, or that he is being lured to the Antarctic by the spirit of adventure. Sir Hubert, who is on his way east, outlined his plans for his South Polar venture. He said Lieutenant Eielson and he and his as yet unnamed companions will leave New York on September 22 to join a Norwegian whaler off Montevideo, which will take them to Grahams Land, in the Antarctic, where the first base will be established, 800 miles south of Cape Horn. A second base will be established in the Ross Sea for further exploration. Their main purpose is to map out 1,800 miles of the Antarctic coastline, with the hope of finding a suitable location for a .meteorological station, with which it will be possible to determine the weather conditions for at least three years in advance, thus making it possible to ward off failures of the crops throughout the cultivated areas of the Southern Hemisphere. Sir Hubert said he expected to fly for 2,500 miles over icefields, but would be prepared to walk out of the Antarctic if they were forced down. He said that those who know the polar regions always went prepared for all emergencies. He and Lieutenant Eielson intended to finance the expedition personally.