A MESSAGE TO THE PUBLIC.

Colonist, Volume LV, Issue 13647, 12 February 1913, Page 5

A MESSAGE TO THE PUBLIC.

In Captain Scott's- diary Dr. Atkinson ; founcl .the . following, which is quoted verbatim. i

It begins: "Message to thePtibl'e:—

"The causes" of thwrdfeaster are not due to .faulty organisation, but to misfortune in all the risks that had to be undertaken-.— ; ■ :' • ' :

"(1) Till© Joss o f the pony transport in; Maroh, 1911,, obliged-; me 'fef start later than I had intended, and obliged the limitsof theistuff transported to be narrowed. •. '.• .■ .■■■■' ;■.„■-•'>'■■. '• -.■:••■■ ! > ■

I "(2), The weather throughout the outward journey;, and especially the long gale in 83 degreessouth, stopped us.1 ." (3) The s«ft enow injthe ldwer reaches ofthe glaoiej- again the pace. ■"We'fo^l^ht\|h^;untd'ivai:d- events eat^ into oiir provision; sreseire.- Every de^ tail of our food supplies, clothing, arid depots made on3l&:*inWior ice.eieets oiithat long Wretch of 700 jnilei to the Pole and back worked out to perfect tion. ■■■■■ .

"The advance party' would have returned to the'glacier in fine trim and with a surplus of foodj- but for'" the astonishing .failure of the man £ whom w© had least expected to fail. Seaman Edgar Evans;; wafe''thought the strongest man of the party." ;T3ie Beard.moreglacier ia Hot difl&ctilt. in Ine weatherj'; but on our return we did not-get a single comipleteiyr fine .day/. This,; with a sick companion, enormously increased .our anxieties-. v \ ■'■.. ..■';.'■?"■; •'•... "" .;./:-

• ''As ■ I have said elsewhere j we got into frightfully roiigh-jcej and Edgar Evans received' a <Jdncussidri of the brain. He died a natural "d^ath, but left"Ug a shaken.j>artj' with the season unduly ; advanced.

"But all the facts enumerated, above were as nothing to the surprise which awaited us on the barrier. -:, I maintain .thai .our arrangements; for returning | were.quite adequate; and that & One in I the world would have expected the tem-^ peratures and surfaces, which. we ert;- ---; countered at this time of the year. On the summit in latitude-85 degrees to :88 degrees we had minus twenty to miniis 30. On the Barrier, .in lattit tilo .82 degrees, and 10,000 feet: lower Sye had minus 30 in. the day, ahd^mihus 47 at night' pretty-" regularly/ with , a • continuous head; igrind during our day* ; marches. It is clear that these circumstances come on/very suddenly, and pur , wreckj is certainly due ta this ; sudden advent off severe- weather, which does nojb, seem to have any satisfactory ■ cause. ;■-. -\ t . ■/'v.- ~'.' ,'.' J:..-; ■'"'"■ ...-. - I '!• do not ihirikV human: beings < v^r came .through suohiajmontbcaa we have come through, anclwe^should have got through; in spite _ofr the weather but for the sickening of:-a k^'hic] compfknjon; iCaptaiti/Oates,- arr;U':",•: shojtti-ge ':'cf--'fnol, in nvr <]n'-^'.s-"--!''lf' "wiiieh' 1 cannot ;;c-OG!v;:t—-isiid." iinaliy. but for. the storm, wJjit'li h:ta falloii ah\ tis within 11 mi'es of the depot'at which wo hoped to; secure the '.'final supplies. Surely misfortune bould scarcely have" exceeded' this blow! We arrived within 11 miles ofiotir eld One Ton: camp/with fuel for one hot meal, and-"fobdi for t\vv> "days. . ;

''For fourrdays we have been unable to leave^ the. tentr-1.-he gale howling about ua. . Wef-ar.e we.:.k, and writing is •difficult;.; 'Bui; for my ovvn sakel.do rot regret/this.; j«uraey^ whidi }has that Englighmen can endure hardshipSj help oiie anotherj and meetMeath with ,as great a fortitude as eyerfin the past. We took risks —we knew we took them: Things have, come put against us, and therefore w,fi have no cause for cijm-plaint,-but must bow to the will of Providence. We axe determined still to do our best to the last, but if we had lived we" would have been, willing to give our lives, to this enterprise, which is for the honour of our country;

"I appeal to bur ooiTanti-ymen to see that those whodepeiid on us are properly cared .for. Ha^we liyed I should have had a tale tp.te.ll;of the hardihood,, endurance, aiid wurage of my' companions -which would have stirred the 'heart of every Englishman. These 1 rough notes and.1 our dead bodies mi st tell the tale, Imi surely, surely, a great rich country like ours will so© ,that those' who are dependent, on us, aro properly provided fay." ' SCOTT," "25th March, 191S.** "."