MAWSON'S EXPEDITION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 270, 7 April 1913, Page 6

MAWSON'S EXPEDITION.

FJIiST-iJAXD ACCOUNT. DR. WI'FTTK!! AP.OAKD acj:oi:a. First-hand information about Dr. Mawson's Antarctic expedition has been received in New Pl.\ month iVoiii voun.tr )) r . L. li. YVhctter, of Duiu'diii, who acted in Die capacity of sisrgemi to the expedition. Dr. Wheftcr, who has come buck on the Aurora, writes interestingly in Uie following strain, under d;ite .March ■l, 1!)1U:We are aboard the staunch old ship again, but seven men have heen forced Inbrute circumstances to spend another winter in the Antarctic, and two of us do not answer to the roll call. Personally, I am in excellent health, very dirty, weather-beaten and bearded and hard' bitten, but twice n,s heavy and muscular withal. My last letter was written to you just before sledging in November. The weather remained as bad as possible, up to the 10th of November, when three parties set out, two going east and one south along the magnetic meridian to the magnetic pole. The southern and long-distance eastern parties were accompanied by supporting parties, whose orders were to be back at the hut in three weeks, so that we could leave on the western trip. Biekerton and I remained, at the hut to keep observations going and to make use of any fine weather that occurred to run trial trips with the "aeroplane." I took charge of the meteorological, biological and bacteriological work, Hannan did magnetic and photographies).] work, and Biekerton attended to egg-collecting and overhauled the aeroplane and. engines. ONE CONTINUAL BLfZZARD. Having in addition all our sledging gear to rig for the western dash," we had a busy month, as you can well imagine. The weather continued bad—one continual blizzard. Our parties have ventured out in weather such as has never been sledged in before. With the exception of the three calm days at the beginning of November, the drift has continued incessantly. Te wind velocity for our year's stay in Adelie Land has averaged 40 miles per hour. No wind so continual as this has ever been experienced on the surface of the globe before,

250 MILES-AX HOUR. I have told you already of the 91-mile per hour blow for 24 hours, and the maximum puff which read 250 miles per hour, on the meter. A puff of this velocity would level-Not Plymouth ;like a scythe. As it was, it carried away our : wireless masts, and-but for the snow-bank over the hut would certainly have left us.without a 1 roof. ' The 'hut,! I may say. was externally strengthened by extra raiters and struts to withstandgreat pressure. . I can only./give ■ you the general outline.,of the/campaign at present. All details you win find in my diary. The ink has frozen in my fountain pen, and' no ink will stay on a table tilted at an angle of 45 deg. We are at present scudding (along in the westerlies under topsail, and forecouTse.. with a huge following sea. Several green-hacks have come i over the poopy but nothing has .gone. overbojiicLao far. The weather, however, cannot "be compared to that,we encountered.on the way, down, when, you will recollect, part of 1 the bridge was washed overboard. A roll 40deg. each side of the vertical is nothing for the,old boat.at present, forwe have no ballast, and the eoalis being rapidly used from the. lower hold. The result is a very tender ship. A tender ship is the same thing as a crank yacht very top-heavy and easily set rolling. But let her:roll-! Every watch means a degree'or so of lasting. Truly, "The girls at home, have got hord of thetow rope." as the sailors say. We should be in Hobart before Easter;• •-■ To : return, however,' to Antarctica. The end of November prove'd slightly better weather. The wind average for' the month was still above 40, but we were :blessed with five fine days which "Bick" and I took advantage of to try the "aeroplane." To give you some idea of wind velocities, please remember that the worst wind you experienced in New Plymouth only topped 50 miles per hour. The blow that uprooted that punga on the lajvn has been merely an everyday occurrence down ■ here, year in and year out.

AX EXCITINf) INCIDENT. The aeroplane, or the '■bus" as we. term it, proved a partial success. _ In the trjal runs we had rather an exciting time, for on one occasion she nearly ran into the sea, and was : only brought up by a 20ft tide crack in the ice, and at another time she _ clrarged""a cliff near the magnetic. Jui,t. . Bifikerton and I re\;iHed| the engines and eiapped on the ii/.-.kes, but the force she "had developed "M-r the smooth ice was tempo. Old •li'.k'' turned round to hie with a grin, •\,u'll be in a hotter place than this soon, Whetter!" Just then she struck, but the runners held, and, luckily for us, the tubing stood the strain. We towed the debris back to the hut and executr ed repairs. The machine never flew in reality; She was simply mounted on runners and slid over the ice and snow mounds. Her wings had been detached after the accident in Adelaide, when she hit terra fiiina rather violently, and resulted in Lieutenants Wild and Watkins spending three weeks in a private hospital. : However, after several disappointments we got the old machine in working order. ! At maximum running the engine developed 05 horse-power—-rather;a nasty team to bolt. , The em gine itself can be easily picked up by one mjin, so light 1 is it. The body is built of steel tubing and the runners of Norwegian ash. We tried her power against the ice slope at the back of the hm !|i iiiig up to the plateau. The slope is about 1 in 4, but she never hesitated ijit it. Between the two-mile and the three-mile depot she developed a speed of 30 miles per hour. This, however, was over an ideal surface. THE PENGUINS.

We next turned our attention to the penguins' eggs. Tlie females had commenced laying early in November, and by the end of that month the three of us had collected over 3000 eggs. The egg is very like a duck's egg, slightly greenish, and very highly flavored with a taste wholly characteristic. The method of collecting is simple: Quietly push the old bird oil' her nest of stones and commandeer the eggs before she recovers from her astonishment If you are at all clumsy or rough with them they run amuck, and go for you with bill and flappers. A penguin's nip is not to be despised, even if you have Tim-berry wind clothes, camel-hair trousers, fur boots and ii'uarler of an inch of dirt to protcrf y>u. Yes; we are all very careless about grease—a good layer of dirt and grease keeps one warm. So we hail eggs for l.reakfa.4. eggs for: lunch, eggs for afternoon tea, and eggs for dinner; eggs, cooil.eggs fresh, shop eggs, and simple eggs." We left Mrs. Beaton's cookery bonk- open at "E" and worked through all the methods of preparing eggs. The last day of November brought no cessation in the blizzard, but two partie, of wear> and ravenous sludgers—tho soul hern supporting nnrtv and the eastern eoa-Hl parly. \Ve filled them up w'nh -egg>. The southern party had been left" (it) miles out. going strong to (lie south. Our f'hrUehiirch friend has made an excellent start. Bnt.li parties

lr'fl nolbitvr but heavy head winds and ''■'':. Ti.loi' nl' ill!- 'llea Won- SlUlWblind. P. is peculiar how -win. liable, oii r .. is In snow blight on dull days than on lino mics. I account, for tliis by tlic coiiliniial si rain (brown on the nccomn.i.i! li'mi nl' the eve, for on ii. dull day -?i< --. • :'!■• no sli:iilo\vs. no relief, and li 'iiio il i- bard to fnv whether the step in 1 ' ;u-c In!;in;,' is into n 3iu snow ripple or i'.ifn :i "ildfl. deep crevasse. The. surfiici' smlli had been abominable;—whnn it w;.s il:>t soft snow it was enormous "s:i>ii n; :.'' or snow ripples.

TWO FATALITIES. Tli- ( ■•■■', 'ii coastal party bnd been left i'l Ii". r i'es line cast. ' Alawson's ilon:' d' •.!,■ onsfcnO 'parly, with all the d.- had li-n left some s>o miles viakin" V. ",',) SOIIMI. Poor old Nin and Men'/! Tb.-it whs 'he last we ever saw of flic-" (wo of tl"> best comrades we over led. Or. X-ivi- Alerts',, of Basle, S\\il/cr!i.i!d-wn oalb-d him "X" for sluirl. and when we \vi ,r ' wild with him we called him "Square llend" to rouse him (for all his leanings were towards the French, and he hated all Germans with a fine Frenchman's hatred). Both he and Xm were coming home to New Plymouth with me, p.s they were both keen mountaineers, and we wcra all going to try conclusions with the Southern Alps. Mertz had climbed all the principal European peaks, and the world loses in him its champion ski-runner. For the last two years he held the Swiss eh-ifii))'on«hii) for ski-running. He used to keen a photo of his mother stuck up over bis bunk, where we both could see it. A fine. grev-b.nired. pentle old Inch' with a verv pleasant smile. T shall cross ow to Switzerland'and see her when T ."o Home. Lieutenant TCinnis. of the Ttovnl Fusiliers-rover and gontlemmi. Nin foncrht all thromrh the South African war. and finding Fiie/land too cramped for him. the Bed Gods called him out. so he obtained leave, from his regiment and came down here. His father (now Surrfeon-Oeneral of the "Naw) was otii> of the surgeons with the illfated Xnrps Arctic cxnedition of last centnrv. so\in was .1 chip off the old Mock. Kin's doinns and savings would'fill'it book. T will tell vou «N about his prim °<mse of humor when I strike' the' New Zealand trail again.

DR. WfIETTER'S, PARTY. . But to return to our little jaunt. We started.out with the aeroplane on De-. cember 2, with three sledges touring 1 behind. Wc had two sledges of benzine and our travelling., sledge,... .There were three of us—Hodgeman (a Government architect of Soujth Australia,,, meteorologist and cartographer); Biekerton (an English rover, lately been hunting for lost treasure off Cocos Island, off the West Coast .of Mexico,.. Tie was surveyor,, and aeroplanist, having spent a good deal of time flying at Brooklands,. .England,, He is an engineer by profession—when he feels inclined ta work' 1 /'""fiick" was also our poet, and'.atso myself (medical officer and ice. expertj.." We 'had' six' weeks' food in three two-week; ",Idt>.tf. tanks, sledge, cooker, tent, sleeping hags, and all the usual paraphernalia a' sledging trip. The aeroplane came ;to yrief. suddenly. There was a .'siidden ,Tasli when we weie 10 miles" Out', a ' clanking soimd, the propWer'"ftew into splinters. The damage was irreparable, •foT though' Wc'ttarmV exfMfirsprir we could not forge new crank rods and pistons. It was-a- comptetf- wreck and po mistake. A broken .piston. rod. originated the trouble! Nobody said mnbh, although we were all bitterly disappointed after, the work we'hwd'put-intb that machine 'lt >about' 'broke our hearts to leave; enough petrol behind to take her 500 rfiiles. We faced her S.W., so.that she would always look towards;, the midnight sun. '"80 we left her alone in her glory," and- unshipped our sledge. Henceforth we had; to trust, to ou> legs alone. That night.we reach-; ed the 11-mile ice cavern which',the Bouthjem supporting party :had'hollowed, out iii the ice. We camped there and lightdnod our'sledge somewhat. Well, one sjedge trip is very like another-., I have (already described the bitter cold and miserable drift we encountered on our spring journey west. •' This-jaunt was much the same, save lot.leas,cold and inore drift. Wp had the usual adventures of falling 'own crevasses and being : pulled up, and roundly cutsed for being- clumsy; the usual snow_ in the sleeping bags and the usual wmd and drift. : We had drift every single day some itime of the day 0- other. ' Burberries had to be worn the. whole time. Nine (lavs on end we staved in our wet sleeping hags' and read Tennyson. We were, unable to move for the wipd. This trip vp! had a "Japara : " canvas we did not lose it, as we did our winter tent i We trekked over "320 mifos-aim found'some new lands iOff'tiiles west : 'oi ■ Commonwealth Bay, wherft tte malti'base is situated. We were unable; to- godown to this land.'airit was sighted oiv our return trip, wlreirwe were -short of food, ftnd several days overdue at the hut. There was a possibility of ithe ship leaving without us, so we were forced to push on with the utmost speed. J CHRISTMAS DAY! ■■-.-. v ..--.

Christmas Day we spent in our sleeping bags, it being impossible to move for the 1 drift. We celebrated the event by manufacturing a plmo. pudding out of plasmon, chocolate and ground-up biscuit. ! This we boiled up in a. spare; sock. I Hodgeman drew.a Christmas. tree. : on the tent with blue crayon, and attached! a suitable present for each of us. There was a Noah's Ark for. your humble servant—and thereby hangs a tale. Hodge lis an exccller.i'artist, so in the., evening; he drew n mantelpiece over the tent door, and lined in a chewy :-.,-:. ! -:.'iu»i: fire, with red chalk. New Year foiind; us again snowed up. On this occasion our celebrations consisted of fireworks. Three imotor matches burnt in the tent, —result, we were nearly, suffocated with, the biirning nitre. ' Biekerton. . ircwed some wine out of the methylated spirit used for lighting the primus cooker. This was the famous vintage,'"tanglefoot, 1012," with which wc drank "sweethearts, and wives." On the return trip ■ we investigated borne enormous flick «':is lowered at the end of the Alpine rope. Wonderful ice ferns form in their depths outrivalling for softness any todea superba of filmy frond grown on Mount Egmont. Our chronometer stopped the last week, and as the compass is totally ■unreliable so close to the Pole, we bad to steer by our horse-sense. By crossing the pa'strugi at a certain angle, wemanaged to keep the general direction, even in the thickest drift. The. last week Slicing our seventh week, we were very short of food, for we had only provisioned ourselves for a month and a half. TJiOSK DAYS WERE A ; ' NIGHTMARE. ■■-■;■' ■ \n,l is we had been unable io shoot (he -fin for a latitude observation: we m our home depot, and overshot ' ol ,r i«:..-k bv IS miles. The Inst day we Inuvli"'! ■_>■) hours in a driving hli>.i,., v ii A' 1 a.m. on H><' 20 lb -TaniiMiv. 1!)12. we sighted Ih'e five mile dcp.<t.. Ml our Iv.ii'hlcs were now over.' T nip n'-v.r lik.'lv to fore..-t that niu'ht. The ( l v i;'i ,'.|,-,ved siiddcnlv. anil the ..li.ijllHe.ht. Min 'bowed himself on the southern ,bormm a ball of rubv glass. It. is impossible 'to uive aiiv'id"a of the crystal , .-,1,,.,,J ; ..,;',.1, down here. Only one who i. '" 'l 1...,, '),..:■■■> eau realise the heeiil.y of H,., ~,;;,,'.,|- t "iV.-. 1 v . Or. ,„,' SeV.lf- ev l »'-.lilion...Vcfi)si^:'llt;'pai.' i Vb, •the ni'tural 'Hour*/Tor fear'olTbem-S thought to exuberate. That sunrise

we saw over Mt. Cook and All. Seflon will give you some iiba of -mi- f- w\er the plateau. The plateau we are turning our backs on for ever. The excitment was high as we approached the depot. There were a number iff food hairs piled in a heap, but there nnpeanal nothing from the ship on the pile. Our hopes fell, the prospect of ihioPht v ;, i

ter in Allelic Sound was no! nlrasa-it. We trudged wearily up to the ice-cnvc'ii. and sliimed out of our liavnnw (in. „' os sat down on a snowdrift imd "Anvway let's go down and have :•

look," said Pick. He pulled oh" 111" r-m vas cover, and slipped down th>\lnmie' into the ice cavern. A moment's sileii"" th"ti a. veil T am never likelv In fo''<r,-i if T live'for ft geological age. TTnd.ru ami T rose as one man and riwlol '"'■ lb" entrance—result, we both jammed in the' entrance. After some sfnirrglin" we both HI liPPillc.nc into lb- ■. !

Hi ore. wo saw a sh'fil for wcnvv <■"'"' v -'" 'liiiiif morn o>- lcs than a P'b' of-TaldP orapnos on th«* floor of th" miv. v ; <m a huge pinoappln perched on the fii)f\. Then wp know the ship' had armed ctMv, Tlih 700(1 Samaritans "' l >o = '-iif down those oranges arc sure of n place in TTeavon, for that one act of kindness. I Unless von have lived for years on r.'nnod stuff, yon ean have no id»i how the hodv craves, for fresh fruit, and vesro.tables. We devoured tlio«» fruits. even part of their skins, for half starved as we were, we could not wait In ivmi"lv peel them. Th».v .had h"en hron-ht lip from tb» hnt bv Still well •■»-l. V-n de Grav. Van is a new arrival by th'i shim ITo is a. most interestinc man to talk,to. hav'ne- snent the las) two vear= <'n Tierrq del Fiipco, and has .«">v«r-i1 times been down to Graham's Land in nrevjous eVrs,- not to V!"'r'flniVT) !>n ,r m«sen«ers. hut ;we found him aboard with n letter from th" 0"""tl f' Tolland.'llr'-i'-W »;-■ i f<vr tak'nT h ; «v T!i! f, "'r a food w.av jo I ioin;"n expedition. Tint Van nrovd an I eyee]lent snort, and a ' nevr-ond'n" 00.11-ho of traveller's -ahis. After demolishing the pineapple, wo turned o-m----attention to the notices'ninned on Hie ice- wall with a 1-n'fe. ' Firt an ur<V"nt note from Stillweirs nv»olo"isinff n-i-•'•'■ ■"•ariiincr us not to sl°op-in the cave with the cover'over the entrance. Tt rtppnars' theri been up h"re. jnil r Jiad ;eon«timcd all - the■ "o\-v"on in tlv> n'Vfi TwQ.'pf theni Vnpidh- fainted, hnt' the ;,th'rd-stafr?erod toc-the dnnV. and drove his. ice axe through the lid. iust as lje fainted This prohahlv saved their lives. The, whole three of th-m ■hail been unconscious for one and a half hours. This : partv had done excellent coastal work, and had run a traverse well to the east. There was a note from ,t.h'c coastal party. Thev had mapped in some 200 miles of coast line to the east'and, wondpr of wonders, hnd two weeks' fine weather. The last 100 miles of their trip had been done over sea jce. Some, fine basaltic cliffs over 100 fepf hi<rh had been discovered. Thev were all Wjell (I forgot to sav we had dy'se.ntrv <>n our trip, probably"dii'e to hnd ™°mraican, Tt pulled us down somewhat) The ponthern parly had also passed through the depot on its war limiic. ' Thevi hnd been within 40 miles of the mngn'pt.V pole, but h«d been pushed for t.imej and heen forced to return. TjiVe us. thev had encountered ui>'e>idin<r drift and wind the whole trip. Unfortunately they missed a depot on th" w:v home. 'and Wp afterwards found thev hnd arrived at the hnt ouite emaciate/1 f-om humrer. and mi a verv totterv condition. ■Tt.-wns touch and «n for them. but. old Webb had pulled *hro"<rh somehow —tru«t a New Zenlandev .to turn 110 ' : Vn a bad) pennv whatever happens. With the execution of Mnwson's Par Eastern .partv, we were the last, partv in.. Tlmr* Wfis a, note from the ship tollinrr ps to hurn\ as wp were so late and thev were anxious about us. So we brewed mid drank;, some irallons of tea.'and then toho«apped down the last fivp miles of ice slope to the hut. Tin's was our i

GOOD-BYE TO THE ETERNAL PLATEAU, The last mNe. bfonsrht us in s : ght of the good old bnrquentine, safelv anchored under the lee of the Barrier. They ;welcomed us with signals. The ..hnt wins sound aslccn when "we arrivd. \Ve crept in. and "One, two, three, rise and shine." Tn a second we were hesieged; with a mass of humanitv try his to shake our hands, thrust ci<»ars. and whiskv and fresh strawberries down our mouths. After the excitement had somewhat subsided, we received our letters. Tt. was like cominsr hack to a previous life to' read New Zealand news. Ma.w-' =son's partv had not arrived. Amundsen has sent down tc us all his do'g.s. Th"v are all here at the hut. "Peary," the. great broad-chested, friendly brute tlmf took ltim to the Pole. Yin, Bucket-head. ;!.»>] i.ite uh.de half.-Ji.m of them. Thev have widentlv been.exceptionally welltreated, as they are all very friendly. I took charge of them. They will replace our. own dogs, which have probably been sacrificed for food by this time. I

'"Jhink what tlie'vo done Tfink what they have scout Think of their pension And God Save the Queen." We;waited and waited for the lost party.; There is a likelihood of the ship being frozen in, if we wait much longer. She could not stand a nip hi the ice, but would be crushed like an egg-shell. Add to this the fact that Wild and the second base were situated 1000 miles westWard, waiting for the . ship, on a floating barrier tongue which might go to sea at anv moment, and you will see what a predicament, we were in. Things began' to move. , Two sledging parties were sent out to look for'Mawson and Nin and Mertz. The ship went along thhe doast eastwards, and fired off rockets and (lew kites, hut all to no avail. At laijt it was decided to leave a party here find to proceed west to rescue (Vild and party, if Mawson did not turn up by; the Ist of TVbruarv. ' i WTTCTCLESS WORTUKS.

' Om? wireless masts, von remoinlmr, had been 'blown down. Some of onv messages? liml pot tliroush to civilisation, but. we had been unable to receive any news.. Now wo set to work to re-erect the rousts, with the aid of the ship's company. We were now treated to several fine days, which we made the most, of. [The aerial was hoisted apnin, but now i,t is an umbrella aerial. There is one centre mast consisting of main. top. and top-frallant masts, and two sitbsidiarv jiorth or south The insnlat«.,l- wives fnvniinsr the aerial are looped .jffitwepi tiiesrt ' three masts. Working ; ' ;"i .

with wire at this temperature is by no means a joke. In three days the engines and inslnimeul.s were re-installed, ami we uere ready to s;et .sail.. A part) of si\- arc Id remain here to wait fo'i -Uawsoii. We are ready to sail, but the blizzard km-- vetoed it for that night. Hie everlasting blizzard sprang up from the plateau, and continued for nine davs. V\ i-_ thoni-ltl. at the time that it had set in for iis siv months' winter blow and »i;ide all pr,■paralions for a winter here. iVo saw the ship s „ out f 0 sea lighting hard, steaming full sleain into the blizzard, bill making sfcrnway the whole lime. Sadly we watched her driven slowly out. We thought then it was the last we would see of her. A week later there was a moment's lull in the wind, and a spectral ship was seen, slowlv steaming up to the Iky. It looked like one of the new American white cruisers. ft was flic ship encased in ice. There was over a foot of solid ice on her decks She had lost ~11 her anchors live of them—and two cables. Webb humorously remarks that such an •iron mine at the bottom of the bay will a.'lYct his magnetometer. The ship fired a rocket. We lost no time in getting the launch under way. A rapid hand-.-hake, and sixvery dejected men were left on Hie ice landing. There was a huge sea running, but by keeping well under the lee of the iee barrier, and then drifting down on the ship, we reached her without swamping. She turned broadside on to the waves so as to give us a lee to board in. So we said farewell to Adelie Land. It, commenced to blow again just as we came aboard. That night the'land was well below the horizon. The wireless operator was listening at his instruments. This is what he. heard repeated again and again: "Maw-son relumed, Ximiis and Hertz dead."

Quietly the ships was put about, mid we steamed back to the ice again. All that night that dread message continued to be ticked out. Next morning we signalled Adelie Land again, but the blizzard increased to SO miles per hour. We attempted to communicate .with the shore, and all that day we semephored ', and hoisted signals, but no response ] came from land. To remain where we j were w;is not only endangering the ship, I but sacrificing Wild's party, but wo 1 hung on. But the wind bad set in for its | six imtiiihs' blow. We sailed on the.Sth j for Wild. That night we heard the j wireless ticking, but owing to the roll- ! ing and pitching of the ship, only a few words came through. They were "fell through mouth" and ''crevasse." That was all. RANDOM THOUGHTS. "Probably poor old Niu and Mertz went down a crevasse, but perliaps if the wireless gets through to our station at Macquarie Island, you know more j about it that we do at present. Our : receiving gear will only detect messages J at a very short range. For two weeks j we steamed West through "Hell let 1 loose." How we escaped the pack and I picked up Wild and his doings I must \ tell you Inter. He left a hurricane lamp I ! burning at the door of his hut. This! lonely little light, slowly burning itself out, was the last we saw of the "Great .. White Continent." For the last week ! we have had several adventures with ) the pack and bergs, but we are now clear I of the ice, although bergs are very far north this year. Our ohi wanderer, the sooty albatross, has picked us up and is now following over the stern, so we arc well away from the ice. You have no idea how one longs for the, sight of flowers down here. On the sledging trip 1 spent the night between dreaming of flowers, food, and fireplaces. The food was very tantalising, and always evaporated just'as you were going to eat'it. T never succeeded in obtaining a mouthful of it. These food dreams are quite ,l feature of sledging. If a man is wakened up while in the middle of one, he becomes quite refractory, and •expresses his opinion of you. By the way, I have learnt to curse in seven different languages since T hit the south trail. Matcbele is the one which seems most expressive. Close, who fought through j all the Rhodesian campaign, taught me 'em. We used "Matabele" when we had to patch our tent. If the hands are ex- i posed to the wind for '2O seconds they ' get frost-bitten, so one. man threaded the needle, and then we took five stitches . in rotation, thawing our numbed hands after our turn. We used a piece of frozen seal liver for a hammer. Once the geologist let out a yell—he had dropped a piece of cotton wool on his toe. The wool had absorbed the. moisture, and then frozen like a stave. We put on a grand opera in the winter. T)r, McLean was the heroine, and was quite kissahle with his long yellow hair made from teased-ont oakum. APPRECIATIVE PENGUINS!.

1 bivo been reading n whole year's New Plymouth news. There are piles of "Daily News" floating about on ftray icebergs. The penguins will he fighting each othev for them for nests. T see you have a boosting league in Xew Plymouth. We are boosting it for yon among the walruses and seals."