BLIZZARD IN ANTARCTICA

Taranaki Daily News, 3 October 1929, Page 11

BLIZZARD IN ANTARCTICA

BYRD'S HOUSES "IN- SNOW ■■ t ' ~~~ ■. ’ I SEPTEMBER COLDEST MONTH ; ALWAYS LOWER THAN ZERO By Telegraph—Press A?s».—Copyright. • Australian- Press- Association. Received Oct. •2, 8.30 p.m. (Special to Press Association.) Bay of Whales,' Oct. 1. Tiie month of September went out in a roaring blizzard. It turned out to Ve our second coldest month, as the average temperature was 44 degrees-below zero, ten degrees colder ■ than Amundsen's average for September. Also it was our Only winter month when the temperature did not rise above Zero at any time, two degrees below zero being the warmest day. When the wind shifts to the north and blows in from the sea it frequently forces- the temperature up for a time, but in September those fluctuations were not nearly so great as they were in mid-winter. To-day the wind is" howling outside and sucking draughts through the tunnels and ventilators, which affects the inside, although the houses are buried out of sight by snow. It is almost impossible to see anything outside, and care must be used in going from one house to another lest one should stray from the path and be lost, but the men have become somewhat used to that now, and although they wander to one side they have learned to halt for a minute when they, temporarily lose their sense of direction and hunt around for a landmark from .which they cgn get their bearings. As a rule the top of the radio towers can be seen for a part of Ute way, and when they are lost, something-else, abox or a well-known drift or pole sticking up in the snow, serves as a new guide, but it is always interesting to walk in thick weather. ' • It is just a year ago to-day that Commander Byrd and several members of the expedition left New York On the journey south.