Polar Explotation.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 14141, 26 February 1910, Page 2 (Supplement)

Polar Explotation.

CAPTAIN SCOTT'S TKOGR V^niK Capi.un Soott Inn been granted £20,000 by ilia BrKj&h Govoir>racnt n< a d of h,s conrng Scuth Pole expedition. From now till Jiilv, when he s.i Is. ha will bo bi sy making: )>z epilations for thr- 1 -, dash south.ivu.rcls -'i N it is hoped will put another of fclip discoveries of history to the credit of the British nation. He will stay year after year m the Antarctic "till he achieves his object. "The grant lias put the experiment on its feet," said the explorer to a representative of the "Daily Mail.'' "I .ini asking for £IO,OOO from this country, and the giant, together -.uth the subscriptions, leaves only £BOOO or £9OOO to be raised. Though I felt the countiy would not allow the expedition to fall through, the Government has relieved me of a serious weight of anxiety and freed me for the work of preparation. "Starting in the present summer," Captain Scott -went on, "we propose in January and February 1911 to establish two bases on the ice barrier, one at MacMurdo Bay, the other at King Edward's Land..some 450 miles apart, to be, if possible, connected by wneless telegraphy. Each of these bases will be about 830 statute miles from the South Pole, and by means of them both, ends of the barrier will be explored. Out task will be to cover from one or other of those uomts the 850 miles to the Pole. The "journey will be over ice, some of it clear, some' of it snow-covered, after that over mountains. Our means of transport will be motor sledge 3 and sledges drawn by ponies and degs. The more we can use the motors the more we can relieve the animals. I, calculate that we shall have from 120 to 150 days in which to accomplish the journey to and front qur base. , "I am sending to Siberia for dags, and ponies. The latter tv-iII probably be similar to those used by the Cossack regiments ,and will '"be very strong and hardy. The dogs I am getting from remote districts to the north of Vladivostock. The value of these -animals has been proved, notably in ste German South" Polar Expedition. ''ln my final march for the Pole I propose to-take 16 men. The party must, of course, possess a good deal of expert knowledge in the way of surveying, geology, etc., and some of those who come will be skilled in photography. The final selection o'f the party will be left till -one has had an opportunity of judging the candidates. Everv man must be in haTd' and fit condition, and "must be-" a man of-good temper. The "latter is very important in such an expedition. "3£v intention is "to make an effort for the Pole-and continue geographical explorations -in the southern Summer of 1911-12." Suppose you dp not succeed-at first? Captain Scott was asked. "The s&tions." he 'said, "will fe provisioned so'that'if-our object >s rot accomplished at ifce first attempt we shall come back to' the base, stay on, and make th«»«,ttempt l tha , next''year." If vou fad in the" second year ? , "If we fail then we shall stay pn and try in the third year." Captain "Scott took * his cigarette from his lips ancj.- brought his -finger down "on to "the table" with "slow emphasis. ' - ' "Invfact, we "shall well atop there till the thing ds. done." ,