BOUND FOR POLAR SNOWS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19669, 11 December 1933, Page 7

BOUND FOR POLAR SNOWS

VOYAGE OF WYATT EARP PROGRESS OF ELLSWORTH EXPEDITION United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright (Received December 10, 6.30 p.m.) Special to the Press Association, from the Ellsworth Expedition by Mr Lincoln Ellsworth. Aboard the Wyatt Earp. December 10. “We have had remarkably smooth trip so far. “To-day finds us about half-way to the pack ice. Even in these low seas, the Wyatt Earp rolls heavily, but with sails we make seven knots instead of six without them. Although at noon yesterday, we entered the northern limit of the ice drift, to-day is warmer than when we left Dunedin. Squally weather, rough water and increasing cold is due to come before long. The duration of daylight is lengthening, and in another week, we should have the midnight sun. “A sooty and w r hite wandering albatross, the first I have seen of these marvellous birds, with a wing spread of 14ft. follows in our wake , while friendly little back and white Cape pigeons fly above our decks. Activities of Whaling Industries. “This year there will be no whalers in the Ross Sea, but on the Weddell Sea side, there will be great activity, for a report from Capetown says one hundred mother ships and chasers are fitting out for those waters. Their equipment also includes one aeroplane to be used in spotting whales, in the heavy icefields on the fringe of Weddell Sea, so the whaling grounds will be at least 300 miles out from the fixed ice barrier, to which I hope to fly, but I hope to establish radio communication with the whalers and receive weather reports from them before and during the flight across the continent from Ross Sea to Weddell Sea. Looking Towards Christmas. “Most of the men’s minds, as do ours aboard the Wyatt Earp, turn to Christmas at this time of the year. Down in the hold, are suitcases and packages filled with boxes of dainties, tied with red ribbon, with which my wife, who spends Christmas in Samoa, en route to America, has been busy for months past, but the contents have been kept a secret from me. Every other package aboard, from the polar flying clothes to cabbages is listed and stowed in a known compartment, where it can be found at a moment’s notice. All emergency equipment is placed handy to the hatches, but I expect no emergency. “Nothing but Success Possible.” “A message from the Prime Minister of New Zealand, received as we left Dunedin, extended the warmest good wishes for the success of my venture, and expressed the willingness of the Government to extend any facilities within its power either in its own Dominion, or in the Ross Sea Dependency. “This message is indeed appreciated, but the expedition has been so well organised and painstakingly equipped, that I can dream of nothing, but success as we push off upon this last great adventure in history of south polar exploration.”