THE ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7203, 14 September 1901, Page 8

THE ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION.

DEPARTURE OP THE DISCOVERY.. A. ROYAL GOD-SPEED-[Fbom Otjb Coebespondent.] LONDON, August 10. The Discovery -weighed anchor in Cowes Roads last Wednesday, the King and Queen having visited the ship on ihe Monday preceding. Their Majesties' inspection was not. merely cursory. They made a point of visiting nearly all the cabins, conversing, meantime, with the officers andi members of the scientific staff to whom they are allotted, and expressing pleasure at the completeness of the arrangements made to secure their comfort. The Queen, observing a piano in the wardroom/ made inquiry as to whether there ■were ittany musicians among the. officers and staff. To her Majesty's amusement she W3S informed that, in this respect, alone, the expedition was not well equipped, and that for musical evenings reliance would chiefly have to be placed on a " Pianola." On deck the. Queen; showed a kindly solicitude for two of the ship's! pets, the one an Aberdeen terrier, named Scamp, thonging to Captain Scott, and the other a white Siberian. dog. Scamp, following upon, tho Queen's notice of him, managed to tumble off the ladder on to a yacht lying alongside, but, fortunately, sustained no injury. At the formal leave-taking, the King expressed tihe pleasure it had given the Queen Consort amd 'himself to pay a visit to tJae discovery -before she sailed on her prolong*d voyage of exploration. It had 1 , he said : , |>een his privilege in recent times to say good-bye to' many who had left our shores jto maintain the honour of the country in the field of battle. It was now his privilege to wish God-speed to a mission which essentially of a. pacific character, and which he hoped was destined to uphold the traditions of our race in> . the matter of Polar exploration. His Majesty, after wishing those on board the vessel a safe, suc-fcessful,-and prosperous voyage, and a safe j-eturb, conferred the Victorian Order on P^ptain Scott. . >■ Oft* of the outward, visible signs by srhich mariners of all, nations may know the Discovery long before she- arrives within hailing distance of their craft, is the conspicuous windmill on the upper deck, which is ,the< driving agency of the novel lighting arrangements. The current is generated by ja dynamo driven by this- great windmill, |tk>fch being portable, so that they can be set up "on the ice' and^ connected with the accumulators by inea.ns of a flexible cable. iWith wind-power : th^ "great drawback lies in the fact that * while at one moment the jnill may take J2jOO, Revolutions to the mininte F a strong :gus£* will the next instant raise the speed to 2000, the rate falling witK equal rapidity upon the disappearance of the . wind. With a dynamo working so irregularly 5 is is 'impossible to discharge accumtilating'. cells. ..This difficulty has been dvercome'.'by Mr- Bergtheil, of the firm of B^rgtheil'and. Young,who are responsible for the lighting, ij^he mill drives two # iyjiamoß,; to one ol. which is fitted an arrangetnent'^hich eq^Sl^s the current, offering greater the wind is high »hd less •■wh^ej^ iSlls. Thus the number of revolut?<>ns , 4 o^ the mill can vary from 600 to 2000. pier minute without causing *ny appreciable difference ' in. the current, T^bich, whett the mill stops, is antomatiJB^lir. cut offj~' v an<r* l iirhe» i Mt restarts is jwlt<ihed on to' the accumulators, evenly supplying the lamps in the ship. An ingenious contrivance is fitted to the accumulators, causing a bell to ring when too much electricity, is being taken from them, Hbas giving warning that re-adjustment has become necessary. To prevent the accumulators freezing they are placed low down in the ve»Bel, neat the engine-room, and as the acid will not freeze till 29deg Pahr. is reached, the chances of the accumulators being " frozen out " are remote.