DID NOT REACH POLE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17568, 19 June 1925, Page 7

DID NOT REACH POLE.

MOST SUCCESSFUL EXPEDITION YET. AMUNDSEN’S PARTY RETURNS AFOOT OVER SIX HUNDRED MILES. r.y Telegraph.—Props Association.—Copyright.—Sydney “Sun” Cable. [COPYRIGHT.] (Received June 10, 11.45 a.m.) VANCOUVER, June 18. Captain Amundsen failed to reach the Role, but his is the most successful expedition yet conducted. He flew north for what he believed was the proper distance, and descended into the water amongst ice hummocks. The ’planes were quickly frozen tight. He estimates that he was 100 miles from the Pole. The expedition returned afoot and saw no land. AMUNDSEN’S MESSAGE. FIRST NEWS BY RADIO FROM SPITZBERGEN. Py Telegraph.—Press Asm.— Copyright.—A us. arid X.Z. .Cable Asm. (Received June 19, 10.30 a.m.) LONDON, June IS. The news of Amundsen's safety came by radiogram from the Heimdal, dated Spitsbergen, June 18. It stated:— “ We arrived at King's Bay all right, at one o'clock this morning. “ (Signed) Amundsen, Dietrichsen, Ellsworth. Foucht. Omdal, RiisorI, arson.” WAS CAUGHT IN FOG, AND FLEW TOO FAR WEST. AEROPLANES WERE FROZEN IN. By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright.—Aus. and N.Z. Cable Assn. (Received June 19, 10.30 a.m.) LONDON, June 18. Captain Amundsen says that he ran into a fog and, when heyvas able to take observations, he found that he had flown 625 miles, but over-far westward. He descended at one o’clock on the morning of May 22, upon water at Great Iceland, where the 'planes were frozen in! He spent several days reconnoitring. .. . be L ic ( V e ’’ he sa - v ?’ “[ ha t there is no land further north this side of the Norwegian Arctic Ocean.'’

“ I AM DELIGHTED.”

SIR JOSEPH KINSEY HEARS NEWS. “ I am delighted to hear of hi.? :af~ty,” Sir Joseph Kinsey said when the news was communicated to hir.. of Amundsen’s return. I must confess that I had my doubts whether ho would ever return. But Amundsen is a great man; a man of wonderful resource. 1 shall send a cable to his brother immediately. Of course. I knew Amundsen personally, and have corresponded with him from time to time.” Sir Joseph has taken a keen interest in previous polar expeditions, and lent financial aid to several.

AMUNDSEN’S PLANS.

NOTHING LEFT TO CHANCE In a special despatch to the “Manchester Guardian on May 1. from King's Bay, Spitsbergen, Amundsen said : “ The distance from the starting place to the Pole i- 1.100 kilometre” *637 miles), which we expect to travel in eight hours in >till weather. Ai first, while the machines are loaded L» their lull capacity, we shall have t, fly at the speed of 100 kilometres (03 miles) an hour. As the load decrease with the consumption of petrol we shad reduce our speed in order to save th ■ motors. On the return flight the spec*.l will ho rather under 140 kilometres (87 miles). “The machines will carry sufficient petrol for a flight lasting two hours longer than the flight to the. Pole and back. If wo encounter a strong head wind for a long distance, without being favoured by a following wind at. of.be- - times, our supply of petrol mav run short. In that case there are two alternative ways <f returning to th* ships. Wo can either stop one of the engines, which can easily be done, as the boats arc able to flv with one engine only, or else we can effect a land-

ing and transfer the petrol and the creu- Jrom one machine to the other leaving the empty machine behind. THE LANDING AT THE POLE. •• According to careful calculation.-, based on accurate data, the machine which continues the flight will be able to coyer 3.200 kilometres (2.000 mile,) in all, if the right time for landing is chosen. Jn this way there will he, enough petrol for 1.000 addition kilometres (025 miles), which is reckoned lo he amply sufficient. My intention is io effect a landing as soon as our obsecrations indicate that wo are ah are the Pole. Immediately on landing we shall take accurate observations in order o find out how far we are from the True before making our final sourt, which "■'ll ho made on ski if we find that we are still a considerable distance Irom the Pole. In order to ho quite sure that we are there we shall hare to stop for several hours, and should the weather be overcast we shall have to wait until it is dear. On ibis account, and because ,vc. iTui.y have to land both on the outward .:m! on the return journey ic wait for better weather we mav be absent for seven-,; nays li we enroum-.r Thn-k weather we may take the first opportunity of binding and possibly 10Inrn tor some distance to avoid the i isk of the machines getting separated from each other. Should we fail io discover a suitable landing place fairly near the Bole we shall drop the Norwegian flag which we are taking with us and then shape our course for Spitsbergen. A return without affecting a landing will not prejudice the p^ographical results, for at the height of 1 TOO feet wo shall command an area 200 kilometres (125 miles) in diameter. ’THE RETURN JOURNEY. •• After the stop which we hope to make at the Polo we shall choose a suitable time for starting on the homeward journey, in the same way as we did when commencing our flight In this connection I would mention, with reierenee to the numerous rumoui > ' that we intend to continue the High l ' to Alaska, that this is quite out of the • question. In no circumstances do w ; contemplate doing such a thing. “ In my first article I alluded to tne reasons which had led us to choose Dornier-AYal machines. I will thereI fore only add that each m a chirm : weighs 3.200 kilos. Judging from the

flight to Pisa they can carry a load uf 2.800 kilos.. thus weighing 0.000 kilos gross. It is not impossible, however that our flight here mav add to on knowledge of their capacity, so I can not a« yet give the exact weights •> the various supplies v.e shall have to take, with us. We had taken special precautions to prevent the cooling water and oil from freezing when we land. The ihermix apparatuses that we are taking ior this purpose have been tried with very satisfactory results.- One day, when the temperalure in the motor gondola, was 11.8 centigrade below freezing-point, the apparatuses were installed, with the result that the temperature rose in two hours to 25 centigrade above freezingpoint. Y\ ith this apparatus at work we need not he apprehensive that the water or the oil will freeze, and we shall lie safeguarded against diffiicu lt : t-< in starting the engines.”

CONQUEST OF SOUTH POLE.

AMUNDSEN’S FEAT IN 1911. “ THE GOING WAS HARD.” Roald Amundsen, with four companions, Ha.nssen, Wisting, Hasscl and Bjaalarrd, and four sledges, with thirteen deg teams, left Idndstrom early in the morning of October 39. 1913, on the Antarctic Polar expedition of 1910-12. On the first day tbev covered seventeen miles, the going being excellent, but the atmosphere getting thicker as the expedition went inland. The men all lived in the one tent, Amundsen’s belief that it would be easier to manage in this way being fully justified during the- long journey. Several of the dogs had to lx? turned loose, as they wero out of condition. On the following day their started in a thick snow driven by a. strong wind from the cast. The going was hard, but Ihe clogs were doing well, and flag after flag was passed, until after going nineteen and n half miles the men came to a snow beacon that bad been erected seven months before, and was still good and solid, which was n source, of satisfaction, for the adventurers could now depend upon these landmarks. They were beginning to approach the ugly trap which had been found on the last depot journey. AVO I DIN G A “ TRAP.” I he trap was reached on the twentyfirst, in rjsry ugly weather. The men bad been following the old tracks of their last journey, and Amundsen had set a course considerably to the east oi these, in order to he quite safe. But Bjaaland and his sledge were nearly lost in trying to cross a hidden crevasse. and it was only with the greatest difficulty that they were extricated T!he ground was honeycombed with deep crevasses, and it was decided to camp and tako bearings before attempting to leave this dreaded trap. Tne tent was set up on a small, apparently solid spot, and the guy ropes stretched across crevasses in all directions. Wisting was just going over to his sledge when he almost disappeared. having fallen through the crust of a bottomless abyss, but just saved himself by stretching out his arms as he fell. Amundson and two companions went ouo a-= a small reconnoitring party. and eventually found a way out of the trap in an easterly direction. The adventurers got free at last, twice again coming into contact with the broken ice. The journey was resumed in thick snow, but the first depot was reached eventually, and the next day was spent in the tent, owing to the severity of the blizzard. BEHIND “FLYING PLEDGES.” The second important point on the journey, the depot, in SI deg S. was reached on the 29th, the men having put up good speeds, towing on skis behind the flying sledges, which Hanssen’s brilliant talents as a dog driver had made possible. On this dav the first dog was shot. Provisions were replaced from the store at the depot, and the journey was resumed on October 31. From Sldeg S. Amundsen's part v began to erect snow beacons as land marks at every nine kilometres, instead of every fifteenth kilometre as previously. Amundsen considered these indispensable on the endless, uniform surface of the ice. BISCUITS AND SNOW. The next day the lowest temperature of the whole journey was oilserved: —30.3 deg F. The men now adopted the habit which they held to throughout the rest of the journev, of taking their lunch of three or four oatmeal biscuits, mixed with snow if they wanted a drink, while bunding the beacon that lay half-way in the dav’s march. the depot in S2deg S. was reached j on November 3. the third important point on the journey, and the last outpost of civilisation. At tins point the men stayed for one day, to give the dogs a last thorough rest before the dash for the Pole. Two more, dogs were sliot. and left at the depot, and on November 6, at S a.m.. they left 82deg S. with the unknown lying before them. The appearance of the Barrier splendid surface. The dogs were now

in good condition, and made good pace. On the 30th the explorers got a bearing of the mountain chain running south by west. Each day they drew nearer to the land, and could see the details of the mightv peaks, rising to the height of 15,000 feet. On the. 12th Amundsen’s party discovered another chain running to the east in a semicircle, joining the mountains of South Victoria Land. This range lay true south, and the course of the explorers lay straight towards it. On the following clay they went twenty-three miles in thick fog, and saw nothing of the land, but as the next few days passed they rapidly approached the mountains, and on November 15 camped immediately below the ascent. Plans were made, and on the 17th the ascent was commenced. They found a pass through the outlying spurs, and got through it without undue difficulty, and dropped down again to a great glacier, which stretched right up from the Barrier between the lofty mountains running east and west. It. was by this glacier that the men had to proceed. and it took two days of hard travel before Mount Don Pedro Christopher son was reached, where the mountainside and the glacier merged into a great, flat terrace. •• EX JIA USTIXG WOK K. ’ ’ It was on the nineteenth that the explorers eventually reached this spot, and getting there had boon exhausting work, for the Jieat was great, and 1 1 io atm osp here rarefied at BLOO lee t above sea level. The spot for which they had been aiming, a great plateau at the top of the last ascent, was gained on the next day. when nineteen and a. quarter miles, uith an ascent of 5750 feet, was made by dogs. And that evening, in accord ance with preconceived plan, twentyfour of the remaining dogs had to he shot. This unpleasant business cast a. gloom over the camp, but it had to be done, and men and clogs bad fresh meat for a change. Only throe sledges were taken on from this point. The eighteen dogs were divided into three six-dog teams. T hen came : a blizzard, and kept the party on the plateau tor five days, till patient" snapped, and th© brave five went out into the fine, penetrating snow-drift. For several days this continued, and cm the twenty-eighth cn.me fog. heavy but intermittent, which lasted for some days, in whicli time th© explorers again ran tberr.selves into a region of dangerous crevasses, which they only escaped from with difficulty. Thcv bad dropped 2570 feet, and had come to a new glacier which they named the Devil's Glacier, so dangerous was it. A BLINDING BLIZZARD. It, was an extraordinary journey which Amundsen and his party wore embarked on. through new regions, and of the journey that the skis were invaluable. They 3>egnu to drop away from the mountains, but were* still running on the glacier, but on December 1. a. blinding blizzard sprang up. which taxed, the .strength of im-ij ajid dogs to get the sledges forward. U this part of the iournev was trying for th© dogs, it was no h‘s> so fur tbe n <*n in the vile weather which prevailed. Their time was a. good deal taken up by thawing chocks and noses a.s they froze. And thm, ; ,t last they bade farewell to the glacier, and went rapidly on their way over n smooth and even surface. The had weather held till December 7. and then conditions cha.ngecl. while on that day Amundsen’s men passed 88.23 degrees S. which was Shncklcton’s farthest south-. The weather kept on improv ing. but the warmth of the past fm v days had matured the men's frost.‘■orcs, and they presented an awful sight.. On December 9 observations an 1 dead reckoning agreed within a mile. The same result on the tenth, while the weather and going remained about the same. The noon observation on the thirteenth gave 89.37 S’ Tin* camped in 89.45 degrees that afternoon, a.nd on December 11. 101], the 1 Polo was reached, after a dark travel i over a. rather bad surface. Bv mon 1 thev bad reached 89.53 degrees In- den-’ 1 reckoning and at three in the' after, noon reached the South Polo, hv reck The ,' le ' vt fe "' spent m finding the cart location of ih.. Foie, find I l, is Liemls romped there at lust im I)eri‘mb.r l--1011, their arduous journey