THE HIGHEST CONTINENT.

Waikato Times, Volume 87, Issue 13245, 29 July 1916, Page 4 (Supplement)

THE HIGHEST CONTINENT.

(By Cyras 0. Adams.) . J Shortly' before the war, Dr Mein- Llf rdus, Professor of Geography at the S 1 " 8 nivorsity of Munster, Germany, pubshed his studies as to the size and pproximate elevation of the Antarctic a oniinent. It has been certain for vo ears that the continent covers a large m .' art of the area within the Antarctic I t0 'ireie; and Dr Meinardu* concluded l ow hnt, considering the proportion of the I no Antarctic area known to lie covered by "> en. Liie area of land surface is ap- P'noximately 5,460,000 square miles, NI vhieli is nearly one and u-hnlf tunes "'■ he size of Europe and more ;iiaii one K( jnd a-half times the size ol Australia. " l litis estimate has been gem•tally ae- sh •opted bv a< imi far from J'< ;h<> fact." _ ' n Dr Meinardus' deductions as to the it mean height of the eoniiiiint are even p more stirprsing. From his studies of atmospheric . pressures and tempera- d tnres and from other considerations ap. a predated by specialist*, he concluded " that the mean height of the continent i is 6G60 feet, with a possible error, one i way or the nfher. o) t;<HI ieet. v This conclii-ion has been introduced - into foreign tables .and hooks: t and late !a.-t \<-.n the German geo- I grnphor Mookii _ r. i< nod to Meinarduv "demonstration of th«' suipii>- s ingh high menu M v at ion oi I he Ant- ; arm ie v.'oiit iimiu. Then' -coins no | i doiiht thai niter siuilio will confirm J the appioximnto accuracy oi Dr Mein- | ardns' deduction-. Tim mean ek\ :ii ion oi Europe is only UGO t' '■' ahot c i iir - a : hut if it vied in stnunv w ith the -rent southern c-«»n----tinoni. the a\ ciage imighi . i' Km ope would he about thai oi the hotel which crowns the top ol our Mount Washing- ! ton. Asia was supposed to overtop till | tli<. continents, hnt its average eleva- | Hon is only about half thai <•; AntI arctica ; and North America has only a lii lie over a third oi its height. Of .ours.' the thickness of the ice cover plays an important part in the mean altitude, jusi as it does in Greenland. Hut all ;n all. ih<- htst continent to join the world group in our knowledge is one of the most impressive and stupendous fact- among terrestrial phenomena. The mean height of the land block, as it is --ailed, which wis computed bv Professor Wagner in ! i-:'l at 2*ioi| feet above si a level, will I |, aV e to he revised on account of the ! surprising height of the Antar-tie Continent. I'lie only largo work of exploration in | the Amniotic since the jourimys o| I Amundsen and Scott to tlm Sooth 1 Pole was done bv the Australian i \- I petlitioi, ilea led bv Sir Douglas Mawj son v. hieii s-.iied from Mohan. TasmaI iiia," in 1911 and returned in Ihm. A part oi the expedition rotunn<d to Australia in I0l;{. Mawson's work v.-as along the coast of thai part oi Antaretica "which is .south ol Australia and is known on our maps as Wilkes Land. Lieutenant Wilkes, of the United St,ate. expedition of IS to. sailed along this coast between 'Xj .and 108 de;j ;■"■■• east longitude. He won the distinction ofehanging the popular conception thai ;,),. Antarctic was an ocean, pioving ibid : > was a continent : and his name -mush! he permanently attached to the ■< hole coast line ho revealed. Some foreigners have tried to «ns. litis honor from him. Mawsou. ft0w- ,...,.,. pays it high tribute to Y\ ilkes. 11, j'oiincl, to be sure, that some of the | landtalls reported by Wilke- do tun I ~x - -i but this is noi sui|insinu in it ■ I ~-. :„,n where both land and sea are j covered In ice and snow . and \\ tikes " -'•siii-d this coast in a leaki -ail \essel I uheiv terrific gales are irequeut even i pi summer. Mawson to-;ili<-- that j Wilkes' work was of much value and " nil! be remembered as a ureal aelneveil men!. . Mawson's enterpn-e wa- u h in geo- ; graphical results. His In adquarters were establishe<| on that pan of 1 he i eoa-t known as \delie Land; and lie , ! sen: his second panv under Hank j Wild further ea-t to about H'-deg. ; ! ~,si longitude, whe.e Wil.l nr'do hi- ■,. ; l,e,.dquarters ah.mi I "Jo mile- west oi , ! Kaiser Wilhelm II Land, oiscovered ! i,, German explorer-, m l' u '-- »"'-<> ' ; pyrites one ai U.e ea-i and the other ; !,; the.wes, -;!/;. ;i- t ( !!;;; h^ ; :;;;; .'. I on the ru-ged iee-cap oi this east' t'n y ,wlge of the coll.ineil!. *v , (),, \ ( 1 11 ,] i,, 1. :i ,,d Maw.-on and some <>; I: !|lv i;;i ,, nia ,i,. >„,._• dedge journeys up ; I ,|,e ri-iii . -lop. "i I'm- ">^ lu ' u^ !'| 'he'colisi onu'"nci--''ai.d ihcv I discos -ed coal -hal. and led S-and- .:,,,,..' inther inland : ami tlie.v found I ,!•,„.e,- .ne|, a- Aii-iie >\**\W n-::v«d----i, | h-r-~haee ~;; 1 ; i !i ; ,i^^'; m : -:; 1 ; 1 ;;::;' :;„',:: a|!r l ihe,!r«oro,ded h U VOC.U Ot'stiow. I j ~.,, .. lei Nt.uos. u ith hi- <!o-gs ai . '" | s!e.!e-e lell into one ol these death '"I traiN and tie,,. ,- no doubt that N.n- ---" ,'i, wa- instanrU kiil—l. All the do, - '" J •„ 11 | oi ihe man Mod. wee l< ;li;;:Mn , thisca l a-trophe:andMrMerty ° dtetl of starvation ..„ ilie return trip. ()1 , ,|os jourues Mawson travelled ~li 1 miles iiihmtl, "I) l" •"" 1 "" ,l 1" '"ll- ' ! eoniinelital plateau , | Where Wild and his men made tin.i »M ( . ;lll , r , ,-.„. w the east, the ...land ic- ", she<-t was continually thrusting great " tivali.nehes of ice "\ef the >en edge •.■ '■ i the continent, Siedgmg was \.-i> ! slow on account oi nmiU'rous crevas-es. '" ! I'lie rocks lonj-d along the coasts wen '7 a ll crvstallJtie -chists and n misses, juv " ; ,s M'aw-,,,. reported nmre than 100» ;| nil l,,s to the west. The skxlge mitr. ■«j IIOVS ,Vf,m the two has.- aggregate i :3-'iiu miles. Everywhere near the sea ( " ;,,„) the ince-sant gale- surpa-ee '" I anything recorded in other parts c ;l the world. Extended observations were ' r made in the various fields of s< telle. a and file expedition went home w.th < "rent store of new material. '' "When the Antarctic spring armed in '' our fall last year. Sir Krncsi Shacklel" i,on and his party, on then ship Lrl" deavor. enter.wl Weddel] Sea. sou.h <■ e the Antarctii . in the hope to male ~ 0 -rood iia—a-e through us water-. 0 reach Prince-Regent l.irr;oid Land. : - south of the Ulantio Ocean and -tai : ' on their journey to the South Pole, d then on to Ross Sea. south of the Pacific. Shackleton expected at Ross p Tsland to join the part of his expedition a that had been assigned to work in thai r region. We know nothing more of his fortunes. He had a good ship and fin-' 0 equipment for sledging on the inland d ice.cap. Neither Amundsen nor See' i- found any special impediment to rapid travelling over the high plateau of the 'I continent. But we know nothing ol il the :-ledging conditions near Weddel! * Sea. Strange to say, the Filrhner ex'l petition, which discovered Princ -T?e- . gent Luitpold Land in 1912, never p>r r foot on the. land. Meanwhile the Aurora, the same ship ■ that took Alawson to Wilkes Lard and 1 later carried Shackleton's second par. . ty to Ross Tsland, broke b-r moov- - ings in a gale and was blown north so r hacMv damaged that, under steam, she I could only two or three miles an hour; hut she reached New Zealand in March. There is nothing to fear for the Ross 1 eoningent. Some of the men are now : home and the others, even it" their food supply should give out. have an inexhanistible resource of penguin and seal: and Antarctic explorers have tes--1 tified to their value as food. ; But Shackleton had ordered that, a , food depot be made for him at the head , erf Boss- Sea where he and Scott had clambered along Boardmoro Glacier to the top of the continent. It is intimaed that his orders cannot be fulfilled. Will he need these supplies? He is too prudent a man to count overmuch upon them. Was he able ro cross Weddell Sea and then the continent? His journey across tho continent and then down Benrdmore Gtocior to Boss Island would not be much longer than the route which Soott followed to the Pole and back, perishing, however over the last laD. There is reason to believe that Shackleton's journev acroas the continent and down Beardmore Glacier would 'be less arduous than the round trip which Scott almost completed; but jwe can expfect no news until a relief party genes to Ross Sea or the Endeavour returns to South America. A wMrhmid fecraiting campaign is •'**- -'-*■■*--* -».. ■ t £%a£urin. ham lumi

The following letter written by Elighteutenant Olive F. Collet, gives a apbic description of the work of tho ymg Corps in France. ''Our work is very trying," he writes, m<l quite a number ol pilots have nerms breakdowns in consequence. In v own case, however, it docs not seem i bother me. though perhaps this is only .vim; to my lack ol imagination: lam :>w piloting fir ;i fighting squadron—nit is, a unit armed with special aerolanes for fighting off enemy aircraft. Iy duties consist of patrolling over our (■mill's, and behind the enemy lines, to eep their aeroplanes from crossing to ur side. IVi' are continually being helled while doing this, Ujjt as we arc cry high up lhe\ Imve an chance of .itting u-. c\cn though fromSthe ground [ Jook- 11.- ii '.'■ «•!•*-' >" the. midst of exllod II- .-hell-. i lihil ;i narrow squeak, though, a !..,,! lime l»a:-k. They managed to burst, i 1,1 »t i .\i.,!o»i\-e shell just miller my n:i< li'.e.i. and \\f were tossed about like i l.i'i i.i |.;i|i. i A fragment of shell cut i V ,.... -.i!iir nf tlie ~'iiiles which enable the jjiin'l ; nirol the ,md we nait,«.| filiiii- at once. M\ gunner j tm i : .'i:..l.' a- he thought our num--1„ v....- up.' but i mannered to i the a~,i; : ,;!nl liiii'h cur work, lie ii landed sai'i!. ;•! our aerodrome. \\ e found ■u'ler. ii _ : i. that we had ihive large rei t- in tin- planes where ol lu-i straps of t'i' -.one s-h.'li had hit us. ■■'l'!;, -,• |i.,tn,ls are carried ..ut many feel ~!:,,, the gumml. ri'iil as they arO mvtl.in, iroui two and a-haii to Ihree •i,,'ur- duration, vou ian 'jUi - ; li'AV wo ;'.■■»; il ,■ e,.id. ii..twitli<taiuliu . tin- heavy 'en(lnl- . iothing which we v >■ Iherfl ru,- 1.,-en oil'' • a lot of snow ■■■'■•>■ '! lately; i: fact, ii nas started agaia to-day, so •a,, ea'it.oi ilv :is. oi course, ii is mipos.•il.!e in -. e anything when up ■Tin- pert ol the lines pati>.lied by our squadron ; s whne 'ill the lug lighting has taken plaee, and even at present the noise ~. t], . j.m? continues all dav. and sometime- vwll into the night, if any m0re- .,;,.,,! .. afoot. . . . This looming I Snnda\) we had a church parade. It ...,,. , ,',-v short, but made up in its sin>ril\ I had to go up again to-day, Z8.4 suii'r photographs had to be taken of tho ' ...!(.i:iv treiii In'-. We do quite a lot of t!,:. "-ork: in fiift. our headquarters have o!:o?,,;i-aphs ..I' the whole front. They ,ie 'ill taken ffoiu aeroplanes, and show ~., ; i|,. etiemx ;un emplacements and ■ i'i 'i hes '. er\ clearly.'