The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-18
HUNTING THE SOUTH POLE

From the 'sHeart of the Antartic," by
 Lieut.. E. H. Shackeiton- Copyright by
 J. B. Llppincott & Co.,, and published
 with their permission in the National
 Geographic Magazine.
 DECIDED to take ponies. dogs and
 motor car to assist in hauling A our sledges on the long journeys that I had in view, but my hopes were based mainly on the ponies. Dogs had not proved satisfactory on the Barrier surface. and did not expect my dogs to do as well as they actually did. The use of a motor car was an experiment which I thought justified by my expe- rience of the character of the Barrier surface. but knew that 1t would not do to place much reliance on the machine in view of the uncertainty of the condi- tions. I feel confident, however, that the hardy ponies used in northern China and Manchuria would be useful if they could be landed on the Ice in good con- dition.
 had seen these ponies in Shanghai, and I had heard of the good work they did on the Jackson-Harmsworth expedi- ton. They are accustomed to hauling heavy loads in a very low temperature, and they are hardy, sure-footed and pluclxy. I noticed that they had been used with success for very rough work during the Russo-Japanese war and friend who had lived in Siberia gave me some moro information regarding their capabilities.
 I therefore got into communication with the London manager of the Hong kong and Shanghai bank (Mr c. 8. Addis), and he was able to secure the services of a leading firm of veterinary surgeons in Shanghai. A qualified man went to Tentsin on my behalf and from a mob of about POGO of the ponies. brought down for sale from the north ern regions, he selected 1b of the little animals for my expedition.
 The ponies chosen were all over 12 years and under 1T years in age and had spent the early part of their lives in the interior of Manchuria.
 Our winter headquarters was not O very spacious dwelling for the accommo- dalton of B persons. but our narrow quarters were warmer than if the hut had been larger.
 The length inside was ss feet. the breadth 19 feet and the height to the caves 8 feet. Between the outer wall and the inside lining of match boarding there was a space of about four inches, which was filled with granulated cork, serving to preserve the heat and keep out the cold. The outside was made of inch tongue and groove boarding, and Q sloping roof. with a gable at each end and two ventilators. brought tho total height up to IA feet The roof was double, but we did not fill the space between the two Things with cork. con- tenting ourselves with a double layer of felt over the outside roof, across which battens were nailed to protect the felt from the wind. While the felt was be- ing nailed on, an Antarctic breeze came up and some of the covering was stripped on. We found 1t hung up against rocks mora than . mile away to the north and eventually the work he'd to be done over again.
 The first thing done was to peg out a space for each individual and we saw that the best plan would be to have the space allotted in sections. allowing two persons to share one cubicle. This | space for two men amounted to six feet six inches in length and seven feet in depth from the wall of the hut toward the center. There were seven of these | cubicles and space for the leader of l the expedition; thus providing for the 1 15 who made up the shore party. It seems to be generally assumed that a Manchurian pony can drag a sledge over a broken trail at the rate of 20 to 30 miles day. pulling not less than l 1900 pounds. Some authorities even put | the weight to be hauled at 1900 pounds, | but this is, think. far too heavy q load. It was a risk to take ponies from the far north through the tropics and l then across 2ooo miles of stormy sea on a very small ship, but had felt that # 1t could be dons 1t would be well worth