The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1910-04-05
SURE SOUTH
WILL BE FOUND.
Sir Ernest ShackletOn Says
Next Expedition VIII Succeed.
DEPENDS ON THE FOOD SUPPLY
Antarctic Explorer, Who is Lecturine
In United States, Was Obliged to
Turn Back For Lack Of Fifty Pounds
Of acknowledgements Chances of
American and British Expeditions.

Turn Back For Lack Of Fifty Pounds
Of Provisions--compares Chances Of
American and British Expeditions.
| When the Cunard liner Lusitania ar
rived at her pier in New York the
other morning the chief object of in
| terest on her deck was bronzed,
clean shaver man, slightly above the
| average height and well built, wear
ing blue serge suit and Il derby hat.
He was Lieutenant Sir Ernest Shac-
kleton. the antarctic explorer who went
within III miles 1of the south pole
and came TO the United States to de-
liver a series OF lectures on the Far
thest SOUTH
In an interview with the reporters
Sir Ernest declared that he would not
take command Of any expedition to
the south pole until Captain Scott had
made his attempt to reach that goal
and was confident that the latter
would get there if his expedition was
properly equipped.
w. ONRRtg iiilHCi eetits
The success of an expedition to the
south pole" said Sir Ernest Shackle-
| ton depends on the stamina of the
men. their equipment and, most inn
portant of all, the food If we had
had fifty pounds more solid food we
should have reached our goal. as the
conditions for travelling were good
and the III miles that separated us
from it were over practically fiat ice.
AS far as we could see with our strong
glasses there was no obstruction ahead.
Our range was only four or five miles
on the horizon, but a barrier of ice of
any considerable height would have
been visible between our position and
the south pole There might have been
rise of 100 feet or so, but nothing
that could not have been surmounted.'
What do you mean by solid food?'
he was asked.
by that" replied the explorer, Il
mean cheese, pemmican and plasmon
biscuits. Those do-not contain mois-
ture The pemmican we carried was
different from the American kind, as it
was composed of GO per cent of lard
and the best parts of beef.
From Nov. IA, 1908, to Feb. %, 1909,
our party was always hungry, except
on Christmas day, when we divided a
four ounce plum pudding into four
parts and licked the spoons. We had
another luxury that day in tin of fro
zen sardines which contained seven
teen fish. After taking four each we
tossed our knives on the ice for the
odd one. We started to take tin of
jam with us but as it weighed two
pounds we left it 121 miles from base.
which was $50 miles from the pole.
Our breakfast consisted of pony steaks.
Cut Trousers to Reduce Weight.
"To reduce our weight as much as
possible we cut twenty inches from
the legs of our trousers, which may
seem strange, but every ounce tells on
a trip like that At first we had thirty
two ounces for man day, which
gradually got smaller until our rations
were reduced to sixteen ounces a man
when we reached the top of the pla-
teau, but after few days saw that
it was not sufficient to keep up our
strength, and it was increased to TWEEN
ty ounces"
Sir Ernest went on to explain that
their clothing was made Of a noted
wool, with boots made of reindeer skin
prepared in peculiar way by the Lap
landers, who soak the hide in brine
and then chevy it to make it soft, and
wolfskin gloves.
Il realize that have lost caste with
thousands of small boys because was
not picturesquely CARRIED in furs," said
the explorer with a smile, ''but we had
to study weight, and the garments
were windproof and equally as warm
as furs."
Captain scott's Opportunities Better.
do you think Captain Scott has a
better chance than the proposed Amer
lean expeditions" he was asked.
Il should say yes. His opportuni-
ties are better. The side he will tackle
is known, while the other is unknown
Captain Scott will have the same sort
of equipment that we had, but he will
have much bigger ship. The govern
ment has given him grant of 100000,
and he will start well prepared. He
will follow the same route did, as !
followed his. The American expedi-
fiop of cn,rrca xrat,ld aufop on nm
known territory, 1t would have to
make base in the Falkland islands
or somewhere else near. As for Wilkes
Land, that has been sailed over by
English ships, and Frenchmen who
have been down there to look at 1t
have not been able to find it. Yes, /
have hoisted the British flag over por-
tons of the antarctic continent have
discovered. but hardly think there
will ever be any disputes over bound
aries down there. Did | find traces
Of minerals? Yes; saw signs of tin
and coal within 300 miles of the pole,
but not Of geld
II should not think of going down
there in search of the pole while Cap
tain Scott is looking for it. He asked
me If were going. His previous work
certainly helped me lot. and ! am
glad II mine will be of use to him.
may go down in that direction mex
year on scientific expedition to char
the coast line, and so on, but unless
Captain Scott reports that he has fail
J. n = 80