Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1910-04-07
sure SOUTH POLE
Will Be FOUND
Sir Ernest ShackIeton Saws
Next Expedition Will Succeed.
DEPENDS ON THE FOOD SUPPLY


Turn Back For Lack Of Fifty Pounds
OF Provisons-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 a bronZed.
clean shaven 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 Ill miles of 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.
Food Supply important.
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 i'm
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 Ill 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 Il 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, 81
mean cheese, pemmican and plasmon
biscuits. Those do not contain mois-
ture. The pemmican we carried was
different from the American kind, as 1t
was composed of 60 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.
ITO 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 l saw that
it was not sufficient to keep up our
strength, and it was increased to twen-
ty ounces"
Sir Ernest went on to explain that
their clothing was made Of noted
wool. with boots made Of reindeer skin
prepared in a peculiar way by the Lap
landers, who soak the hide in brine
and then chew it to make it soft, and
wolfskin gloves.
II realize that have lost caste with
thousands Of small boys because l 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 SCOTS Opportunities Better.
do you think Captain Scott has a
better chance than the proposed Amer
lean expedition" he was asked.
81 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 n grant of 100000.
and he will start well prepared. He
will follow the same route l did, as
followed his The American expedi-
ton, of course would enter an I'M
known territory. 1t would have to
make a 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 it
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 800 miles of the pole.
but not of gold.
Il should not think of going down
there in search of the pole while Cap
to;p Scott is looking for it. He asked