The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-16
AUSTRALIA PLANS ARCTIC EXPEDITION Dr. MaWsOn Will Take Air
 ship With Him CIPHER IS DISCOVERED Light Thrown on Recent Excavations Underneath Mosque of Omar.
 pr. Juvelius Solves Cipher
 and Discovers Secrets
CIPHER IS DISCOVERED

London June 15.-Australia is the lat est aspirant for the honors of Ant arctic discovery, and extensive prep arations are being made for the ex- petition which Dr. Douglas Mawson will lead with the ship Aurora now sailing for London from Newfound land. From Hobart, her last port of call, the Aurora will set sail toward the Antarctic regions in November Some of the best known British ex- plorers will be among the force of the landing party which will muster 20 men. The most advanced feature of the equipment will be a Vicker's mono plane in charge of Lieutenant Wat kins. who has distinguished himself at the Brooklands aviation grounds on this type of machine.
 "we hope the aeroplane will be | very valuable to us" Dr. Mawson said | in an interview. An aeroplane can fly over an ice crevasse or a ridge as easily as over anything else, whereas a party on foot might have to search a long time to find a pass. There are plenty of flat snow fields for rising | or alighting and an aeroplane can dc a journey of 15e miles in three hours" "
 Two members of the Shakelton party have prominent positions on the Aus tralian explorier's staff. Capt. J. K. Davis, who commanded the Nimrod on Sir Ern- est Shakelton's farthest south expedi- tion. will have charge of the Aurora, will outfit her and select the crew. | Dr. Wilde, who Is a veteran of the | Shakelton and Scott marches, also has an imp ortant post Lieutenant Ninnis l of the Royal Fusifers is the expert on surveying and sledgtng. For ice work Swiss, Dr. Merz who won the ski l inr1yaiDo ph mn in 1Q0S goes along. Australians and New Zenland- CTS complete the complement.
 Money for the purchase of the ship was raised by English papers in a few days after an appeal to the public by Sir Ernest Shakelton. Lord Strathcona headed the list with s5000 and total of s60 900 was raised.
 The Aurora is a sailing steamer fitted with an auxiliary screw. Her length Is 165 feet, and she will be fitted as a barquentine.
 Further light has been shed on the se- cret cipher that is supposed to have led the English syndicate, under Captain Parker to begin it's excavations under meath the Mosque of Omar, at Jerusa- lem, a labor that resulted recently in the unearthing of valuable biblical an- tiquities. The details given below are believed to be authentic.
 pr. Walter H. Juvelius of Helsingfors. Finland. in the course of his biblical stud ies found traces of what he believed to be a very complicated cipher, which was in part used in the Hebrew texts. He then turned his attention to the Tal- mud and found there in the Book of Michna an indication that, hidden in the l Book of Ezekiel and in certain of Moses | books, were valuable sacred secrets which could be declared to no one. In his | ,.I, f1aa QnO | of Ezekiel in cipher a description of a l secret hiding place in Jerusalem. In or l der to check this information Dr. Juve- | lius then turned his attention to the Books of Moses, as & consequence Of the hint in the Talmud that these books also contained valuable information in the same cipher and bearing on the loca- ton of the hiding place. In the Book of Deuteronomy the doctor found fur ther descriptions of the hiding place. and still further proof is alleged to have been found in the fragment known a g the Book of Jesu ben Syrak.
 The information conveyed in the cipher was:
 1. That there was a secret hiding place in the rayon of Mount Orphel, certainly containing the Tables of the Law, the Temple Archives and the Temple Treas ures.
 2. That this hiding place was connected with the blood canal used for the car rying off of the blood of sacrifcial offer ings in the Temple.
 g. That this hiding place was In con- nectiou also with Davids City. It is not stated in the cipher that the blood canal | and Davids City were in direct com municat tion. though this is probable. 4. That David's City was on Mount Or phel.
 | 5. That the immediate entrance to the | treasure chamber was through cleft | deep down in the rock. which was filled up at the time of the hiding of the treas ures, and must consequently first be cleared out by any explorers.
 1 G. That the blood canal stood In connec- ! ton with the temple water system. 1 I. That there were three approaches to the water system and thence to the blood canal One of these was through the temple itself, now the Mosque of Omar, asd another near to the Virgins Well discovered by Sir Charles Warrenl. The third approach was at considerable dis tance and in these days unavailable.
 That the blood canal was of consider able size may be gathered from the fact that at the consecration of the temple | 22. 600 oxen and 1S0O0 sheep were slaugh- tered as sacrifices by King Solomon
 So much for the origin and contents of the cipher
 | That the effort to discover the hiding place was worth making Dr. Juvelius de- cared to be certain. Any exact description of the supposed contents of the secret chamber would be impossible, but it wa. Understood that tine treasure alone to be l found there would be worth several mil | lions of pounds. Jesu ben Syrak book states very definitely that the contents Of the hiding place certainly include the Table of the Laws, hidden there until the coming of the Messiah. Tn addition | it is practically certain according to the cipher, that the secret place contains treasures of almost incalculab.e worth, as well as manuscripts and archives of the very highest scientific value. Included in the cipher is curse, sixty and six fold," " on any unauthol zed persons who may attempt to disclose the secret chamber.
 In August, 1909, the first excavations were begun in the greatest secrecy and under various subterfuges as to the real object of the expedition. The work has been contirnea since. but with certain necessary interruptions.
 | Dispatches received rom Jerusa lem last May, set forth that the excavators had found and carried away certain treasures hidden from the r. E1mans when they sacked Jerusalem ir A. D. 70, including \ Solomons crown. sword and ring, and khat with this plunder they were on q
 kcht headed for England.
 Aptain Parker said later in an inter
 pat all the antia ities discovered by
 sh syndicate Lad been left in the
 the Turkish government. Just
 sures the explorers discovered