The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-06-06
CAPT. SCOTT, LEADER OF SOUTH
 POLE DASH, IS A TODAY

Capt. Robert Falcon Scott, R. N. C. V. O.. leader of the British Antarc- tic expedition, was born at Davenport city of England's south coast long 6, 1868, forty-four years ago today That he was chosen to head the most ambitious of the numerous quests for the South Pole was a tribute to his daring, Knowledge and experience and the fact that Amundsen captured the
 prize will not prevent the inclusion of his name among the greatest o1 those who have risked their lives in exploring the wastes of the lands ot eternal ice.
 Youth does not necessarily mean in- experience, and Capt Scott was well
 prepared, physically and mentally, tc carry out his announced purpose o1
 making the Terra Nova expedition a success, regardless of the detail o1 reaching the pole itself, in gathering a wealth of scientific data about the South Polar regions. He entered the
 British navy thirty years ago, at the age of fourteen, and was still under twenty when he was advanced to be Lieutenant on the Rover. In 1898 he became torpedo lieutenant of the Channel squadron's flagship, the Ma jestic. His promotion to first lieuten- ant came a year later, and in 1901 he became commander, and was selected as the leader of an English expedi- ten to the Antarctic. This attempt to wrest from nature the, secrets she had wei! equipped as the recent one, al- though it was well financed by the government. A wooden boat of FOG tons, named the Discovery, carried the party to the Antarctic sea. It was on Christmas eve of 1901 that the vessel is called the Great Antarctic Barrier, and which has been a subject of dis pute between previous explorers, was quickly reached. A vast stretch of land, named by Scott King Edward
 VII. Land, was discovered, and the good ship Discovery thus early jus tifivd it's name.
 For some time the Discovery was laid up in McMurdo Sound, and from
 that point the exploration by sledges
 began. For nearly two months the
 party continued southward. covering
 grees south and II minutes south. On
 this trip Mounts Longstaff and Mark ham were discovered and named af-
 ter the two principal promoters of
 the expedition. Capt. Scott also pro-
 oeeded about 300 miles westward from
 the vessel. Returning to the Discov-
 cry late in 1903, the Terra Nova, in
 which Capt. Scott made his latest trip
 to the polar regions, soon appeared
 bringing orders for an immediate re-
 turn.
 King Edward expressed his apprecia-
 tion of Capt. Scott's achievements by
 making him a Companion of the Vic torian Order. Cambridge honored 1 him with the degree of Doctor of Sci-
 ence, and gold medals were confer
 red upon him by the geographical so-
 cieties of England. Scotland, the Uni-
 ted States. Sweden, Denmark, and
 Belgium. In 1905 he published a book,
 ''The Voyage of the Discovery" that
 added much to the worlds knowledge
 regarding the little explored South
 Polar regions. One of the men in the
 command of Capt. Scott on his initial
 Antarctic trip was Lieut.. Shackleton
 who thus gained the knowledge that
 enabled him to attain furthest south
 five years later. Capt. Scott marie in 1908 Miss Kathleen Bruce, a daugh- ter of the late Canon Lloyd Bruce.