The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-03-11
Considers 1t Likely That
English Rival Reached
Pole.
MAY HAVE BEEN
FIRST ONE THERE
Chances Against This Theory, as
Norwegian Saw No Traces of
Other Explorers at Earth's
Southern Axis-Further
Details of Dash in
Antarctic.

Especial Cable to the New York Times
and The Times Dispatch, Copyright,
| 1912. by the New York Times Com
| pany. All rights rcscrved)
Hobart. sunday March 1o.-Captain
koald -Nmundscn received me to-day
and not only materially added 20 the
| Information already cablcd by him re-
spccting his Journey to and from the
! Youth Pole, but also discussed the
problem of whether it is likely that
he was preceded by his English rival,
| Captain Scott" He said.
saw no traces whatever showing
that Captain Scott had been at the
pole. but it is possible that he had
been there and had left some sub
| stantiaf memorial which had afterward
been destroyed by the storms
The chances. however, are heavily
/ against this theory, for during the
weather was clam and still, ana
think that is the prevalent condition.
There was nothing but the vast level
plains of snow, and hence there was no
possibility of erecting a permanent
cairn OF stones.
The season was very favorable, and
therefore it is exceedingly likely that
| Captain Scott did reach the pole later,
| II not sooner than myself. most
sincerely hope he did arrive there, for
! he we'll deserves success"
New Plan Tried
| On my sledGnS journey to tho
| pole a new plan was tried. At first
the expedition daily Travelled nfteen
| miles in five hours, then spent two
hours eating and In feeding the dogs.
| and then we attempted TO spend the
other thirteen hours in sleep. This
period of rest was found to be too
long both for the men and dogs, and A
1 new nlnn ri nj .yva
march fifteen miles In about ST.. hours.
spend two hours eating and attending
TO the dogs sleep six hours ana
march again. This accounts for the re-
'narkable speed OF ove: twenty miles
a day attained on the return Journey
| The greatest difficulties of the en-
petition were caused by the heights
| encountered. During the latter part of
the journey to the pole we spent
nearly six weeks at grlat elevations.
| which sometimes reached 1850 feet
The pole itself is at an elevation OF
| 1880 feet When We wore working
hard, great difficulty was experienced
| in breathing at these heights and we
| painted and struggled for breath.
| With regard to food, we had full
| rations all the way, but in that climate
| fun rat!ons arc very different thing
| TO having as much as II man can eat
| There seems little limit to ones eating
| powers when doing hard sledginS
| journey. However, on the return
| journey We had not merely full rations.
but rs much as we could eat from the
dcpots after passing ST. degrees.
The FIRST dogs were eaten on tho
| Journey to the pol1 in So IL degrees,
when twentyfour were killed. In
spite OF the fact that they had not
| always been able TO obtain full meals,
the dogs were fat and proved most
delicious eating. 1t is anything but 1.
real hardship to eat dog flesh.
Guiis Arc Seen.
| Two SeaSullS were seen at Sii:, de-
srces. y small cairn had previously
been erected mark TO guide us OIL
! our return. and just when we had LETT
| this til: Sulls came dying past aul
alightcd on the cairn.
| Three Sof the best dogs deserted the
party at So degrees. We had killed a
| female dog at S2ia degrees. and tho
dogs vent back searching Tor her.
This caused us great anxiety. for it
was feared that the dogs would pillaEe
the dcrcts on which the party depend
! ID. When We returned to SIS degrees,
after being nj the pole. we saw fresh
dog tracks around the large snow cairn
! used as depot there. Curlously
enough. the pemmican in the depo; was
untouched
Traces of thu dogs were followed
TO 81 degrees where the female doc.
had been killed, They had found tho
body. which was placed on the top OF
a heap Of snow as a food reservs for
the party, and after having eaten 10
the dogs had gone to the depot al S..
degrees. where . large number of casca
were pi.ed up. They had got at one q.
the cases OF pemmlcan. ana had nor
not only eaten that, but had also eaten
the leather straps and other indisestt-
bic articles. They had also eaten tgu
dogs which We had Killed ana l:ft Tor
food al this depot.
Eleven dogs survived the whole
! Journey ana safety reached the Fran
''! ANA my -four companions on tina
pole party kept the Christmas festival
in the high mountains. not great dis
tance from the pole. The feast con,
| sisted OF an extra amount OF biscuit,
| cooked in i porridge. Il poor substitute
! for thr abundance for the Norwegian
! Christmas, but We enjoyed 1t heartily.
| \" Rest on return.
| on the return journey We had nor
| single days Test. We did not even
! rest on Christmas Day but passed on
day cttel dag. through all wcathers.
| There was little that was ADVENTUROUS
about the trip bat it was vary hard
work
Il attribute my success 10 my splen4
did comrades and to tile magnihcene
work o. the dogs, and next to them
TO our skis The splendid condition OF
the dogs on landing in the Antarctic
was due mainly 10 the precauticne
taken on the Fran In ordsr to keep
the dogs In good health while crossing
| the tropics, special double deck
| planking had been liked above the deck
| OF the Franz with srYacc Soynral