The Thibodaux sentinel. (Thibodaux, La.) 1905-1912, 1912-03-16
R0ALD AMUNDSEN'S DASH TO THE SOU1HPQE

It was not practical for The men to
use their skids.
eevlr. Dancing Heom.
This curious area was a1named "ths
DEVILS dancing room." and Il was here
that Amundsen and his fcllowers en-
countered the most unnleasant part
Of their march.
The greatest height attained during
the entire march was On December
6, when the hypsometer and amer
oidm showed them to Be $50 feet
above sea level. This wal at 81 de-
grees 40 minutes south ahlitude.
On December bad eather was
left behind The ne and the
inarc1IeEs I'd gst an obseFS
vation and dead reckoning. To their
great satisfaction they found that they
were exactly alike at 50 degrees 16
minutes.
Flat Plateau Seen.
Before them now stretched an alb
solutely flat plateau marked only here
and there by tiny mounds of wind
swept snow. On the afternoon Of
December 8 Amundsen and his party
passed 8S degrees % minutes, which
was Shackelton's farthest south. They
continued on to SO degrees rs min
utes, where they camped, "farthest
SOUTH" for the night. On the morrow
they established their last depot at SO
degrees IS minutes.
Here the plateau commenced to
slope down slowly and very smoothly
toward the other side OF the world.
They reached SO degrees 80 minutes
on December 9. The next day they
gained 50 degrees Sc minutes; De
cember II, SO degrees Is minutes. and
on December IL they reached 80 de
grees 80 minutes. only IS miles from
the South Pole. It was ION to the
pole" now, and on December 13 the
mark of 80 degrees 45 minutes was
attained. Up to this time the obser-
vations and dead reckoning had
agreed remarkably well and they fig
ured they should be at the pole On
December IA.
To the great delight Of Amundsen
and his hardy band the day was clear
and beautiful and with only slight
breeze from the southeast. The tenn
perature was SO degrees.
Sledging was perfect and they
pushed forward until 3 o'clock in the
afternoon, when they came to halt
According to their reckoning they hat'
reached their destination.
SiIken Flag unfuried.
The coiors-a beautiful .flagwas
broken out and all hands Igathered
around and took hold of the. standard
and planted it on the spot. The last
plateau was named for King Haakon
VII.
During the night the explorers cir
cled their camp mile after mile to a
radius of IL miles. The object of this
no doubt, was to find if any record
existed of a previous visit by man.
The following day fine weather con
tinued and observations were taken
from 6 o'clock in the morning until
at night. The result gave them ~
degrees SIS minutes. This was really
at the pole, but in order to observe
the position as closely as possible
they travelled south for the remaining
six miles and camped on the true pole
This was December Is.
Under the brilliant sun members o1
the party took observations every
hour of the day for "a hours. The
exact result of these observations viii
be a matter of expert examination
but there is no doubt in the mind ol
Amundsen that they observed the po
sition of the pole as closely as 1t is
within human power to do SO.
House Rests on Pole.
On December II the observations
were at an end. Amundsen and his
men fastened to the ground a little
tent and broke from its top the Nor
wegian flag and the pennant from the
Fran. 1t was Norwegian nome
raised on the South Pole and was
given the name of Potheim.
The return trip began that day ane
the weather proved unusually favor
able. The winter quarters were
reached on January 25, 1912. They
averaged "a miles day on the re
turn trip. The Fran left the Bay O.
Whales on January 80 and owing t
contrary winds did not reach Tas
mania for more than month. It ar
rived safe, however. with all well OF
board.