Connecticut western news., 1914-05-14
WHY CAPT. SCOTT
 LOST HIS LIFE
Commander EVarS Gives Few FaCtS For First Time.
OIL SHORTAGE WAS TRAGIC.


 ,. Their Leader Would Have Had to a Suffer Amputation of His Legs Even
 Had He Been Able to Reach One Ton
 Camp, the Base of Supplies.
 Commander E. R. G. R. Evans of the royal navy, second in command of the Scott expedition to the antarctic and the last member of the supporting par ty to see Captain Scott alive, has made public some details of the expedition which have not been mentioned In his lectures or written accounts. These are given in the New York Post.
 Even had Captain Scott succeeded In reaching One Ton camp, the base of supplies, 1t would have been necessary to amputate both his legs, said Con- mander Evans. The fate of the expe- dition, according to the commander, was to some extent due to unaccount- able shortage of oil supply-"paraffln" the explorers call it-at the supply de- pots on the return march.
 Petty Officer Evans, one of the five men on the final dash of 150 miles, was terribly cut up over the party's failure to beat Amundsen to the pole. Evans died first, according to the com mander's theory, because he was the heaviest man of the lot. He weighed about POO pounds, but he got the same rations as Lieutenant Bowers, who tipped the scales at 120 pounds.
 Disaster Due to Lack of oil.
 "If the men could have had more hot food and Hquid," said Commander Ev- ans, they could have kept their limbs from being frozen. The shortage of paraffin oil was tragic. But for that believe the men would have kept up hope of fetching through. But 1t was simply question of hot fuel and en- ergy, without which the human engine can't fight against cold and fatigue. As 1t was, the condition of Captain Scott's legs would have called for am- putation, even if he could have fought through to One Ton camp. That was eleven miles from the spot where the bodies were found eight months later.
 "0f course the atrocious weather was factor that no man could fight against. Never was an expedition bet ter equipped or more thoughtfully planned. And yet there seems, unac- countably, to have been too little al- alone the blizzards Captain Scott's band marched through. 1t was q fine weather supply at many posts. The oil which we use in the wickless par affin stoves for making tea and 'hoosh' must have leaked through the shoppers. In many instances two gallons had dwindled to gallon and two-thirds,"
 Commander Evans and H. R. Mather of the Royal navy volunteer reserve, one of the ships party on the Terra Nova, told many intimate details of the character of E. G. Oates-"Soldier'' or '"Titus," they used to call him.
 Captain Oates was the man who walked out of the tent on March IT when he felt that he was keeping the others back and said as he stepped in- to the blizzard, "I am just going out side and may be gone some time"
 "That was always Oates theory"
  cussing plans at the Cape Evans base during the winter of 1911 Soldier Oates always contended that the party should not stick with a dying man. 1t was his belief that when a mans traces got loose he ought to take him. self out of the way.
 A Wonder That Evans Escaped.
 Each of the three supporting par ties reported shortage of oil," said Mather. "Dr. Atkinson, Commander Evans, who only had two men with him, and Cecil Meares, in charge of the transports and animals, all told the same story. Each supporting party that picked up the depots on the return trip was supposed to use its share of the oil cones, but Meares gave up his share and travelled on two meals a day.
 ''It was a combination of great luck and determination that brought Com mander Evans home alive. He started by going right through blizzards, work ing with the floor cloth of his tent put up as sail. Two days march south of the Beardmore glacier he ran into a blizzard which lasted for three days. Instead of stopping until the party could see the tracks Evans decided to go ahead. He got the direction of the gale and steered a general course by expos ing his right cheek and telling the feel of the wind. They got somewhat out of direction and in consequence had to toboggan down Shackleton ice falls to get back to the upper glacier depot. AS 1t turned out, this move probably saved his life, which he later nearly lost through scurvy."
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