The Washington herald., 1914-03-13
TELLS Of PARTING
WITH CAPT. SCOTT
Commander Evans Recalls
Bidding Explorer Good-by
Before Polar Dash.
BRITISH EMBASSY GUEST
Naval Officer Describes How He Was
Carried 800 Miles Over Ice
While Seriously III.
BRITISH EMBASSY GUEST

Between courses at !. dinner given last
night In his honor at the British EN-
bassy, where he is n guest during his
brief visit in w shington. Commander T.
r. G. r. Evans. of Hi Majesty's Royal
Navy. the last man to clasp the hand of
Capt. Scott before the latter left on his
final fatal dash to the south pole. gave a
hasty account of the dramatic manner
In which he first LEARNED that his leader
had perished. when he returned some
months later to the antarctic to carry
relief to the remaining members of the
expedition.
How he parted from the intrepid Brit
ish explorer 1i5 miles from the pole: HOY!
his own two seamen dragged him. i'll, on
the perilous S0o-mIle tramp over the
mountains of ice back to the base Of op-
crations. refusing to desert him; how he
returned later commanding the Terra
Nova, Capt. Scott'5 sh:o, with the vessel
gayly decorated in honor OF the glad oc-
casion, only to find tat his relief party
had arrived 200 late, al these facts he
will tell this afternoon In his lecture be-
fore the National Geogral hic Society at
New Masonic Temple.
"I was standing on the bridge of the
Terra Nova, January is. 1913" said
Commander Evans last night. when /
caught sight of the little hut that
formed the base of operations in the
antarctic. A lone man. Lieut. Victor
Campbell. was standing on the shore.
1 shouted to him through the mega
phone: Is Capt. Scott and his party
safeT
Learn. of scott's Death.
The man shouted back to me:
Cant. Scott reached the south pole.
but he and his party perished on the
return. We have all the records
safe That was the first word i had
received OF Capt Scotts death. The
blow was such that ! could not real
ize il at the time.
Commander Evans arrived in New York
yesterday aboard the Oceanic. but
left Immediately for Washington in
order to keep his lecture engagement
this afternoon at 4:30 o'clock
Evans was second in command. OF the
scott expedition and headed the advance
march to the pole. He said good-by to
Can't. Scott at King George VII Plateau
AS miles from the pole. Already the
men had tramped 1.5OS statute miles
through the snow and ice across the
plateau and were at the point of exhaus-
ton. Capt. Scott, taking five weeks pro-
vision, pushed forward with four men
on his final dash to the pole, while Com
mander Evans, nllnSeil, IN CrluSaI Soh
dition, with two men, Cream and Lash
Iy, turned back on the S00-mile trip TO the
base Of operations.
His own personal hardships were In
Commander Evans was
stricken with scurvy. and for thirteen
days his two companions dragged him
on a sled. At the 5oo-milc point he near
ly died. yet his two companions refused
to desert him. Another day he tainted
three times, when they were seventy-five
miles from the nearest camp. and he
pleaded with his men to leave him, and
go on to safety. but they still insisted
in dragging him along. for thirteen hours
a day. over the snow. When within thir-
ty-five miles of Hut Point. where food
could be had Commander Evans was so
near death that II was necessary to halt.
Lashly stayed behind with him and Cream
pushed on for eighteen hours to the