The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-02-01
EXPLORERS FEAR NO
COLD IN ANTARCTIC
Air Pure Enough to Kill All
Dangerous Germs, Says
ShackletOn.
TELLS, OF POLE HARDSHIPS
New Arrangements of Hours Of
March Made for FOrthcOm-
ing Expedition.
Special Correspondence TO Tnr Sun.

LONDON. Jan. 23.--Si' Ernest hacke-
ton has been describing some of the phy3-
cal hardships which lie and his comrades
will have to face on their forthcoming
expedition TO the Antarctic. Dealing
, with the subject OF food for traveller
in that region he emphasized the value
Of sugar. the craving for which. he said.
- most acute. Sir Ernest ShackletOn
| added
"ro show you how valuable to tine
explorer sugar H., there was an occasion
when we marched 32l miles drawing
laden slcdgcs, in IA. days. Every two
hours We took two or three Jumps of
sugar each. Within ten minutes Of eat
Ing this we could feel the heat going
| through our bodies. The highest tenn
perature Of that march was c. degrees
! below zero.
Talking Of temperature. il IS a remark.
able fact that while high up on the
| plateau our thermometers would not
| register any body temperature except
| Just after We had finished eating. Just
| after "a meal the mercury rose tn within
point or two of the normal.
| This curious circumstance has sug-
gested a new arrangement of the hours
| OF march Night and day In the ordinary
| sense will not exist for us On the
| coming expedition a nineteen hour day
| is to be adhered to. ON awakening one
hour will be devoted to pre- paration after
| this there will he "a four hour march.
| followed by an hours rest, another four
| hour march and second hours rest.
| Sleep time. which formerly lasted from
| or j. NJ till & \. NJ. will be shortened
to eight hours-the period after which
| loss OF heat becomes more important
| than gain In rest. W. shall 10y this
means save thlrty-iivc hours In n week.
and do about eight hours OF marching
| a day. Tho arrangement will be better
| for both men and dogs
Tea and Cocoa only StimuInnts.
I'VE shall take with US 10 stiriulan,s
| except tea and cocoa We drink the tea
| AT midday 10 refresh us for tie after
noon march. The cocoa Is taken last
thing at night to preserve body heat
during the hours OF sleep. The greatest
| temptation which asstils an Arctic en-
| plorcr Is the desire to drink on the
march. At his feet lies potential liquid
in unlimited quantity. But the snow
Is at 80 degrees below zero and must
be melted In the mouth. The heat re-
quired to melt 1t Is much too precious
to Ice thrown away. representing as Il
does strength and energy.
at was extraordinary how We used
to crave for different kinds of food al
different times. When eating starchy
food TO counterfeit dyseutery on one oc,
casion we all longed for meat, on anothS
occasion when eating meat exclusively
| We craved starchy food. seal hlubUe,
which In winter quarters would have
nauc us i'll, Was searched for cag'rl'
on the march. y man who found a p,e.a
. ! of blubber in these circumstances be-
, li.vcd he had discovered a prize. We
liked thick Fat buildings. Light articles
of diet like Jellies. into which we could
not get our teeth. were useless 10 us.
. zone OF the finest dishes we ever
. tasted on returning to winter quarters
, | consisted of the contents OF ten tins or
sardines laid out on fat bacon and Cow
, | cred with pastry. This chef dGuvre
concluded a twelve course meal Never
, once did our thoughts turn TO alcohol.
No Danger Of Catching Cold.
"CatchnE cold is almost unknown
| in the Antarctic. The only time we ever
suffered from cold was Just after we
had opened u bale Of English clothes TO
, serve them out for winter wear. The
germs apparently were lying dormant.
, having been inhibited BY the cold. They
! woke up on being heated. Tho men
whose duties took them Into the open
recovered in day. Tho others suffered
I during four or five days.
Polar explorers commonly get bad COLDS
Q on returning To civilization. The reason,
in Sir Ernest's opinion Is that tho white
blood corpuscles. ''phagocytes'--whos
9 duty Il Is TO kill hostile Germs--become
: atrophted or 'lose their skin" in the pure
antarctic air. He added:
There was an interesting Illustration
of this when the Nitnrod anchored near
= an island 10 the south OF New Zealand
The men Went ashore ana ran about NAKED
d. on tho beach When they came on board
they found themselves bitten all over tho
body by sandilies. Their bodies swellet
= up terribly. We reached New Zealand
. three days later, and then were surprised
y to lind that while all those who had not
y been bitten contracted colds those who
= had been remained unaffected. Apparently
:, their white blood corpusclcs hal wax
. encd up.
). absence OF sunlight ha. n most pecu-
~ liar effect on tho human complexion. w hen
- we emerged from four months OF night
~ our faces were green and yellow. The
u sun, however. soon restored our normal
y color Another curious point noted was
u that all tho fifteen men Of the shore party
u were discovered TO have blue-gray or blue
Ieyes.
"Thc Antarctic explorer Is not so favor
IS ably situated as the Arctic. In summer
u 100 different kinds OF lowering plants are
, to be found within 800 miles of tho north
v, polo. The tracks of the Arctic hare are
y met with 100 miles from the pole. III the
- case OF the south pole, on the contrary. no
u towering plants exist within 100 miles
l. Within 75o miles all animal and plant life
| ig xIgtput