New Britain herald., 1916-06-01
Explorers Ambitious Effort.

ton has at last reached safety in the Falkland Islands after his ship, the Aurora, adrift and helpless for ten months in the South Polar seas had brought the story that the party was in danger of the fate of Captain Fal- con Scott, seems to indicate that the English explorer failed in his supreme effort to cross the pole. When he left Buenos Ayres on Oct. 26, 1914, with the most complete expedition ever | equipped for polar expedition, with wireless and aeroplanes and all that science could furnish for the am- 1 bilious object of the imperial expe- dition, he expressed the belief that | he would be back in civilization again within six months with the secrets of | the pole to add to the scientific re- cords of the day.
 It was his intention that the Aurora should sail from Tasmania through the Ross sea about the same time the Endurance sailed for the South seas from Buenos Aires. It was hoped i that Sir Ernest and his party sailing l on the Endurance would cross the | great unexplored polar region meet | the Aurora after travelling 1.700 land miles across the South Polar con- tinent, and carry to civilization the secrets of a vast and hitherto unex- 1 plored region of 5,0O0,00O square | miles.
 Aurora Waits in Vain. But the Aurora. waiting in the Ross sea for the party to penetrate the wilderness of snow and ice and blizzards, heard no word from him. She sent parties out to make obser- vations, and finally, on May 6, 1915, more than a month after Shackleton had expected to reach his auxiliary ship, the Aurora broke her moorings and drifted helpless in the polar seas for more than ten months.
 Finally the tug Dunedin found the disabled ship trying to reach civiliza- tion with the feeble aid of her jury rudder. to tell of the peril aid of Shackleton and his party and to recount a stor of suffering and pri- vation rivalled only by the narrative left by Scott after he had met his death in reaching what he called "the uttermost south.'
 Nor was the central party of Shackleton the only one reported in distress Cast adrift by the icebergs r the Aurora left ten men, the pink of her party, in the cold regions off Cape Evans, and in the terse language of the chief officer of the Aurora, J. R. Stenhouse R. N. R., i've saw no more of them," Nor has any one else seen anything of them since"
 Even, if Shackleton and his party are all safe there is yet this party of ten on the other side of the con- tinent to be rescued. They have no caches of food, and, Shackleton ap- parently did not reach them.
 Has Remarkable Escape.
 A further message received today from Lieut.. Sir Ernest Shack1eton. the Antartic explorer, whose arrival at Port Stanley, Falkland Islands was made known yesterday, shows that the expedition had a remarkable escape. After meeting with almost unprece- dented weather in the early part or 1915, the lieutenant's ship Endurance was badly nipped by great icebergs ana afterwards foundered.
 Sir Ernest succeeded in getting off all his men and some stores. Terrible privations were suffered. A1ter most hazardous journey the explorer reached Elephant Isla The scar- city of food became so serious that he decided to leave the greater part of his men while he set off for help. Ra-
 
 stored in a hole dug in the ice.
 After journey of three weeks such as probably is unique in the annals of Antartic expeditions, Sir Ernest reached South Georgia Here he sought the assistance of whalers, for the rescue of the party on Elephant Island, but this proved to be impos- sible, owing to unfavorable weather conditions
 The message says there is urgent need of help for the marooned men.
 TO Rescue Marooned Men.
 In view of the information received from Lieut.. Shackleton the plans of the government for sending a relief expedition from England will be aban- doned, and a whaler will be sent from the Falkland Islands to rescue the marooned men.
 After a careful examination of the text of Lieut.. Shackleton's original cable message, Sir Douglas Mawson, the explorer, said today:
 Instead of drifting until April g og this year as has been suggested, it is quite plain the Endurance was stuck in the ice floes from March of last year until Oct. 27 when the pres sure became too great. The Endur- ance was crushed and sank on the lat ter date in the middle of Weddel sea.
 Lieut. Shackleton abandoned the sinking ship, dragging the whale boats and supplies on an ice foe, on which he continued to drift until April g of this year. It appears that, having at that time reached open water, the lieutenant and his compan- ions launched a whaleboat and sailed fo,- M Jc1o oF+ +1 land Group, arriving there April 16.
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