Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-05-14

flights of exploration begin, seven or
eight trips by plane will be required
between Etah and the base, 800 miles
to the western coast of Grant Land,
where food and gasoline will be stored.
From that uase. the main tours of dis
covery will be flown over the unknown
region between the Pole and Alaska.
and possibly additional bases farther
west may be ultimately established.
With flying radius of 900 miles. no
plane can 60 farther than 400 miles
from base in safety.
r \ = =
In addition to the airplane the Mac
MILAN expedition will carry map
cameras. SO that, a the airplanes pass
over new discoveries, the terrain will
be accurately mapped. There will be
a meteorological in the party, whose
work will include the designation of
strategic sites for future permanent
weather observation stations. There
will also be an expert color pho
tographer. who will make photographs
fixing the natural colors. This work
will be spectacular, when 1t color
photographs the so-called pink
snow" A tiny vegetable growth Of
pink flowers seems to make the snow
itself appear colored. A botanist in
the party will make scientific OBJ
servations of vegetable life, and bring
back Invaluable collections. He may
even collect some of the ''pinkness' of
the snow.
One of the most important members
of the scientist group will be the
ichthyologist, who will study the fish
of the Arctic. 1t ia known that the
plankton of the Arctic waters supplies
the food which nourishes the small
fish Of the oceans. which small fish
become, in turn, food for the large
fish which are important sources Of
food for man. Plankton is the pas
sively floating or weakly swimming
life of the ocean-diatoms and algae.
which are connecting links between
animal and vegetable life. II does not
exist in tropical waters, and fish feed
at the southern terminal of it's great
mass. Little is known about plankton,
yet the fish supply of the world de-
dance; the Arctic Ocean, therefore, is
the world pantry. =
Not the least fascinating feature
of the Macmillan expedition is the
radio outfit, under the charge of the
amateur wizard of photography, Lieut..
Reinartz, who has done more with
the short wave than any other man.
With a wave of only 20 or 40 meters,
the human voice may be sent broad
cast directly from flying planes to the
station at Etah. there ampiidad and
broadcast to all America. 1t does
not%require the powerful and massive
equipment that the ordinary wave
lengths do for broadcasting. Within
the last week demonstrations have
been successfully made with the short
wave in broadcasting in daylight
most important feat, since all the Sum-
mer, in the Arctics is uninterrupted
day.
1t is expected that Eskimo folk
songs rendered at Etah will be
picked up" at thousands OF stations
throughout America. The flyers ex-
Carnations Of wonder when they find
q continent will be audible in Wash
ington directly out of the Arctic sky.
Or, mayhap. we may hear the crash
of a plane upon mountain or a
glacier-and the roar of polar bear
at bay.
The one scientific aid that is not
yet ready Is the Jenkins radio appa-
ratus for sending vision as we'll as
sound through the ether, whereby one
might see what tho explorers view
even while they are seeing 1t. Mr..
Macmillan asked the Inventor for such
an outfit, but It d not Yet equal to the
electric conditions OF Arctic transmits.
sion. ,,,-.,su.,s4