Evening star., 1925-07-03


Alliance with the Amundsen-E Els
worth Polar Expedition.
OSLO. July 3.-From the point of
view of scientific equipment, the
Amundsen-Ellsworth polar expedition
marks new era in polar exploration.
No previous explorer has had the ad-
vantage of such a complete outfit of
efficient yet compact instruments for
his guidance and observation. Many
OF these scientific refinements are en-
tlrely new; others have now been used
for the first time in the Arctic.
Perhaps the most interesting and
useful of these Instruments are the
sun compass and the depth-sounding
apparatus. The latter is a German de-
vice. called Behmlot's Echo. The
whole instrument weighs only few
pounds, and replaces satisfactorily the
old-fashioned sounding machine with
its thousands Of feet of cumbersome
and treacherous cable. The operator
drops a cartridge. which explodes
when 1t strikes the bottom of the sea.
The operator starts his clock-work
mechanism as he drops the cartridge
and then listens through his micro.
phone for the explosion. The depth is
automatically registered.
Solar Compass Essential.
OF the sun compass Capt. Amundsen
says:
During our flights these instru-
ments were of essential Importance,
and operated with entire satisfaction.
This is probably the first time that
solar compasses have been used In the
Arctic, and certainly the first time
they have been used for aerial naviga-
ton in this part of the world"
The clothing worn by the explorers
on their flight was the particular care
OF old Martin Rome, a sturdy Scan
dinavian, who spent all his time in
Spitzbergen prior to the flight in see.
ing that every item of clothing was
in perfect condition. He is a shoe
maker and sailmaker by trade, and he
himself stitched the canvas boots
which the flyers wore over their regu-
lar footwear on the flight. These can
vas boots were about 20 inches long
by 10 inches wide, roomy enough so
that each boot, besides it's owners
foot, could carry a small sized hay
rick. All the space around the leather
shoe was packed with hay, which
holds the heat of the foot like a
vacuum bottle
A good deal of important work fell
to Ronne's lot in preparing for the
flight. 1t was he who laced up the
sledges-hght affairs with ski-like run
ners. He saw that the tents and can
vas boats were water-tight, and he was
responsible for the soundness of every
stitch in all the equipment bound for
the Far North.
Dornier-WaIs Satisfactory.
The Dornier-Wal type Of airplane,
with no wheels, but merely a sleigh.
fnv Ia
has become familiar TO the American n
public through the earlier photographs
OF the Amundsen-Ellsworth flight
preparations.
mo other type of airplane could
have withstood the strain" says Capt.
Amundsen. The construction of the
Dornier-Wal is unlike any other type.
and 1t is particularly fitted for the re-
quirements of Arctic flight. The en-.
gines won our complete confidence
from the first hour of their operation,
although on their first arrival at
Spitzbergen they gave US some
trouble"
During the month which we spent
IN Spitzbergen preparing for the start
of the flight we had long tussle with
the airplane engines, which were seri.
ously affected by their sudden transfer
from southern TO a northern eli.
mate on May the flyers came very
near making a start, owing to favor.
able meteorological reports. Engine
troubles largely occupied US from that
date until May 81, the date when the
start was finally made.
Motors AccIimated.
1t was on the morning of Nav q
that Feucht's tests showed something
wrong with the motors of the N-25
None of our five mechanics and two
pilots could find out exactly what was
wrong. The forward motor simply
would not start without an unreason
able amount of persuasion, while the
rear motor would not turn at all. The
sudden cold was blamed rather than