Vashon Island news-record. [volume] (Vashon, Wash.) 1919-1954, 1926-07-30

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valuable aid to Lieutenant Commander vel 49,
Richard Il. Byrd In his successful flight w 4
the North Pole, which he circled three NA
times in record breaking flight of 1900 p s%A y
miles In Is hours and 80 minutes at IA
average speed of 1915 miles an hour -
II was at the Sptzbergen base. Kings IA N~SNs
Bay where this first modern house was y N ssasss
constructed amid the and Ice of the ~ IN ~
Arctic Immediately upon the arrival Of ~ ~.
Lieutenant Byrd and his companions as 90
a permanent home and observation sta N-I :
tion for the explorers The house which
the horizon the frgid north In arked con
trast to the igoo of the eskimo was equipped with COM
pete radio outfit that those who remained nj the base
While Lieutenant Byrd made his thrilling dash TO the
Pole in his speeding Fokker might keep In touch with
their chief and the outside world which they kent in
formed as to the progress and OF the flight
II was to this same home that he returned after his
hazardous trip and from which some of the first mes
sages were sent to the waiting public, telling them
through the lanes of the air that Byrd had crced the
pole three times and had returned to his Spltsbergen
home In safety, adding of the memorable pages
to the history Of Arctic exploration.
Sugar Cane Fights Polar North
When Lieutenant Byrd left the Brooklyn Navy Yard on
the ship Chapter he declared he had the best and most
scientifically equipped expedition that had started
for the North Pole Special plans made for the
erection Of his Arctic home Boards OF ceotex insulating
lumber made from bagasse (sugar fiber after all
sugar juices have been extracted) carried along
with the latest inventions TO aid In polar exploration
This building material Is very light and Is filled with
millions OF cells which give II great insulation value
and resistance change In temperature especially the
cold. One odd circumstance In connection with
the Of this material Is that the sugar of the
south was utilized to fight the cold of the north.
CelOtex selected Instead OF lumber because tests
made by the United States Bureau of Standards and
universal in building construction all the
world had demonstrated that this insulating lumber
would keep the quarters OF the explorers and
protect their living conditions securely than ord
nary building material.
II was only after careful investigation by the scientific
in the expedition that celo;ex selected These
mil ouf fkn nv
its insulation efficiency three times great ordi-
nary lumber and nearly twelve times great that
OF brick and other masonry material The ship Chanter
also was lined with celotex added precaution to
keen the ship while the explorers used 1t In tho
preliminary stages OF the expedition.
In practically every other way this expedition was
scientifically prepared than any OF Its predeces.
sors. These included inventions OF Commander Byrd
himself A simple compass conceived by Byrd and
developed by Air, Bumsead Of the National Geographic
Society superseded the complicated German device de
yeoped three years ago for Amundsen. The drift In
dlcntor also Byrds Invention The bubble sextant
by which the navigator obtains his bearings while in
flight another one Of HIS Inventions still another
scientc development was quick method Of telling when
one IS at the North Pole This has been worked out
BY G. W. Lttehaics the nayys photographic engineer
Device Locates tho Pole.
Byrd and others contributed 10 a chart Of the mag
netlc lines flowing toward the magnetic North Pole,
which Is In Bothp Land 1910 miles south OF the Pole
Between Boltha Land and the Pole the campass points
south instead ~ north and much Of the Arctic
II Is badly dlsnrhou tho discrepancy or position De-
tween the geographical North Pole and the magnetic
North Pole
This chart Of the magnetic lines. flowing to the mag
netic North Pole. although Il far from complete was
such enable the navigator to tell In what direction
the compass should point from any spot IN the Arctic
with this knowledge the eratic behavior Of the com
pass orderly and Is again useful instru
ment
A third type Of compass used was device % infinite
senstiyeuess-a revolving electrical coil which is ad
justed to given relation with the magnetism u th'
earth This. the compass. and the magnetic com
unss were each used 20 correct the other.
Lieutenant BYRD in his flight used a quick method OF
TELLING when De actually at the Pole This was th,
invention worked out By Mr. Lttehales the q. S
Navy photographic engineer. Il shows the SUMS posi-
ton from the North Pole every hour Of the day
every day Of the year when the flyer near the Poll
he can by asceranlng the position Of the sun
prove that De Is the Pole
Flies 5000 Miles Over Arctic.
The expedition. backed by such men as John u
Rockefeller Jr and Theodore Roosevelt Jr had thre
objects