Worcester Democrat and the ledger-enterprise. (Pocomoke City, Md.) 1921-1953, 1926-07-24

average speed of 1915 miles an hour 49, 800
1t at the Spitzbergen base, Kings 49,
Bay, where this first modern house was
constructed amid the and ice of the
Arctic Immediately upon the arrival of ~
Lieutenant Byrd and his COMPANIONS as
permanent home and observation sta. A--Z@SM#
ton for the explorers. The house. which
rose up the horizon Of frgid north IN r.rkas
tast TO the 1goo of the eskimo equipped with COM
pete radio outfit that those who remained at the base
Whle Lieutenant Byrd made his thrilling dash TO the
role In MS speeding Fokker might keep in touch with
their chief and the outside world which thew kent in
formed as to the progress success of the flight
It was to this home that he returned after his
hazardous trip and from which of the first mes
sages were sent to the waiting public telling tbon,
through the lanes Of the air Byrd had circed the
pole three times and had returned to his spitzbergen
home In safety adding most memorable naoas
10 the history OF Arctic exploration.
Sugar Cane Fights Polar North
When Lieutenant Byrd left the Brooklyn Navy Yard
the ship Chanter he declared he the best and
scientifically equipped expedition that ever had started
for the North Pole Special plans were made for the
erection of his Arctic home celotex 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 is filled with
millions Of air cells which give it great insulation value
ana resistance to change In temperature especially the
cold One odd circumstance connection with
the use of this material is that the sugar the
south was utilized to fight the cold of the north
Ceotex was selected instead Of lumber because tests
made by the United States Bureau Of Standards and
Its universal In building construction all over the
world, nau demonstrated that this insulating lumber
would Keep the quarters of the explorers and
protect their living conditions securely than ordi.
nary building material
It only after investigation by the scientific
men In the expedition that ceotex was selected These
authorities pointed out that the protection afforded by
its insulation efficiency three times great ordi
nary lumber and nearly twelve as great as that
OF brick and other masonry material ship Chanter
also was lined with celotex added precauton to
keep the ship while the explorers used II in the
preliminary stages of the expedition.
In practically every other this expedition was
more scientifically prepared than of its predeces-
sors. These included inventions of Commander Byrd
himself A simple sun compass conceived by Byrd and
developed by Mr.. Bumstead of the National Geographic
Society, superseded the complicated German device de-
veloped three years ago for Amundsen The drift In.
d1cator also was Byrds invention The bubble sextaut
by which the navigator obtains his bearings while In
flight was another one Of his inventions Still another
scient1c development quick method of telling whom
one is at the North Pole This has been worked orr
by G. W. Littehales the navys photographic engineer
Device Locates the Pole.
Byrd and others contributed to chart Of the mag
netic lines flowing toward the magnetic North Pole
which is in Bothla Land. 1000 miles south Of the Pole
Between Bohla Land and the Pole the campass points
south instead Of north and much Of the Arctic
1t badly disturbed by the discrepancy Of position be-
tween the geographical North Pole the magnetic
North Pole.
This chart Of the magnetic lines flowing to the mag
nec North Pole although It far from complete was
such to enable the navigator to tell In what direction
the compass should point from any spot In Arctic
With this knowledge, the erratc behavior of the COM
pass becomes orderly and 1t Is again instr
ment.
third type of compass used was a device of infinite
sensitivenessa revolving electrical COIL which is adj
justed to given relation with the magnetism of the
earth This the sun compass, and the magnetic COM
pass were each used to correct the other
Lieutenant Byrd In his flight used a quick method Of
telling when he was actually at the Pole This was the
hseedon worked out by Mr. Lttehales the o. s.
Navy hydrographic engineer. 1t shows the posi-
ton from the North Pole at every hour day and
every day of the When the flyer is near the Pole
he can. by ascertaning the exact position of the sum-
prove that he is the Pole
Flies 5000 Miles Over Arctic
The expedition, backed by such men as John D.
Rockefeller Jr" and Theodore Roosevelt Jr had three
main objects