Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-10
ANTARCTIC OFFERS
OBSTACLES TO HOP
Barrier Consists of Icy
Plateau 10000 Feet
Above Sea Level.

teau 10 500 feet above sea level and
guarded by an even loftier rugged
barrier, and no animal life within
1000 miles, Comdr Richard Byrd's
proposed flight to the South Pole-the
first airplane voyage into the Ant
artic-will be beset with far greater
obstacles than those which the North
Pole could fins against the intrepid
Virginian's successful venture last
May.
on the North Pole fight, it was
nossible for the commander to es-
tablish a secure base within 500 miles
of, the Pole. that at Spitzbergen, from
which he hoped off in the Josephine
Ford. a three .motored Fokker mono
plane. early May 8 to return sately
the same day. When near the North
Pole itself. polar bears and wnlte
whales were sighted and a little
further south Arctic vegetation was
seen. Then. too, the North Pole Is
located in a broad sea, open at times
and at others covered with an ice held
only few feet above the level of the
sea. Taking off from snow-coV'
cred nlane on Spitzhergen, Comdr.
Ryrd reached the North Pole at 9:oZ
o'clock in the morning and after cir.
cling the immediate neighborhood or
the Pole he returned after travelling
1,545 miles,
South Pole Less Simple.
His proposed Antarctic flight will be
far less simple, however. for the
nearest land upon which permanent
slpply base could be established is
found in the Falkland Islands which
are 2.5s9 miles from the South Pole.
and southeast OF the lower point or
South America The other logical
land for supply base for such
fight is Stewart Island in the New
Zealand group, that island is 1851
miles from the Pole.
Both these distances in themselves
prohibit direct land take-off and sub
bases established within the ice line
itself become necessary. In a recent
speech delivered in Paris, Comdr.
byrd declared it was his intention to
sail by ship to New Zealand and from
there continue by steamer to the ice
field where he would set up a series
of camps at 200:mfie intervals toward
the Pole. From one of these tempo
fary bases the expedition would take
off in two planes, one a small, single
motor affair and the other a big ma.
chine similar to, If not duplicate or,
the North Pole plane.
In order to reach the ice field where
he would establish his series Of bases,
Comdr. Byrd would be obliged to sail
along the little known coast Of South
Victoria Land and up into Ross Sea,
the open bay. entered by Capt. James
Ross, the English explorer, on his ex.
pedition in 1871. According to reports
of explorers who have Travelled it, the
coast of Victoria Land is a wild, rug
ged range of Recovered rock peaks.
some of which are more than $4,000
feet above the sea level. What lies
beyond this barren range, upon which
no vegetation or animal life has been
seen, is uncertain, but it is believed
that a vast continent stretches away
behind it, The known sector OF the
range begins at about 70 degrees lati-
tude and sweeps toward the Pole to
about IS degrees south, where 1t ter.
inmates. 30 far as it is recorded. In
two peaks. Mount Longstoff. $500 feet
high. and Mount Markham, 1900 feet
above sea level.
Must Fly High.
Somewhere beyond begins a great
icv ulain. 10000 feet above sea level.
that is wind swept nearly all the time,
and within that plain over miles OF
snow and ice. lies the South Pole, un'
marked by. any Typographical feature.
Thus it. is at once apparent that
Comdr. Byrd's planes must rise to
great altitude in order to near the
goal. $4,000,
In his efforts to drive a sea vessel
into the frozen South, BYRD VIII DE
halted by a great ice barrier, known
as Ross Barrier, which rises sneer
$50 to 200 feet from Ross Bay, at
noint somewhere about 900 miles from
the Pole. at best. 1t will then be
necessary to send sledge parties out
IN the ice to scale the lofty peaks
and glaciers. Once in the air, rarif1ed
by the great altitude, the SAFETY OF
the men, who would reach the Soutn
Pole as their commander last year
reached the North Pole, depends al
most entirely upon the functioning Oh
the planes motors and the skill OF
their pilots, A forced landing would
mean great danger. because, unlike
The North polar regions, there are no
human jewellers within the ice-bound
area. and the likelihood OF rescue
would be remote. In such predicas
ment, Comdr. Byrd and his men only
could hope the men encamped In MS
chain Of sub-bases farther north,
would locate them.
Unlike the North Pole. too. the
South Pole region is less known. A
too frugal history, lightened occasion
ally by brilliant flares of tragedy such
as Capt Robert SCOTS death on his
return north after having actually
reached the Pole, presents only one
completely successful venture. that OF
Capt. Ronald Amundsen in 1911. On
the other hand, that same history re-
veals fewer sacrifices Of life than that
OF the other Pole.
Known to Buccaneers.
Little is recorded of the Antartic
ventures during the sixteenth ana
seventeenth centuries but the region
below South America is known to
have been the rendezvous Of fearless
buccaneers. Among these was Sir
Francis Drake, the English romantic
figure, who in 1873 set out, as he
said. ito find that strait in which the
vulgar believe not but the reality of
which is confirmed by many cosmog-
raphers." The strait he sought was
waterway from the Atlantic to the Pa
cific and the success Of his venture Is
evinced today by the Drake Straits
The first really scientific expedition
into the Antarctic was conducted by
the English astronomer HALEY, wldelV
remembered today by the comet when
bears his name. He sailed from Eng
land in 1899. and his cruise resulted in
the introduction VI ii Il'Se""o %
fishing longitude by observing the os
cuiations of the fixed stars.
The most fruitful of all the pioneer
expeditions into the icy South was
that of Capt. James Cook, another
Englishman. who sailed into the Ant
arctic in 1868. A second voyage
brought him better results and or
January II. 1873, just before noon, he
crossed the Antarctic Circle-the first
human Being TO enter the zone. Cooks
farthcst South was reached January
80, 1874, when he attained over Il dc
grees south latitude.
Weddell Bettered Record.