Evening star., 1927-09-07
BYRD WILL BEGIN
TRIP NEXT AUGUST
Commander Says Bennett,
Neville and BaIchen Will
Accompany Him.
By the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press
RICHMOND, Va, September -
Comdr Richard Z. Byrd will leave
New York next August on his South
Pole expedition. He will have his
own ship, probably a Shipping Board
vessel. and Floyd Bennett, North Pole
flight companion, will be second in
comma nd of the party.
The commander diVulged this to an
Associated Press reporter yesterday
as he sat in the Office of his brother,
Gov. Harry F. Byrd. in the Capitol
Building here.
There have been many surprising
reports about this trip, none Of which
gave out" lie said. "A recent
srumor said that I Was going to sail
from Norfolk this month on whal
ing ship. / did consider leaving on
n whaling vessel, but found that in
advisable, and as for leaving this
month that's out OF the question. of
course"
Neville and Balchen Included.
any schedule, as / have thus far
planned it, he continued, sis some
thing like this: We will leave New
York in August and stop at Hampton
Canal ! have decided that it would
he best il we have our own ship, and
] would like to have a 4,00O-ton
Shipping Board ship. | haven't got
ten this permission yet, but they have
been so uniformly kind that l have
every reason to believe that they stu
wish to aid us.
George C. Neville will be third in
command and Bernt Balchen fourth.
I'VE will leave the canal and go oil.
rectly to New Zealand, where We will
probably stop at Wellington. from
there we will go down to the Ice bar
rier."
The famous dyer said that the Chill
can government has offered him the
services of its navy and expressed his
gratitude. Il have thanked them
through official channels and said that
] would make use of the generous Of
fer should occasion arise" the com
mander stated. 1T might be possible
for one Of their ships to help us refuel
or render some other assistance. 1t is
a fine offer whether we take advantage
Of it or not.
While the expedition is primarily a
scientific one. the commander said
that the thrill of adventure which took
him around the world when he was in
his early teens Is still with him.
Enjoys Adventure.
"Are YOU a scientist or an adven-
turer?" he was asked.
We'll. all of my trips are made for
scientific purposes, but if ] didn't en-.
toy the trips. it is likely l wouldn't go.
However. on this trip we expect to get
invaluable meteorological information.
The South Polar region is probably the
stormiest place on the face of the
,arth 1t is much colder than the North
Pole. In the first place there are
mountains as high as $4,000 feet and
the pole is at an elevation of around
10000 feet, while the North Pole is
1T sea level. The Arctic is mostly water
and is frozen the year round because
of this. If ground existed at the North
Pole, it would be uncovered during
the Summer period, when there are
"a hours Of sun. Then the Arctic may
be less severe because il is water and
could be affected by warm ocean cur
rents which penetrate far North. /
also think that the Antartic glacial
age ID more recent than the Arctic"
Z 1T is hard to realize the preparation
necessary for such venture" he
said. Remember. the distance from
New York to the South Pole and back
is greater than the circumference OF
the earth at its greatest diameter"
The trip will take well over year.
he stated, and a staff of scientists in
several fields will go on the expedition.