Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-08-24

Associated Press Science Editor.
NEW YORK.-when the ancient &C.
oxrephers put big white patch at the
bcttnns Of their maps and labeled II
Terra Austrslis" they made gooo
E'iess.
Although subsequent exploration re-
resles that they had assigned far too
much space to land in the Southern
regions the discovery Of Antarctiea.
Australia and the island groups on
those continents suhStsutiste6 the n.y.
pothesis that the lower ATTITUDES Of the
rinhe were hy no means occupied only
bc water,
Early sixteenth century maps extend
&c the south polar lands Is FAR north
as the Tropic of Capricorn. but this
theory was quickly diSpelled by the
voysgers who circlcd the tip OF south
America. The age Of discovery also
east ,iiscredit on the pretty story about
the four rivers OF Paradise that Moved
from a mighty mountain At the south
Pole.
Pole Atop Plateau.
Strangely enough. men learned later
that the Pole actually WAS atop
ie.eoe- foot plateau in the heart Of Ant
arcfica. and 50 the savants Of old got
credit for another good guess. There
are no rivers in the vast Southern con-
t1nent> but there are many high noun
tatns
This Fall and early Winter three ex-
plorins parties, equipped with sirplsnes
and the best scientific equipment OBJ
tainahle. will sail into the pack ice that
surrounds the Antarctic land Their
PURPOSE is TO dispel more Of the mists
Of uncertainty that still hide this utter
most part q! the earth. Before them
will BE- unusual opportunities for
achievements: behind them the records
OF other sturdy adventures who in the
course of the last four centuries braved
ice and storm and ocean to extend
mans knowledge of his planet
Partly because it was made so in
accessible by nature and partly because
civilization was always at such a dis
lance, Antarctica was forced 10 wait
for recognition even for discovery. I'M
ell the lower Arctic regions had been
fairly vel explored The earliest con-
facts with the island groups on Aus
tralia and southern South America
were made by the first ciTcurnnavisators
of the globe and by ships that were
blown By accident into Southern iati-
tudes
Capt. Cook.
The first planaed Antarctic project
wss the voyage OF Pedro de Guiros.
who in 1905 sailed south from Lima.
Peru. TO test the veracity Of the map
makers and their Terra Australis. "
His two little ships got to IS degrees
south latitude. but there the command
Or shifted his course. alarmed by the
heavy ocean .swells. and ended his adj
venture By discovering the New Heb
rides.
Capt. James Cook gets credit for
having the first association with the
true Antarctics In 1773 he crossed
the Antarctic Circle. a feat never be-
fore accomplished, and later dipped be-
yond it again. penetrating past II de-
grees His chief accomplishment. how
ever was a circuit of the Southern
ocean and although he saw only few
Islands. he showed that the Southern
continent. if il indeed existed, was not
graphical divisions Cook was con-
vinced. however. that there was CONT
mental land nearer the Pole
Credit Is generally given to an Ameri-
can. Lieut. Charles Wilkes OF the
United States Navy, for proving the
correctness of Cooks theory. In lS4o
wilkes outlined features OF the con-
tinentsl margin for a distance Of 800
miles, and that part Of the Antarctic
coast still bears his name.
Prior to wilkes discoveries, British
sealers had added the South Shetland
and South Orkney Islands to the map.
and q Russian expedition under Capt.
BeIlsnehausen had visited islands within
the Antarctic Circle. In 1928 James
WeddeH. q whaier. pushed beyond the
seventy-fourti1 parallels Of latitude.
reaching the sea that has since borne
his name.
Antarctic Abandoned.
The period Of wilkes activities
brought rich results from explorers OF
severai nations Graham Land, South
Victoria Land. Knox Land. the Ross
Sea and ice barrier and other stretches