Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-09-16
byrd, JEFFREY AND WILKINS MAY BE DRAWN
INTO THRILLING RACE TO REACH SOUTH POLE
Match May Develop Despite
DeniaIs of Con.
test.
SIR HUBERT DARK HORSE
All Three Expeditions Plan
Contribution to Antarctic
knowledge.

knOWIeOge.
BY BURT NJ. MCCONNELL.
Meteorolosist OF the Third Stefsn.son
Arctic Expedition.
Having lifted the veil Of mystery from
a considerable portion of that unknown
area between Alaska and the North
Pole by his flight from Point Barrow to
| Spitzbergen last April. Capt tnow Sir
| Hubert) Wilkins plans a similar hop
| OF 1850 miles over Antarctic wastes in
| search OF meteorological baSe--one of
IL which he hopes will eventually girdle
the whole Antarctic continent. Eleven
| suitable sites already are known; a
twelfth is necessary tc complete the
chain. After it is found Capt. wilkins
will endeavor to interest the various
governments in the work of co-ordinat-
ing Antarctic weather conditions with
| those observed simultaneously in Aus
tralia, New Zealand, South America and
South Africa and to establish a sounder
basis for long-range weather forecasts
Capt wilkins will leave New York
! City about September % for Montevideo
taking with him the machine which
carried him to SpitZbergen and spe-
cially designed Lockhead-Vega seaplane
At the South American port he will
| transfer to one of the 40 Norwegian
whaling vessels operating in the vicinity
of Graham Land. that portion of the
| Antarctic continent nearest the Souther-
ly tip of South America. At a point
cruisers will be lowered over the side
! and the job of charting and photo
graphing the UNEMPLOYED coast line be-
tween the Ross Sea and the vicinity of
the South Shetland Islands will be
started. wilkins expects to accomplish
in flight or two that which explorers
have dreamed about for two centuries
the mapping of that portion of the
south polar continent marked "unex-
plored."
wilkins Spurns Pole.
While Capt. wilkins has announced
that the South Pole is not his goal. he
may be drawn into the most thrilling
race in hiStory-the struggle between
Comdr. Byrd and Comdr. Jeffrey for
the honor and glory of being the first
to reach the South Pole by air. Jeffrey.
former associate of Shackleton. ex-
poets to make three flights in the Ant
arctic, amounting to some 5000 miles.
First he will attempt to fly from his
Graham Land base to the pole and
back The second flight will be straight
across the Antarctic continent, huge
as the United States: the third objective
is the UNEMPLOYED area in the vicinity
of Coats Land. on the opposite side
from where Wilkins and Byrd will be
operating
While Byrd's plans include flight to
the pole, this is not the main object of
his expedition. One OF the questions he
expects to solve is whether the Ant
arctic Andes of Graham Land con-
tinue southwark to the pole His aerol-
ogist also will make study of weaths:
conditions at various attitudes; the air.
plane has never before been available
for this purpose in the south polar
regions. Byrd will also determine from
the air whether Antarctica Is single
great continent or two enormous islands.
The three expeditions will begin their
fights as early in January as weather
conditions permit
II a race to the South Pole should
develop, despite categorical denials that
such is the intention, what is the result
likely to be? Byrd has the more elab-
crate eQuipment-dog teams, three air.
planes, tractors for hauling supplies and
jockeying the planes into position and
two vessels to transport the party to
its base on the Ross Sea. jeffrey also
has an airplane and a ship of his own.
whereas wilkins must depend upon a
Norwegian whaler to carry him and his
small party and their two planes to the
Ross Sea area and lower the machines
into the water: he will have no base
either at the beginning or the finish of
the flight. Sighting another whaler
from the air at the end of his 22-hour
air journey, Wilkins will alight on the
water near the ship and ask the skip
per- to hoist his planes aboard. Thus
many believe Byrd has the best chance
of being the first person to reach the
South Pole by air. wilkins is placed in
the dark horse" class. But Byrd him.
self was dark horse" in the race to
the top Of the world. as Lindbergh was
in the struggle to be the first to cross
the Atlantic.
Byrd Group Unwieldy.
Both Jeffrey and wilkins have Ant
arctic experience to their credit. An
! other factor in wilkins favor is that
his expedition is small while that Of
Byrd is unwieldy wilkins learned on
Stcfanssons third exploring expedition,
OF which the writer also was member,
that the smaller the exploring party
the greater its mobility. Hence. with
whaling vessel to take him into the
Antarctic. with more experienced ice
pilot at the helm, wilkins stands
much better chance to win. That Is,
of course. II he cares to make the race.
Whether he will do this. only the ex-
plorer himself knows. He could have
been the second to fly over the North
Pole in an airplane, but he preferred
| to keep on predetermined course over
the unexplored area most likely to con-
tain land. If he was not then tempted
by the thought of honor and glory, II
he was kept on his course by scien-
| fame, he will not be likely to deviate
| from his plan to conf1ne his flight In
the Antarctic to the Graham Land Ross
| Sea quadrant.
Capt wilkins probably is better quail
fed for the task he has set himself
| than any other man. He has had more
experience in aviation than any other
explorer and broader training in both
Arctic and Antarctic exploration than
any other aviator. He has flown $4,000
miles in the Arctic His fight last
April from Point Barrow. Alaska. to
| Spitzbergen was the first hop" across
air voyage over that region In an east
! erly direction by either airplane or diri-
gible. For IA years he dreamed of ex-
ploring by air the unknown area north
of Alaska and of a final flight over
the North Pole to Spitzbergen. He has
been planning the Antarctic hop" since
1922.
It was not until 1928 that the oppor-
tunity to explore the Arctic came.
Meanwhile Wilkens had left Stefans-
sons expedition and returned to Aus
tralia; had won his captaincy and the
Military Cross in the World War: had
navigated one of the first airplancs to
attempt flight from London to Aus
tralia: had sailed for the Antarctic with
Sir Ernest Shackleton as second In
command and. finally. had successfully
conducted an expedition of his own
among the cannibals of North Australia