Evening star., 1928-12-17
BYRD CRUSHES WAY
|. THROUGH ICE PACK
Bark Makes Fair Progress
as Eleanor Boiling Nears
Second Supply Station.
BY RUSSELL OWEN.


through Friday, the anniversary of
Capt. Roald Amundsens arrival at tha
South Pole in 1912. He started south
the year before and laid bases toward
the pole during his first season, but it
appears now that we should arrive at
the Bay of Whales sooner than he did.
because we are only about TOO miles
away.
He did not arrive mere until Janii-
ary Ia. With good luck we should be
in 10 days or two weeks, al
though it is rash to make predictions
down here.
Comdr. Byrd, like Capt. Amundsen.
intends to lay his bases as far in
land as possible this season. that is, be-
fore March, when Winter sets in and TO
do. most of his important work next
year when he will be able to start fly
ing long before it would be possible for
a ship to get through the ice. Amund-
sen began his polar journey on October
19, when, despite the cold, the weather
was fair for travelling and it should be
equally good for flying.
But whereas Capt. Amundsen spent
two months toiling over the snow and
the crevasses and up the dangerous
glaciers to the pole from the Bay of
Whales, Comdr. Byrd will make the
able to map it and examine the route
for some distance on each side. Sucn
is the advantage of the airplane in the
explcl alton. :
Byrd Will Honor Amundsen.
Nothing can detract from the brilli-
ant march of Capt. Afnundsen. how
ever. one of the most efficient polar
journeys ever made. although it was
eclipsed in drama by the exploits of
Shackleton and Scott.
Comdr. Byrd and Capt. Amundsen
were good friends. In homer of tire
great Norwegian explorers accomplish
ment, Comdr. Byrd will carry a Ncr-
wegian, a British, an American and a
New Zealand flag to the pole.
A few seals have been seen baSking in
the sun-fat, sleek fellows which raise
their heads and look with mild curiosity
at the drifting menagerie of barking
dogs and then roll over and go to sleep
again,
Ship Makes Fair Speed.
After making fair speed and hoping
that the ice would remain as open for
the whole distance through the pack,
we yesterday ran into heavy, almost
solid formations, with hardly a break
visible. But we are nearly 100 miles
into it.
The sun is so warm it can be felt
through our coats and the air tempera-
ture is 36 degrees. There is hardly a
cloud in the sky and only a faint breeze.
If it were not for the tflunderouS
joltS with which we hit the pack some
times this would be the most placid ex-
iStence in the world, but occasionally
we get shock that shakes the ship
pOr1 cf0 n oVNA xfro rn 0FNE
full for the 81 inches of timber along
our sides and the massive bow.
Up in the forecastle there is rumble
like distant thunder as we hit these
heavy foes and they grind alongside.
The vibration is terrific.
Today We saw penguins. The first
sight OF these amusing birds convulSed
every one aboard. A pair bobbed up on
an ice foe alongside, cooked their heads
at US, shook them and waved their flip
pers as If trying to assure themselves
that they were awake.
They put their heads together and
talked it over and finally decided that
they both saw the same thing, for they
waddled down to the edge to look us
over more carefully,
AS they walked with a wabbling mo-
ton from side to side they waggled
their ffipperS as If to balance them
selves and presented so ludicrous an
appearance as to cause every one to
howl with laughter.
Birds HumOr Is Contagious.
Comdr. Byrd came running out of
the chartroom and began to laugh
as soon as he saw them 1t is I'M
possible to resist the infectious humor
of these birds
Babe Smith took long look at them
and said Solemnly They aren't real
There just isn't any such animal"
Joe Rucker, one of the moving pic
tlire photographers, has rigged a plat
form extending about Is feet out from
the bow and is perched there, taking
pictures OF the ice being crushed under
our forefoot.
The platform quivers and trembles
sometimes under the impact Of the ice.
but Joe. with one arm around stay,
grindS away unconcernedly.
Taking pictures here is rather diff
cult, due to the intense light and the
danger of overexposing, A filter has
to be used practically all the time.
even when the sky is overcast. Con-
slant experiment is going on to de-
termine the proper filters and ex-
pcsure.
COmpasses Prove Very Erratie.
Another phenomenon which has
caused difficulty is the erratic behavior
of the compasses, which get wilder and
wilder as we get farther south.
Comdr. Byrd swung the ship yeSter-
day before heading into the ice and
fund large errors in both the standard
compass and the steering compass.
II have heard of that happening, but
I never saw it before" he said.
However, now We can tell where we
are going once more, which is cOFa-
fort" he added Smilingly.
Comdr Byrd never gets excited, no
matter what happens. and there have
been some ratht.' critical r-omentS IN
this journey so far.
The sticking of the compass was due
to the fact that the dip OF the needle is
pole that the horizontal magnetic forces
are too weak to overcome the downward
pull.
1t Is a phenomenon with which all
explorers are familiar, but it is diScon-
certing at sea, nevertheless. With a
sun compass, however, an absolute
check can be obtained.
In the open leads this morning we
saw ice forming behind as almost as
was full of ice crystals, which. as they
came to the surface, formed sort OF
scum of ice which quickly solidified into
a thin sheet.
1t reminded one of the story of Jules
Verne in which a piece of ice was
thrown into the sea when it was at the
point of freezing and the ice was just
SUFFICIENT to start crust that rapidly
spread over the entire surface.
A wireless dispatch from the steara-
ship Eleanor Boiling gave her position
at noon today as 450 miles southeast Of
Tiaro Head, New Zealand. She Is bound
for Dunedin to get second load Of
supplies for the Byrd expedition.
(Copyrisht, 1928. by the New York Times
Co and the St Louis poSt-Dispatch. All
riEhts for publication reserved throughout