Evening star., 1928-12-11
BYRD USES RADIO
TO CHECK POSITION
PerpIexing Problem Is Solved
as Ships PloW Into Heavy
Ice Packs.
BY RUSSELL OWEN.


BY Wireless to The star anc New York Timas.
ON BOARD THE BARK CITY OF
NEW YORK, SOMEWHERE NEAR
SCOTT ISLAND. December live
know that we are in the Antarctic now.
All day long stately flat-topped bergs,
glistening white and blue in the sun,
have been marching by broad table
lands of snow Ice that have broken of
from the continent to the south and
are moving north.
Huge waves dash against the massive
cliffs and shoot sprays so feet In the
air, slowly wearing away the masses
that seem impregnable.
1.-THE ceaSeleSs warfare Of nature"
said Comdr. Byrd, as he watched
through his glasses the magnificent
play of color. At one time there were
seven of these gigantic bergs within
few miles, all in line like companies
on parade. The tops were big enough
to hold two or three ball fields and
hundreds of thousands of people. They
were large enough for landing fields,
and the flyers aboard were as much In
terested IN the apparently smooth sur
faces as the dog drivers were in the
crevasSes which occasionally showed on
the sides. =.
When a furry of snow hides the sea
for a minute at a time. however, it is
not so pleasant to realize that these big
fellows are all about. Not to speak Of
the hundreds of smaller cakes each large
enough to wreck ship. The ice pack
must be very near.
Solve Navigation Problem.
All day YESTERDAY and all last night
one of the most interesting problems in
navigation ever attempted has been
worked out.
In the small radio room a little group
Of men have been sitting and standing
in the midst of banks of instruments
and glowing tubes and copper wires,
leaning over charts with head phones
over their ears attempting with their
brains and the aid of modern science
to pierce. the shroud of uncertainty
which clouded their position.
For long time they had not been
able to see the sun and were approach
ing the point where 1t was necessary to
plot an accurate course If they were to
reach certain position in the ice.
The compasses we're of, due partly to
local attraction from the many metal
lie cans and crates piled on deck and
partly to the large variations in this
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ity Of the magnetic Pole and the weak
ness of the earth's magnetic field in a
horizontal plane. It seemed almost inn
possible to be accurate, and yet they
had TO be.
The room was like the coming tower
of battleship going into action and
attempting to outmaneuver the enemy.
The enemy in this case was the fog,
ice, snow and wind.
The men in the little group were un-
shaven and dirty, clad in disheveled
garments and weary from lack Of sleep.
Pipes were clamped in their teeth as
they talked and swung Instruments
One or two smoked cigarettes, which
they forgot till their fingers were
burned.
There were Malcolm p Hanson, chief
radio engineer Of the expedition: Lloyd
v. Berkner also a radio engineer and
operator: Carl Petersen, another radio
man: Comdr. Byrd and Capt. Frederick
Melville Of the City OF New York.
Course Checked a. Accurate.
They were sttempting to reach
whalers to the south, whose position
was known, and by radio compass get
bearings which would show their true
position.
Get Mason on the Eleanor Boiling
and tell him to use his compass" said
Hanson. "It's working better than
ours Just now."
Petersen made connections and Berk-
ner spoke on the radio telephone to
Mason on the ship ahead
In few minutes Mason sent back
the information:
Radio compass bearing, degrees:
magnetic compass, 81; error, so de-
grees."
The City of New York's compass
was checked. Communication with
ship far below us was established
moment later, telling US to keep on our
courses and that there should be open
foes which he can easily get through
for some distance.
"Goodi" commented Byrd. and then
exclaimed, There's the sunl" Hemade
a dive for the chartroom to get his
sextant. It was only for a moment,
for thick clouds were scudding over
head. But he caught it.
Capt. Melville, only a moment be-
hind him, also got a sight"
Having finished his sight" Comdr.
Byrd saw another opportunity when the
sun peeped through cloud, and took
his sun compass up to the ships COM
pass to check the error. He found
that the sun compass checked with the
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isfied that the course was accurate.
Barometer Cuts Capers.
In the meantime, some lively meteoro-
logical discussions had been going on
on deck, where william G. (Cyclone)
Haines, the meteorologist, had been
trying to decipher the erratic behavior
of the barometer.
The reading had been going down
rapidly, and the whalers also reported
barometer as low as 1885, which
would have meant all sorts of trouble
in more northern ATTITUDES. But down
here low barometer seems to be nor
NAL, although it is the cause Of alarm
until the eccentricitieS are understood
Altogether there are many exciting
moments in navigating these compare
lively unknown seas with a mysterious
and vast extent of sea ice to the east
and pack ice to the south, and wind
from the west and north. But probably
that is why men go exploring.