Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-06-18
RY RUSSELL OWEN.

1 "lIGIthS 10 OldE am LstN Ao+h AiAiSe
LITTLE AMERICA, Antarctica, June
19.-The unnaturally warm weather OF
the last few days was followed yes
| terday by so much moisture that ice
| and frost crystals formed on every
outdoor structure in the Byrd expedi-
| TONS camp. Wires became glittering
and fairyllke ropes in the light OF a
flare, and even the radio towers and
skis standing in the snow were rim
med with delicate frost flowers.
Some of these things were SO beauti-
| full that they were photographed by
! haShlight, and some wonderful pictures
| were made 10 show what FRANKS the
J frost giants can play down here when
| they are in an impish mood.
! 1t was too good an opportunity for
! the moving picture men to overlook,
| and they brought out flares which
! lighted up the entire camp and the
| radio towers and antenna and made
| a record of these shining lines against
| the dark background of the Antarc-
! tic night. One long antenna, just
! above the ground, looked like a A.
inch silver cable, so long were the
| crystals.
II was IL degrees above zero yester-
day when this phenomenon took place,
but today it is below again and clear,
for which we are all thankful. 1t is
SOONA NlISS 4llOlC W bIiG oIdiS Gnu
the faint northern twilight in the morn
ing after many days of gloom and COM
plete darkness.
Bay Ice Scenes.
Now moving pictures are being made
of other outdoor scenes and soon there
will be flares shining down on the bay
ice, as if witch fires were glowing there,
| throwing grotesque shadows among the
uplifted cakes.
Joe Rucker and Willard Van der
Veer, the Paramount men, have had
their troubles with their moving pic
ture cameras, for film snaps and
cameras Jam in periods of intense cold,
and frequently they have to come in
and thaW themselves out before MAX
ing another attempt to get a picture.
But they are slowly obtaining a night
record OF life and scenes in the Ant
arctic.
One who attempts to operate camera
or theodolite or other instrument in
the Antarctic must be prepared for
many veXations. Moving parts bend,
due to contraction from the cold; mois-
ture cendenSeS between the lenses and
fingers are burned until the tips appear
to have been repeatedly scared by
flames.
The first breath of the Antarctic in
the ice pack gave an intimation of
what was coming. The moving picture
cameras began to get stiff and were
! taken apart and the oil washed out
with gasoline.
AS the ship got farther south, the
photographers lugged their cameras be-
low and with many inprecationS dis
| assembled them and refitted the moving
parts. This binding was due to the I'M
equal expansion of steel shafts working
against brass bearings, or some steel or
brass part which came in contact with
aluminium.
Keeping Cameras Free.
When there was room in the Wardroom
| to work, the table top was frequently COW
cred with parts of cameras, while Ruck-
er and Van der Veer looSened bearings
with crocus cloth, fitting and renting
| until the crank could be turned. Even
refitted
Whenever a camera was brought be-
low it began to sweat and had to be
carefully wiped and dried so that no
moisture remained in it to freeze when
1t was again taken outside.
Here at the base cameras are baked
| in the oven or hung above the stove
to dry when it is necessary to bring
them indoors. If the slightest moisture
| is left in them they will freeze and bind
in a few minutes.
The still cameras froZe and had to be
thaWed. Frost gathered between the
lenses no matter how careful one might
be and was only removed by baking
Some cameras have quit altogether be-
cause the shutters were not designed
! Tor low temperatures, but others have
| with care been persuaded to continue
working satisfactorily, although frost
Will Gather tho Iov1coc of oil
A little camera which may be carried
in the pocket and kept warm until
needed has proved to be the most VAL
liable both for Withstanding cold and
! for ease of operating with blistered fin
gers.
Breath COngeals on Works.
The motion picture film began to
snap at 25 degrees below zero 1t would
break and have to be rethreaded, an
| operation done with bare hands because
of the small space in which to work.
Fingers stuck to metal parts, and
| after such job Van or Joe could be
seen hopping about and holding their
hands under their armpitS in pain.
| Care had to be taken not to breathe
I in the cameras during this operation, as
! the breath Immediately formed frost all
over the working parts. The thing that
| Will make cameraman madden than
| the proverbial halter is to walk up to
him while he is rethreading and to say,
I Isn't that Interestingly" and breathe
| into his camera
The condensation due to difference
| in temperature down here can hardly
| be imagined by one who has not expert
| enced it. The warmth of the body COM
| ing in contact with something cold
| condenses moisture from the body. Even
a book which has been lying near cold
wall will steam like teakettle when it
is opened in slightly warmer atmos-
| phere.
This gives a faint idea of the quality
Of condensation outdoors, which at very
| low temperatures makes the breath
| crackle audibly as it leaves the mouth
! and turns into clouds of vapor
A man standing inside the entrance
| to one of the house tunnels forms so
much vapor by breathing that the house
appears to be on fire. And what one
breath will do to camera is best sug-
| gested by row of aSterisks.
Warming a Camera.
The automatic cameras quit at about
20 below zero, because contraction from
cold causes the springs to bind 1t has
been found, however, that an automatic
may be warmed over a primuS stove
and if it is then carried under the parka
next to the body except when in use 1t
Will work for about an hour This is the
way moving pictures were made in the
Rockefeller Mountains.
One of the hardest things to over
| come is the snow which collects on the
lens during a blizzard. If the camera
is turned away from the wind an eddy
forms which sucks the snow into the
lens, and if it is held partly facing the
wind, the snow gathers even more
rapidly.
| II I,ac IN no moved frpouentlv and