Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-29
SCIENTISTS WATCH
BYRD'S POLAR HOP
Hope Flight Will Provide
long-Wanted Data of Vast
4Ce-CIad Continent.

Comdr Richard z. Byrd'S effort to-
day to conquer by air the rugged ice
barriers that have defied all but two
explorers, was being watched today by
scientists Of the National Geographic
Society with the hope that it would
provide long desired information about
the little-known southernmost tip Of the
earth.
Although the Lindbergh and SUISSE
quent oceanic flights and the trip
around the world of the Graf Zeppelin,
as we'll as Byrds own dash into the
Arctic for a successful flight across the
North Pole, had left few new thrills
in prospect for aviation enthusiasts, the
present flight once more stirred the
Imagination Of the aviation world and
the hopes of those whose main interest
Is completion Of the map OF the globe.
Byrd's Fourth Expeditions
Oficials of the Geographic said the
society regarded the flight as ByroS
fourth expedition OF international geo
graphic Importance, listing his work
with the Macmillan Arctic expedition,
his own North Pole flight and his flight
across the Atlantic as the other three.
The difficulties of the new chapter IL
aviation history being written in the
barren Southern area were stressed al
length by those at Geographic head
quarters. They pointed out that TO ex-
pIorers the Northern end OF the earth
was known as the friendly Arctic,
while the opposite end Of the world had
been given the name of the "unfriendly
Antarctic"
Barren of Plant Life.
The society'S topographers said that
! in the land around the Southernmost
! part of the earth, Byrd would be forced
| TO navigate his plane over jagged
mountain chain, with peaks rising from
10000 TO $4,000 feet.
| Instead of the Summer vegetation OF
| the Arctic region, with its Eskimo ma
| tives, the geographers pointed out that
| the region about the South Pole was
mostly barren Of plant life and without
| human inhabitance and even amman
| life. because of its severe climate, add
ing: .,,r,
the South Pole is roughly in the center
of what has come TO be called the Ant
arctic Continent or Antarctic.
| From Spitzbergen Byrd few over
floating ice fields rising only few feet
above the level with here and there
open leads of water; from the edge oil
the ice barrier south Of New Zealand
I he will fiy over one of the greatest Ice
fields In the world, an accumulation Of
lice rising $50 feet or more above the sea
and as solid as land.
400 Miles of Ice Barrier.
There is nearly 400 miles Of thi:
ice barrier TO be crossed south OF New
Zealand before the mountains mark
ing the first exposed land, are reached
Amunsden took 81 days to cover thi'
portion of his journey, the men traV'
cling on skis, and the sleds of pro
visions drawn by dogs
The society is interested particularly
in prospective photographs Of the region
An air view of the Antarctic never ha!
been obtained and this, the scientist!
feel, would be an almost invaluable
contribution.
Byrd, on the Macmillan expedition
took the first aerial views ever obtained
of the Arctic, and these helped locate
many places where important speci
mems Of Arctic birds and flowers Wer'
obtained to enrich the museums col
lectionS
On the North Pole fight the com
mander attributed much of his success
to the sun compass. He took six Sucl
compasses with him and 1t was believeC
today that it was upon this instrumen
! that the commander was now findinl
his way over the uncharted area.