Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-04-02
BYRD men DIG IN;
n. BELOW ZERO
Men, Partly Frozen, Work on
Labyrinth Of Tunnels
Through Ice.
BY Russell OWEN.

Wireless to Star and New York Times.
LITTLE AMERICA, Antarctica, April
Down went the thermometer with
thump to Al degrees below zero last
night and today it was still lowering
around Al. But the sun Is shining and
the shoveling and digging go on just
the same. despite frosted toes and noses,
to the tune Of:
Poor little snow pile. don't you CRY,
You'll be big hole by and BY.
Grunt and heave, saw and shovel
Eyebrows and whiskers and the edges
of parka hoods covered with ice. Breath
mounting in big clouds in the still, bit
ing air. Toes congealing and mittens
so stiff with frozen perspiration that
they are curved like armored gloves
around the shovel handles. Shovel and
heave--and then a halt while q frost
bitten cheek Is rubbed back TO nor
malcy.
II used to think there wasn't any
such thing as perpetual notion" says
Doc Conan, the medical director OF the
Byrd expedition, between grunts. u
had to come down to the Antarctic to
find 1t out"
only his eyes show between his fur
cap and a cloth protector he has
wrapped about his nose and the lower
part Of his face, which has been frozen
until 1t Is tender.
Little America Is still digging, and
just now its inhabitants are building
q series of tunnels which would rival
the Manhattan subway system. When
they are finished 1t will be possible to
walk to houses and supplies without
n6 will ha oh0aft
q quarter of a mile Of glistening chan
nels of communication. In some OF
them the dogs are being housed.
It is the most ambitions and eftec-
tive arrangement ever attempted down
here and 1t would have been Impossible
without so many men. 1t Is hard
logged work, but the men go at 1t with
| Jokes and q song and, when too tired
| to shovel, tip each other over in the
| snow to get warm.
The system, like Topsy, sort Of grew
| 1t began with the tunnel between the
| two main houses which was designed by
Capt. Mckinley, who Is third IN COM
mand and the presiding genius OF tne
shovel gang.
Mac figured it could be used as q
passageway in bad weather when II is
too dangerous to walk any distance
OutsOI-UOQIb Atl0 0ASO - - AAAS~NN~ -
storing supplies.
It was dug about shoulder-high and
Just wide enough for two men tc
squeeze by. On each side on top were
placed food boxes, which are OF uni
form size and made so that they can
| be opened easily without moving them
Then a few supporting pieces Wer,
laid across the boxes and canvas put
on top and held down by lines rur
| through grommets to pegs in the snow
And there was our tunnel, $50 yard
| long.
II proved to be not only utilitariar
| but q thing Of beauty. One canno
make the most common snow struc
! ture here without its turning into
temple of color. Through the sides o.
| it shine q beautiful blue and green ngh
| when the sun is out, and from the top
| through the canvas covered with snow
comes a pale yellow. At times the lgh
close to the bottom OF the walls Is
deep rich purple.
Walking through 1t Is Ike passint
through an ancient palace corridor
lined With mother Of pearl and lapi
luzuN and chrysoprase.
Home Of Two New Dog Families.
| 6ut ulStGdQ Vi ITO UCAlAS tiAC AaoS AO6AA'
| of some gorgotten Pharaoh, 1t is nov
the maternity ward. Two itters of pup
by dogs are growing up in there tenn
porarily. the children Of Josephine ane
| Holly.
Josephine's nine are now bouncing
balls of fluff, which 60 rolling through
| their crystal palace and get under foot
They squeak and leap up with In
effectual snaps at ones boot laces o
mukluk strings.
| Holly's are not yet big enogh to wan
| der, but when they are the tunnel vii
be too densely populated and they VII
be moved out to another home, equall
beautiful, which is being prepared TO
them. They should be fairy beasts
bred IN such snow palace.
/ When this tunnel was finished Franz
| (Taffy) Davies, the physicist, had an IN
| spiration and decided that he wanted
| one also to his non-magnetic shelter
| where he will work during the Winter
So part Of the shovel gang turned on t
| a trench to run from the main tunnel Il
Taffy's sanctum.
What Cyclone Haines Evacuated.
There was Taffy himself, frost col
lecting on his spectacles and the park;
hood about his round face; Doc Conan
who has learned to handle shovel lik
| real member of the street cleaning
|