Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-30
Forty Men Risk Lives to Save
Material When Dock
Cracks Up.
BYRD'S QUICK THINKING
! SAVES ELEANOR BOILING
Commander, One Of First Out, Cool
as He Shouts Orders Through
Megaphone.
RY RUSSELL OWEN.

BAY OF WALES, january 0u.-A Ilc
Antarctic played another of its little
tricks yesterday and for two hours Of
breaking heaving cakes Of ice the men
of Byrd's expedition showed reckless
Icourage, which alone saved a desper-
iate situation. Our dock-Pier Ito
(which we were tied so neatly yester-
day broke up under heavy swell and
with portions of the barrier crumbling
off ahead, huge cakes buckling and
t1eaving against the ships and between
sils and the barrier, cakes on which
precious airplane parts were resting, 40
men worked like Trojans and risked
their lives to get everything on board
again. They succeeded and by miracle
no man or important article was lost.
The thing occurred with startling
Suddenness. We al had been engaged
Ein quiet but swift and efficient work a
moment before on what was apparently
solid pile of snow 20 feet thick, and
'seven deeper where it led up the slope
to the barrier. Without warning every
thing began to disintegrate under their
feet. It broke all at once, swift set
thing and heaving as if an earth
quake were taking place and slowly
but ominous power these huge blocks
appended and for time threat
ened to overturn and possibly crush
the Eleanor Boiling, which was
lying next to them. If one had turned
over, cakes 100 feet long, as it seemed
for time they would do, they might
easily have punched a hole in the
Eleanor Boiling and sunk her. That
they did not was due to the quick
thinking of Comdr. Byrd, who had the
hawsers holding the ship to the barrier
ice over the dock eaSed off, which re-
,lieved the pressure and permitted the
cakes to settle again. Something very
serious might have happened, but
as it turned out, we are safe and the
ships are moving out until the broken
dock drifts out and we can go back
alongside the low part Of the barrier
? and resume unloading. Even that place
will be watched carefully, for ice has
a way of doing things rapidly and with
crushing power and we have learned
to respect its treachery even though
the work must go on over it.
Snow Obscures Bay.
Last night while men were working
on the dock and hauling things up the
slope to the Barrier blizzard came up
from the northwest. 1t blew hard and
the thick, heavy snow obScured the en-
tire bay so that it was impossible to see
more than a few feet. 1t caked the
clothes of the crew hauling at crates
and getting stuff over the side and the
Geld wind froze to them so that they
were cased in cracking armour. Their
faces were nipped and they tucked their
heads in and turned to give themselves
some protection.
In the thick smother of snow they
could hear the signing and moaning of
ice under the pressure of the wind
along the Barrier, a sound like the
wind blowing through the trees of a
mountain slope and an occasional
distant rumble which was caused by a
detached piece of the Barrier to the
north breaking away. They halted their
work. for moment to listen and then
decided to get few heavy engine boxes
off the hill to the Barrier. They had
wanted to uncrate them and lift them
out with boom so they could be
iplaced on sleds safely alongside the
ship, but the threat of the ice made
necessary change of plan. So every
thing was rushed with the aid of the
winch and yesterday morning when the
went in for breakfast and bed, the dock
was clear.
Weather Becomes Warm.
The weather had become warm again
5out the swell had gone down and the
wind had shifted to the south. We
Ecould see yesterday morning that the
north wind had blown in SO much
drift ice that what had been cleal
TOW tot 4Eao, n
far as could be seen from the deck. Il
was loose stuff, however, and exertins
very little pressure. The thermometer
had gone up again and it was almos
hot, certainly some degrees above freeZ
ing. Parts of the big house had beer
lput over side on the dock and the cen
ter section of the Ford wing was lyins
well in from the ship for safety, a
least 1t seemed safer in there than clos
to the Eleanor Boiling. Everything ou
ton the Barrier had been moved bacl
farther from the edge because Of :
.crack which had been there for Severa
days, coal bags and gasoline drums, ant
THE Fokkers were all pulled inland
Balchen and Bubier he'd started VI
the slope and Eddie Goodale, one of tn
sdog drivers, was just behind them OF
ldhe way to his team. Down on the docl
June and Demas and others were work
ling when tiny fiSsure opened just be
Tween Demas' legs. He looked at it il
samazement, ,motionlesS. His feet wen
farther apart in a moment. for tn
Ecrack was feet wide in 80 seconds
rTnen he yelled the ice is breaking" an
Ifhrew himself to one side, falling at fu
aength, narrowly avoiding dropping be
tween the two crunching cakes.
Goodale felt the ice sway under hiT
and was puzzled to know what had hap
;pened.
|, 1T was like an earthquake" he saic
Eand I didn't dream it was under mt
There was a soft crunching and sough
tng noise below and looked back
Crack Opens Behind Him.
AS he did so he saw a crack openin
Gust behind him and the ice there set
stling slowly but surely. He jumpe
across and started for the breaking doc
land the ships, leaping over more crack
(which opened all around him. And n
sooner had he reached one of the lare
kcakes, which had been half Of the docl
ilthan the whole slope slid with hiSsin
isound down into the water and pieC
i'of the adjoining barrier fell. Where ha
been a smooth, high pathway a momer
4 before was a broken mess of big CAKE
! sliding up and down again in the musf
=, filled water.
The dock had first broken near Il
barrier, where there was q slight ri
Of about 10 feet, and had settled the
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