Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-06-20

route. This will bring us to the foot
of the mighty Queen Maude Range not
far from the place where 1t is joined
by high Carmen Land. We are ambi-
tious to collect data that will reveal the
relationships between these two noun
tain masses and also demonstrate
whether the Queen Maude Range is a
distinct continuation of great mountain
systems from the eastern borders OF
South Victoria Land. Our inland trek
will bring us to the foot of Mount Nam
sen, which is $4,000 feet high. We shall
attempt to climb this mountain by way
of getting a cross-section of the geology
of this great range. On his polar flight
Comdr. Byrd viii bring back Invaluable
information about the Queen Maude
Range and its probable continuation
across continent.
The method which the geologist uses
in attacking problems here differs in no
respect from his method in other places,
yet the combination of the inaccessi-
bility of sources of information and the
severest climate of the whole South
make search here fraught with difh-
culties not duplicated elsewhere.
One often hears the argument these
days that the old method of polar
travel is obsolete, but this cannot be
quite true. For detailed studies in the
field, such as the geologist must make,
there is still need for such transpor:a-
ton as that afforded by dog SledgeS.
There Is always an element Of hazard
in landing an airplane away from the
base, but our experience of last season,
which resulted in the loss of our plane,
must not be taken as an indication that
such method of approach is out Of the
question. True enough, when one uses
a plane in this fashion 1t Is not feasible
to move camp about from place to
place, as would be the case with dog
teams. Terrific winds, together with
the binding billiards. which they cause,
made it unsafe for us to venture far
af1eld, both from the standpoint of our
own safety as well as the need we felt
to be on constant watch over the plane.
Importance of Preparations.
It Is easy thus to speculate upon what
we want to do and how we shall try to
do it. Actual accomplishments of this
work call into play a high degree OF
preparation and careful attention to de-
tail which can only be family compre-
hended by one who has the task before
him. OF supreme Importance in all
these preparations for both airplane
and Sledging parties is the need to keep
weights of all supplies reduced to
minimum. Even our food and clothing
point as we'll as from that of comfort
and necessity. Under the personal
scrutiny of Comdr Byrd experiments
are in process that will last throughout
the Winter as to the best type of cloth
ing, food, fuel. stores and many
other items which we must use. The
very question of getting to any place
presents problems that we do not meet
in lower ATTITUDES.
It is not enough that we must Sledge
across 400 miles of icy desert to reach
our field of study. That valuable in
strument for steering courses in other
regions, the magnetic compass, is here
unreliable. Comdr. Byrd has always
found the Bumstead sun compass OF
great help in flying. We shall use such
compass with notifications for land
navigation, this being designed and
constructed by Harold June. Every
man in the sledging party will be
equipped with a safety belt, so that ad-
vance members can always be roped
together to prevent any one being lost
in crevasse and to further safeguard
our sledges.
One of the most serious reflections
upon the scientific temper of altogether
too many past field parties in Ant
arctica has been their indifference to
collecting geological specimens. Always
in sharp contrast to such indifference
will stand out the heroic example of
Scott and his men. Here was a party
of men suffering untold hardships at
the hands of nature at her worst, and
yet, after the hopelessneSS of their
situation must have been apparent to
all of them. they continued to add to