Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-22
BYRD AIDES FIGHT
POLAR GALE'SFURY
Trio, Marooned by Antarctic
Tempest, Loses Plane
and Radio.
Continued From First Page.)

june NeSlLdJeQ ana idugIleO QUICK
doubtful laugh, as he went back to tina
moment when 1t seemed that the.
might get home.
But We left the dead men (b,lrie,
anchors of the plane) where they were.
he resumed. We thought we Nigh
need them. as we did, all right.
AT 7:30 the weather was still good
| There was a light north wind and ]
got quite warm. We were told by radio
| that the weather here at Little Americ:
! was bad. but We kept the engine no
! and the oil hot in the hope that W.
would get word 70 come on
| June stopped for a moment ant
! seemed to be turning something ovel
In his mind.
You know. We never changed tn,
! position of the plane from the time W,
landed" he said.
AS We landed We came down head.
ing north and the plane lay that wal
till 1t blew away. All the winds were
| from the north We knew that they
would be from the formation and the
drift and We were right. But tina
didn't help much"
Begin Defense as Wind Rises.
June shook his head and, after q
moment, went on:
1T began to blow about $3.50 and in a
short time 1t was blowing Is miles an
hour. So We secured the plane again
We piled snow all along her this
time, two men cutting the blocks and
one carrying until we had built wall
in front as high as the wing and along
the fuselage and tail surfaces. We
covered the skis with blocks and then
We anchored the tail ski that way.
by 1890 it was blowing SO miles
and We couldn't see thing. The drift
went by like a solid wall. 1t made you
dizzy to look at it. / went in every
hour and worked the radio.
I'VE began to get pretty wet At
o'clock it was. Just about freezing, for
the temperature went up with the
wind. and the snow melted when 1t hit
u.s. We were sopping wet
I'VE decided we had better cut more
snow blocks and get more lines on the
dead men and We did. We took the
equipment out of the plane again. for
things began to look serious as the wind
went steadily up and the plane began
to lift again IN the gusts.
Plane Trembles In Gale.
1--WE were beginning to be bit wor-
ried this time" said June as he leaned
back and lighted a cigarette.
1T blew harder and harder and at
4:30, when tried to get a MESSAGE
through to the base I spied the indi-
Gator on the plane.
1T showed SO imles an hour.
"And that was the beginning. The
plane trembled under like a, leaf and
the wings were bending i've or six
inches at the tips.
that the situation WAS
critical. that I did not see how the
plane could stay there much longer
and that was not going to stay there
myself
and yet the plane stood nearly
twice as much wind before 1t tore loose,
a terrific pressure"
"You see" said Balchen, who is q
hound for figures, the pressure IN.
creases as the square Of the velocity OF
the wind speeds and 1t must have
been as much as $50 miles an hour
when the plane tore away. II her skis
hadn't been pulled free. the wing would
have gone to pieces in q few more min
utes."
Balchen Loses In Radio Tussle.
Then June picked up his story again,
saying:
while was trying to get this mes
sage through message which would
have explained our silence later-the
antenna blew down.
"Bernt went out to Ak 1t and blew
over" June laughed.
At can see Bernt wrestling with that
ski vet" he said. I'VE had the wire
on the end of ski stuck in the snow
and it threw him all over the place
"Once he Slid away so far that he
had to take his knife and dig 1t into
the ice to crawl back. ] could just see
him through the gray drift.
That was q strange sensation, too
We could see only few feet and, with
the wind tearing at us and hitting. us
solid blows, blowing our feet from under
us and topping us over so That we
grabbed at anything In reach, we seem
ed to be in gray cell battling with In
visible giants.
1--WE were so all alone, cut of from
| things even 20 feet away! We could
| hardly breathe at times. and couldn't
! face the wind at all. We had to bend
sideways into it or crawl with oui
! heads tucked in.
1--WE had breakfast at S o'clock In the
afternoon, nothing else to eat all day
| and 1t wasn't much of breakfast. Blu
| the hot tea cheered us up and warmed
us. / wanted to try to send another
message from the plane, but Larry
Gould Wouldn't let me get into 1t, ana
guess 1t was just as well.
Pounded by Snow Barrage.
1.-THE wind was blowing great guns
by this time. How it roared! We ven
out to hang onto the rope again, fol
the plane was trembling and lifting or
the shock absorbers.
"Once in a gust Gould, who wa
holding the rope on the wing, wa
blown out straight like a nag. Ate
that we lay down on the ground Il
hold the rope.
I'VE took turns lying in the lee o
one another for warmth. We wo,ilt
shift over and huddle up close togethe,
We were miserable lot by then.
1T seems to me now as If our mali
feeling was one of bewilderment ant
helplessness. We had SO many thing
to do and no time in which to do them
And we had to fight, so far, every
thing.
THE wind beloved and shrieked a
us. Pieces of snow, big Jumps, began
to hit us. / thought at first that SOM
one was throwing snow and looket
around for Bernt.
But he was in front of the othe
wing. The Jumps banged against on
heads and shoulders, thumped us hard
and we didn't dare turn in the direc
ton from which they were coming.
Sometimes there were whole shower
of them. We finally decided they wer
pieces of packed snow from the noun
tain two miles away One OF then
knocked me fiat on my face.
Battle to Maintain Rampant.
when We tried to cut more block
with the shovel we couldn't get tn
thing down TO the snow. We almos
had to fall on it and force 1t parable
with the snow before we could use il
II Y,,ilIad and fought with ns as IL