Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-12-06

The luster of romance in Richard
Byrd's achievements naturally outshinee,
in the eye Of most observers, the more
serious phases Of his South Pole flight
and other explorations, but along with
the hero's tributes there Is a generous
share Of deeply appreciative comment OF
the contribution to science.
mo famous military leader" accord
ing to the New York Times, lever
planned more carefully a critical battle
than did Byrd his fight with ice and
cold and storm and darkness, waiting
for the day when the crown of his en-
deavor would be within his grasp. Make
no mistake about this. We have not
the record of sudden, haphazard dash
for the South Pole, but the nicely cal
culated reaching Of an end long fore
seen and set out for in the cool spirit
Of scientist. 1t was adventure, to be
sure, but adventure deliberately worked
out in advance and timed to the very
hour"
He has earned the title Of knight of
the air, the Ice and the snow" de-
clares the Albany Evening News, with
the tribute that Byrd and his COM
panions have the gratitude Of all ma
tions and they will be given full honor
through all time" The st. Louis Post
Dispatch points out that "it was an in
finitely greater achievement than his
North Pole fight, for the farthest north
point is in frozen sea, while the South
Pole is on a plateau 10000 feet high,
with jagged mountains much higher to
menace the daring aviator" The Hous-
ton Chronicle exclaims: Gallant fig
ures, Byrd and his friends of high ad-
venture, pressing chilled faces against
the cabin windows of their sky cruiser,
looking out over the cold land which
lies on the roof of the world death ever
at their elbow in country uninhabited
by human or beast!"
1T was as If these four men Of the
twentieth century" suggests the New
York Evening Post, had been thrown
back into the ice age. To them, from
on high, was given sight of earth as
it must have looked before the fair
green lands had emerged. Range upon
range of unnamed, unknown, unreason-
able mountains; tumbled glaciers and
snow fields; mist and storm: eternal
cold; hopeless, inhuman conditions such
as the moon or Mars may hold today;
these were the things revealed 10 them
as their, plane thrummed its Stopless
Journey" The Asheville Times remarks
that "such leaders as Byrd in all the
ages have lifted the human spirit above
the ordinary levels OF initiative and
filled the souls of men with Unsuitable
hunger for great deeds In all the fields
of human enterprise; that if the time
ever comes when there are no Column
buses, Galileos, Pearys, Luthers, Byrds
and Edisons, this planet, for all the
purposes Of high and adventurous 1iv.
ing, may as we'll ny off its orbit and
lose its. inhabitants in the shoreless
ocean Of space"
mo romance left in life?" asks the
Fort Wayne News-Sentinel. "Oh, sir,
what can you be thinking Of? A leak
in the gas tank-a loss Of fuel intended
for the return trip-a forced landing.
Romance? Adventure? Isn't 1t there?
A frozen magneto-quick repairs all
around-engines warmed up to 60 on.
No adventure there2 Your children
and your grandchildren will tell you
different For romance is not merely
pies wooings.' 1t Is q brilliant twilight
softened borderland between things
hoped for and things achieved. Or, as
the dictionary styles it, a blending of
the heroic, the marvellous, the Tnys.
ferrous and the imaginative in action"
Others may wrangle over whether
the lands explored by Byrd belong to
England, or the United States, or
France, or the Scandinavian countries"
says the Jersey City Journal, but none
can argue about the glory of the adj
venture itself. nor about the double
crown Of fame to which Byrd Is now
entitled as the only man who has ever
flown over both the North Pole and
the South Pole The Worcester Eve
ming Gazette states that there is much
to marvel at and much to admire in
Comdr. Byrds enterprise; that plenty
OF endurance and plenty of courage
both In uncommon measure-Are essen-
tiar'; and that paper concludes, 1.-THE
self-denial involved is enough to stagger