Evening star., 1929-06-30

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when she left Dunedin, and when she
arrived at the Barrier she had as much
coal as when she left port. This was
the first time such thing had been
accomplished, for nearly every expedi-
ton which has come to the Antarctic
has come dangerously close to running
out of COAL
For several days the New York
drifted UP and down. under jib and
staysail, in the ice bay near the Lar
sen. A whale was harpooned near by
and many whales were brought along
side during that time and hauled in to
be cut up and the blubber rendered.
The New York stayed to windward as
much as possible, for the Larsen does
not smell sweet during these opera
| tions. A visit was paid to her one day
and while there a hundred-foot blue
whale was hauled aboard and cut up.
a half until the last piece of the Cotton
leviathan had been pushed into the
boilers through holes in the deck.
When the Larsen had caught all the
whales in the neighborhood she took
the New York In tow and started
through the pack. That was the l4th
of December, the anniversary of the
day years before when Amundsen had
reached the South Pole. For seven and
half days the big ship forced its way
through the pack, ramming and back
ing. twisting and turning to find the
easiest path. And the stout New York,
| yanked along on the end of a tow-line,
was banged up against corners, partly
hauled over big cakes, pulled through
| leads at a speed of 10 knots and treated
as roughly as any ship which ever came
! down here. She quivered until the
masts shook, her tinbers groaned, and
sometimes it seemed that the hawser
would tear out the bow, but still she
held together and went southwark. On
the 23d the open water of the Ross
| Sea was reached aud the towing was
over. For l,750 miles, / 500 to the ice
pack and $50 through it, the New York
! had been towed saving precious coal
| and making speed. 1t was a record In
| Antarctic towing and solved the diff
cult fuel problem.
Arrival at the Barrier.
Farewell visits between the two ships
we're made, and then the New York,
with a mild wind and the sun shining
warmly overhead the whole twenty-fou
| hours, turned south for the Barrier
! Two days later, just as Christmas din
ner was finished that great ice rampant
was sighted from the crows-nest, and
before midnight the ship was cruising
along it, those aboard faarVeling at its
| impregnable cliffs. The course had
been kept perfectly, due to the use OF
the sun compass and radio bearings.
The New York turned eastward and
| or the morning Of the 26th sailed be-
| tween the Barrier and a high cape OF
ice into Discovery Inlet and anchored
to the ice near the southern side, only
100 yards from the Barrier. No sooner
did the ship touch than men swarmed
| overside eager to put their feet on the
doorstep Of the Antarctic Continent,
and for hours there was all the excite
ment of a new adventure. Penguins
were rounded up, and 1t was soon
learned that they we're as spunky as
they were curious. A party went OF
after seals for the dogs and Comdf.
Byrd went ashore to look for landing
field for future operations and to ex-
plore the bottom of the bay, which he
found to be much deeper than he had
supposed from the chart. 1t turned
southwark for many miles and ran into
pressure ridge and crevasses, which
continued on to the south.
After a day at the inlet the New
York put out again and sailed east to
the Bay Of Whales, which was reached
on December %, more than two weeks
before Amundsen arrived here. Tbs
bay was full of ice, which was to be ex-
pected, but for some reason this year a
very small part of it went out. Comdr
Byrd went ashore with a dog team to
look for a base and found one a few
miles north of Framheim, at the bottom
of a small inlet where a gentle slope
rose to the Barrier surface. 1t Seemee
an ideal place for base, and his judg-
ment has been confirmed by events II
is now firmly established and as safe a.
any base could be on a barrier, probably
attached TO the mainland.
Unloading Operations.
The freight sledging in connection
with unloading the ships was really q
remarkable achievement. Because thu
bay ice did not go out, it was neces-
sary to haul the cargoes of both ship
an average distance of about miles
from the New York and 5 miles from
where the Boiling was unloaded. In.
stead Of being only az miles from hel