Evening star., 1929-06-30

point reached on the other fight, he
saw land near the position where
Amundsen recorded "the appearance of
land" A course was then set for Little
America and the planes returned safely
after 4 hours and is minutes of flying,
during which the course had been fire.
quently changed.
This flight was no sooner over than
Capt. Ashley G. Mckinley set off to
map the Rockefeller Mountains. He
secured a Photographic survey of the
entire mountain area and then, return
ing to the coast, mapped the Barrier
edge between the Bay of Wales and a
point about so miles to the northeast.
Signs Of Vast Territory.
On this flight also the high peak
which the commander had previously
seen was clearly observed because Of
better visibility and it was learned that
range of mountains ran from it to-
ward the southeast, disappearing over
the horizon. This was confirmation of
the belief that vast territory existed
there. It was claimed for the United
States and to it has been given the
name of Marie Byrd Land in honor of
Mrs. Byrd. 1t will be one object of the
flights next year to extend the know
ledge of this territory. The land be-
tween King Edward Land and 30 degrees
80 minutes south latitude and west of
the l50th meridian has been named
Scott Land by Comdr. Byrd in memory
of the famous British explorer.
The Anal flights of the. year were in
connection with the trip to the Rocke-
feller Mountains to enable Prof. Laur-
ence M. Gould to study their geological
formation. He few over with two COM
panionS on March z and, after taking
sights which established the position of
the mountains and obtaining geological
specimens, was cut off by storms, which
eventually wrecked the plane and
stopped wireless communication with
the base. On the eighteenth, after days
of silence, Comdr. Byrd flew to the
rescue and sent Gould's companions
back, remaining himself for another
trip. He came back on the twenty
second and flying was ended for the
year.
The value of the airplane in the
Antarctic was firmly established by
these preliminary flights, but expert
ence indicated that planes for use at
distance from the base, where they may
be hit by strong winds while on the
ground, should have folding wings ana
that some better method OF anchortng
SA@~
weather is good flying conditions are
excellent. as landing places are always
within reach, and when Visibility Is
good it is possible to see nearly $50
miles. The new types of skis and land
ing gear worked perfectly on the hard,
rough surfaces and no difficulty was ex-
perienced in taking of. except when the
snow was unusually humpy. Even then
take-ofIs and landings were made
safely.
The big Ford has been only partly
assembled and will not be flown until
good weather arrives next season.
Scientific Work.
Observation of the weather was BE-
gun a day or two after leaving Dun
edin. A barograph was installed in the
char room of the City OF New York and
a thermograph on top Of 1t, and con-
tinuouS record has been kept ever
since. These instruments, with maxi
mum and minimum Thermometers ana
a hygrometer, are now installed in or
near the main building and since the
meteorologists have been ashore a con-
slant record of wind velocities by means
of a station meteorograph has also oesn
obtained Upper-air currents have been
studied by means of balloon runs since
January IS and las runs have been
made disclosing surprising variability
in upper currents.
The geological studies made at the
Rockefeller Mountains have been the
only possible work in this neld thls
season, but they have led to important
conclusions, one of which Is that that
section of the continent has no geo
graphical relationship to the mountains
on the western side of the barrier ana
that the mountains discovered by BYRD
are of great age.
Magnetic observations are being con-
Quoted, and the aurora is being studied.
particularly with respect to its possible
effect on radio waves. Radio expert
ments of many kinds are being made
with interesting results. Studies OF bar
rier structure and ice crystals are being
carried on, and an attempt will be made
| to determine by soundingS whether land
| exists under this part of the barrier.
| Sollndings from New Zealand to the
| barrier and in the Bay of Wales and to-
ward King Edward Land were obtained.
| The camp site and its relation to the
bay have been surveyed.
Biological and dietitic work has been
carried on. In spite of rigid dietary
| limitations and in an environment OF
cold and darkness, vigorous health OF
our entire personnel has been main
| tanned. This has necessitated almost
! constant experimentation by Comdr.
Byrd and others in many lines and has
resulted In the collection of important
data.
Building the Camp.
AS soon as supplies were sent ashore
| to the camp site they were sorted and
stacked, and when building parts ar
rived the actual construction of the
camp was begun. This has involved
digging holes for the houses, hangers
for the planes and tunnels for the men
and dogs. Because of storms, some of
| these excavations were Shoveled out
several times, and when the material
unloaded on the barrier was uncov-
cred an APPALLING amount of snow hac
| to be moved. 1t has been conserva.
lively estimated that 100000 cubic feet
of barrier snow has been excavated
AS one cubic foot of barrier snow has
been found to weigh 25 pounds, a tota
of 2,500,000 pounds has been moved
So 1t can be seen with what horror 9
snow shovel is regarded In Little
America.
The mems hall, the Roswell Barrett
House, was the first to be erected. Be-
hind this the Norwegian house callec
the Biltmore was put up and between
the two a machine shop was built
Then the radio towers were erected
and guyed and the antennae put intc
place. The main house, the Edgar
Barrett House, was then set up and q
connecting tunnel was dug. A small
house for two men was made from
other necessary lNoms were dug q
49,. NEs--