Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-01-08
ByRD'S BIOLOGISTS
PUSH TOWARDC CAMP
Mystery Develops at Base as
Meteorologist's Kites
Vanish in Wind.
BY RUSSELL OWEN.


LITTLE AMERICA, Antarctica, Jan.
uary CDR. Lawrence Gould and the
other members of the Byrd geological
party have reached % degrees IL
minutes on their trip north 10 the
camp, apparently making very good
time.
,.eThis point is near Depot No. T.
which is half way along the 4o0-mile
journey to Little America from the foot
Of the Queen Maid Mountains, where
DR.. Gould began the return trek about
q week ago.
Although DR.. Gould's message Of
this morning to Admiral Byrd reports
soft snow during the past few days, the
dogs are holding out well.
His message of January says:
"Camped this morning on trail at
latitude 80. Marking trail well was
great idea. Have Travelled through thick
fog and snowstorn without losing Il.
AL hands join in thanking you for your
good New Year message"
q, Mystery Of Vanishing Kites.
Meantime q mystery has developed
here at the base. William c. (Cyclone)
Haines. our meteorologist, has lost his
kites and doesn't know whether to be
glad or sorry. Two of them, the most
important two. have gone voyaging
southwark on their own and are some
where between here and the Pole.
Those kites have been o source Of
vexation for Bill Haines and Henry
Harrison, his Observation-Disclosures. and
1umor to the others in camp for many
weeks
Wnen Bill started sending them I'D
and laboriously hauling them down, he
said:
I'm going to be like Tom Sawyer
painting the fence. You fellows are
going to think that's 50 much fun youIl
all be fighting to fiy kites"
Heavy Work fer Data AIeft.
But it did not work out that way
and kite flying has been the hardest
form Of labor yet found In the Ant
arctic. II even beat shoveling snow.
Just the same, IS kite flights have been
made and some interesting data collect
ed, and In addition six records have
been made on airplane flights.
The kites carry q meteorograph which
registers altitude, temperature and
( humidity and shows the changes In the
upper air, information Of great value
to q meteorologist.
That is why Bill and Harry, as
meteorologists, are sorry their kites are
+ gone, but as weary winders Of Q kite
reel they may cherish q secret thank
fulness. Nobody dares ask them.
Kites Soar Far in Icy Wind.
Harrison had built q snow hut well
away from the. radio towers, where the
big box kites were assembled and the
reel and wire were fastened to q plank
foundation to hold firmly. An outboard
motorboat had been 1itted with gears
so that 1t might be used to pull the
kites down.
When are you going TO ny those
dtes?" was every ones inquiry. Bill
smiled, but, like Brer Rabbit, he wasn't
saying anything.
One evening the kites appeared high
UP over the Barrier in q stif breese.
There they were. They new and they
new, high and straight In { fine extend
ing up into the sky, the wire taut under
the pull OF the~wind.
After a few hours Bill decided to take
them down and the fun began. AS
already mentioned, 1t was cold and
there was o vicious wind blowing.
Wind at 40 to IS degrees below zero
goes through anything.
Vain Freezing Fight 70 Reel In.
The engine was cold and would not
start. Bill got blow-toreh to heat 1t
up. Still It would not start. Others
came along full of advice, bat evoked
not . sputter out OF the CONCEALED
motor.
Hands got frost-bitten, cheeks were
frozen and thawed out again. Once
the starting cord slapped back against
q mans face and In an instant 1t froze
ia q thin white mark, which began
to spread. So Bill gave 1t up for the
night.
During the night the wind died down
o little and we thought the kites would
be lying on the Barrier. Not so. They
were still up, flying merrily. almost
overhead, for evidently the wind aloft
was still strong.
After breakfast meteorologists, me-
chanics pilots and Just plain spectators
gathered In the freezing wind to watch
the kites come In. The blow-torch was
again put In action and after q time
the carburetor caught IRE and bla1ed
merrily.
The motor heated UP enough after
the gas had burned out of the carbu-
rotor 80 that 1t finally started, and in
came the kites.
Getting Muscle on the Kite Crank.
A shelter Of canvas was built before
the next flight and helped q lot. But
the fmprovtSed bearing surfaces used
with the motor gave way after three
runs and since then the kites have been
hauled in by hand.
The pull on the wire has averaged
100 pounds and at times has run up
to 400 pounds. man could not turn
the crank more than two minutes at
time before petering out.
The wind is fickle here and not the
least interesting thing about the kite
flights was wondering when they would
come down and where. The flights
have generally been made on cloudy
days also and the kites and wire be-
came coated with rirne until the weight
OF ice forced them down.
And they have come down in all d.
rections and at distances up to three
miles from camp.
When the Kites Flew Away.
The day they broke loose they we're
flying 10 the south. They had been
reeled in until one kite had been
reached and taken OF the wire. A
glove caught under the wire and
kinked it, the wire broke and two kites
we're sailing into the south.
For days Harrison searched FOR them
travelling IL or Is miles at a time on
skis, well beyond the site Of Framheim
Capt Amundsen'S camp, and even ND to
the Barrier at the southern end of the
bay. But not sign of them could
he And, and as q blizzard has beer
blowing for two days and snow falling
and drifting, 1t Is unlikely that the
kites will be seen again.
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