Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-09
Desert. Exploration REEVES
Old Romance I'm Machine Age

In the reports Of Bertram Thomas,
English traveller who penetrated the
Arabian peninsula between the Red Sea
and the Gulf Of Oman, the public reads
anew the romance and adventure of
the primitive explorer. American COM
ments emphasize the unusual task he ac-
complished in the face of great peril
with the camel as his only means of
transportation in an age when most
exploration is done with all the aids
and comforts Of the airplane and the
automobile.
Zone of the most fascinating spots on
the map" according to the Springfield
(Mass.) Republican, "has been the great
white space that fills most of the south
ern half Of the Arabian peninsula. So
few remain of these mysterious blank
places in the map Of the world that the
lover OF romance may almost regret
having this one sullied. But since in
any case 1t could not much longer have
stayed intact as playground for fancy,
even the lover of romance may be
grateful that its mystery has been dis
PEELED in so admirably romantic way.
1t Is marvellous that the intrepid ex-
plorer, Bertram Thomas, came through
the desert alive; 1t Is almost more as
tonishing that he should have had the
chance in an age when flying machines
so lightly skim over sandy plains, frozen
seas and tundra boys. The great days of
exploration are almost over; we may
congratulate ourselves on being able
to share in the thrills Of so splendid
an exploit in the grand style. Aviation
will be needed, presumably, to complete
the exploration of the Dahna desert, or
Ruba of Khali, which Mr.. Thomas has
been the first of explorers to cross"
"FIis achievement is the more remark
able" says the st. Louis Post-Dispatch,
"for being accomplished without the
new implements bestowed on the ex-
plorer by the machine age" That paper
adds: mo airplane or dirigible or trac-
tor car for Thomas-he was served by
wander over sandy wastes since the
days of Mcrco Polo" The Baltimore
Sun holds that what Thomas found
and saw in the habitat Of ostrich and
antelope appears, even in scanty detail,
to have been of vast interest" That
paper concludes: THAT it was an ex-
tremely brave and useful exploit experts
have already testified. But to the public
it must seem more than that. Thomas
has taken travel and geography, made
stale and commonplace with planes,
speed and exhaustive expeditions, and
momentarily has restored them to their
cid exciting place in the human love
Of heroism and adventure"
X X 4
Quoting DR.. Gilbert Grosvenor, presi-
dent of the National Geographic So
ciety, as saying there is doubt whether
there has been a comparable feat since
Livingstone and Stanley traversed the
unknown heart of Africa" the Dayton
Daily News comments: THE Arabian
desert is almost the exact geographic
and population center or the Old World.
Commercial activities have humme6
everywhere about it, but this vast will
derness of sand, some 600 miles across,
has gone unexamined. The very cir
cumstance suggests the hazards and
difficulties which confronted Mr..
Thomas. Several explorers had pre-
viously attempted what he finally &C
complished, only to turn back and adj
NIT failure. The vacant spot in the
map of Arabia may now be filed in
with symbols significant of another hu-
man advance into unknown territory.
The achievement gives Mr. Thomas
high rank in the annals Of adventure"
1.-THE geographical world particularly
will walt with much interest Mr..