Evening star., 1933-09-03

AN/ December and head their
v " mCnoplane on daring flight
across the Antarctic Conti-
nent they will be off on one of the last thrill
ing adventures left in this almost-conquered
world No human being has crossed the
South Polar land, either on foot or in the air.
To try is big adventure. To succeed would
be triumph of exploration.
When you read all about it, in the news
paper you can get thrill of your own by
stopping to realize that the last continent on
earth is being discovered and explored In your
lifetime. Not to appreciate what that means
is to miss something-Ike living in the SIX
teenth century in Europe and being casual
about the explorations of De Soto or Balboa
But right now the Antarctic is as mysterious
and interesting as America was when explorers
were trying to find out how far the New World
extended and what its shape might be-
In American exploration days, mapmakers
drew queer outlines to represent the New
World New England they could draw with
confidence and good deal Of the Seaboaro
to the south. But they shaped Florida like
knotty pear, they left out the Great Lakes and
a vague gesture of the pen outlined the vast
Northwest
A NTARCTIC maps are in that state today.
n Opposite Australia, where Byrd and other
explorers have done intensive research, lies the
"New England" of the frozen continent. That
part of the South Polar map is drawn in con-
siderable detail. Beyond that stretches an ice
covered wilderness mainly uncharted. II
spreads around the South Pole in a roughly
circular mass as big as the United States and
Mexico put together
The area is 5,000,0 900 square miles, and only
q small fraction of it has been seen by man.
It Is a desert land with snow instead OF sand
and the rocky tips Of mountains form dark
n~%A Int &c q n
notonous land.
The ice and snow take varied scenic FORMS
such as rolling dunes fields Of snow flowers"
formed of drifting snow, cliffs Of towering
ice masses and along the shore the giant
glaciers There are volcanoes, one at least
known to be smoking. As for the whiteness
that such a country suggests, that Is often
wonderfully colored by sunsets, shadows and
the magnificent aurora phenomena. The cold
is intense, even the Southern Hemisphere's
Summer months of December and January be-
ing colder than freezing As for winds, Ant
artica is the home of the most terrific gales
on earth.
These forbidding but fascinating shores have
been approached from various angles by ex-
plorers, who planted flags for their countries
at different points and named the surround-
ing territory after their kings and other
notables These known sectors are joined with
dotted lines by the mapmakers in order to
suggest the probable outline of the vast South
Polar country.
Four years ago. Sir Hubert wilkins flew over
q corner Of the Antarctic and discovered that
the region of Graham Land is not joined to
the continent at all. 1t is a separate group
of islands.
THAT may be only the first OF a series OF
] surprises. Some geographers think that
the South Polar continent" may turn out to
be no continent at all. 1t may be several is
lands welded together in enormous masses
of ice
This is one Of the geographical mysteries
that the Ellsworth flight may solve. Making
the longest nonstop polar fight ever at
tempted, Ellsworth and Balchen will attempt
to cross and return over Antarctica at It's
narrowest point-where the Ross Sea and the
Weddell Sea cut deeply into the circular Land.
This is the line along which geographerS
think Antarctica may be divided in two. A
smaller portion may be separated from the
larger by strait obscured by ice. Admiral
Richard E. Byrd and Sir Hubert Wilkins re-
Gently showed that the seas run farther inland
than had been expected.
So little is this part of Antarctica known that
Ellsworth has estimated only 300 miles OF his
1,450-mile crossing have been seen by man.
The middle third of the journey will be tbs
fullest Of unknown quantities Flying from
the Ross Sea to the Weddell Sea, he expects
to turn his plane and fly back without stopping,
making a 290O-nile journey in 20 hours.
All the way along the lonely route, clock
like camera will map the terrain, swapping
picture every 10 seconds. Given such record.
geographers at home in comfortable labora-