The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1933-09-28
BYRD VOYAGE
STIRRING NAVY
Keen and Sympathetic In
terest Taken by Fight
ing Branch in Work
By HARRY w. FRANTZ
United Press Staff Correspondent
Copyright, 1888, by the U.P)
WASHINGTON Sent % -


Copyright, 1888, bv the U.P.)
WASHINGTON, Sept. 2S. =
(UP)-The prospective depart
ure of Rear Admiral Richard E.
Byrd for the Antarctic has
awakened extraordinary good
will in the United States navy,
which regards the Virginia OK
plorer not only as a comrade but
as the modern exponent of a
greater naval tradition of polar
exploration.
On his 1929-1930 expedition,
Byrd reported to the navy de-
partment that at least 10000
square miles had heen subtract
cd from the previous unknown
lands" on the Antarctic map,
and a further wholesale "chisel-
ing" into this mysterious area
is expected from him in the next
two years.
Apart from the scientific and
geographical Importance, naval
officers here have an exceptional
historical interest in the forth
coming expedition, which they
consider a logical elimination of
discoveries first made by Lieu
tenant Charles Wilkes, U. S. N,
in 1S49. These were the first to
demonstrate that a land-mass of
continental size existed in far
southern ATTITUDES. Wilkes claim,
for a time discredited by rival
explorers, now is again accepted
by the foremost Antarctic au-
thorities. ..
Strangely, the greatest geo
graphical opportunity confronting
Byrd will be definitely to prove,
or disprove, whether the "con-
tinent of Antartica" is in fact a
single land-mass, two continents,
or an Archipelago. At present
it is geographical mystery
whether a sea-strait underhes
the deep ice-fields between the
Ross sea and the Weddell sea.
The Antarctic ice barrier, and
terrific winds have prevented So
luton of this problem by ap-
proach from the sea, and only a
direct crossing by land or air
would give a satisfactory an
swer.
The international skepticism
which for a time attended Wilkes
claim to discovery of an Ant
arctic continent was for many
decades a heart-ache in the navy,
and it remained for Admiral
Byrd, in his 1929-30 expedition
and in the one now projected, to
give to the United States pres
tige in the far south comparable
to that gained by series. OF
naval explorers in the North Po-
lar regions. iHg -"
One of the aerly and illustri-
Gus American naval names in
North Polar exploration is that
of 1t. f. j. DeHaven, who in
1S50-1S52 sought Intellectually
to rescue the lost British expedi-
ton of Sir John Franklin, but
was successful after extraordl-
nary difficulties in discovering
Murdaugh Island and the WIDE
plateau known as Grinnell land.
Lieutenant Commander G. w.
belong, U. S. n, commander
the jeanette" in an attempted
expedition to the North Pole by
way of Bering Strait, started
from San Francisco in 1879. Two
years later the ship was destroy
ed by ice north of Siberia, after
it had proved that Wrangell
island was not part of great
northern continent. The heroism
displayed by Commander belong
and his comrades in the trip back
to habitations in the lena delta
is one of the epic stories of the
navy, but it ended tragically with
the death of the commander and
others from starvation.
Commander w. S. Schley add
ed to the Arctic laurels of navy
personnel In 1904 WITCH he Aouiiu
the survivors of the Greedy ex-
petition in a tent on Cane Sa-
bine.
Admiral Robert E. Peary, an
American navy officer. after %
years of persistent effort, ar
rived at the North Pole on April
s, 1909.
Byrd was first at the North
Pole by airplane on Nav 9, 1926;
first at the South Pole by air
plane, on November 20, 1929,
and thus the first human ever to
arrive at both poles of the globe.
Friends of Byrd at the navy
department and on ships, there
apples were -pealed Miss Ruby
Lee Garren served cake and cof-