Evening star., 1933-02-12
Continued From First Page.)

l ACnCht W h8IsCuItuICs
| OF inestimable benefit to agriculture
would be increased knowledge concern
ing Antarctic meterology, with the
establishment Of long-range stations for
the forecasting Of storms and droughts.
Again, 1t has long been recognized
That the earth Is a magnet, but 1t re-
malned Tor the investigations of Sir
James Ross In the Northern Hemisphere
and those Of Capt Scott in the South
s, ern to discover that the magnetic pole
does not concide with the geographical
pole, but Is some 1000 miles away. As
J the compass needle tends always to
point toward the magnetic pole instead
OF the true pole, there are few places
on the earth's surface where the needle
indicates true north and south. Co.
lumbus Is said to have first noted this
declination" on his earliest voyage to
| America.
Now. Is the science Of navigation
hinges very largely On the magnetic
lines Of magnetic force which yary from
place to place over the earth,s surface.
IT Is certain that without an investipa-
ton OF the magnetic properties of the
4 ANTARCTIC regions, 1t is hopeless To
strive, with any prospect of success. at
the advancement Of the theory of the
earth's magnetism.
Once m Equable Climate.
To an observer OF nature the most
apparent truth that comes to light Ia
regarding her unrest. Change is the
law Of the globe itself, as well as the
Lie that lives upon it. Nothing en-
oures. Says Tennyson:
THE hills are shadows and they flow
FROM form to form and nothing stands"
Nothing stands, not even the majestic
1ce-cap that today crowns Antarctica, for
we are told that, in the nearly completed
series of geological formations surveyed
| In Antarctica, dealing with the whole
five hundred million years of the earths
geological record, there Is no evidence
OF any extreme glacial climates, such as
we know occurred in other parts of the
world, to suggest that this awe-inspiring
ice plateau dates back more than the
| last few million years.
Not alone to gigantic ice-sheets does
nature work her changes. but to the
solid lands as, well, yet so slowly she
| works that we-"creatureS Of q day
catch but glimpses of great processes
which come out Of eternity and go into
eternity. It Is -difficult, therefore. to
picture Antarctica, In q time not long
remote. geoIogically speaking, connected
by land rays with South America, Aus
trails, New Zealand and South Africa,
and having an equable climate.
The proof of this land connection Is
to be found in the fact that, in the
| Australian quadrant, around the Ross
Sea, the rocks and their structures, and
the fossils as well, bear remarkable
similarity to those of Australia, while
across the continent in West Antarctica,
around the Weddell Sea, Graham Land,
ETC., we seem to see q continuation OF
! the South American Andes, for like rea-
sons.
| Greatest Unsolved Problem.
| Probably the greatest unsolved prob
lem as regards the eartf's structure, re-
marks Grifith Taylor, professor Of
geography at the University OF Chicago,
Is the relation Of these two regions,
East and West Antarctica, to each other.
Are there two Antarctic continents, he
asks, separated by straits or archipela-
gic areas, or do the Antarctic Andes
| die away against an infinitely larger
plateau OF the Australian type?
While the latter seems probable, to
shed additional light on this interesting
problem, II possible, Is the main OBJ
| jective Of my transatlantic fight, from
the Ross Sea to the Weddell Sea, ,450
miles.
But to land at the weddeI Sea, once
the continent has been crossed, is i'm
practicable for boats cannot live in that
ice-fllled water, and base there can
not well be established. Having flown
to remain in the air and fly back to my
base on the Ross Sea, thus doubling the
distance. And before we can fly those
1900 miles we shall have to travel TO-
900 miles by sea.
For my pilot on this adventure am
glad to have Bernt Balchen. He was in
Spitzbergen in 1926 with Amundsen and
myself as a member OF the Norge ex-
pedition, and has since flown the At
lantic and piloted Admiral Byrd to the
South Pole. No better man and COM
rade for such . journey as this could
be found, feel
To Sir Hubert wilkins am indebted
for much advice and assistance in form
ing my plans. In view Of the delay In
his proposed submarine venture in the
Arctic, due to world conditions, he has
unselfishly offered to continue this serv-
ice down to the base in Antarctica
where he will serve as my reporter on
the trip.
The Plane Described.
With Sir Hubert's advice have
chosen a Northrop Delta" low-wins
monoplane with q total length of 20
feet AZ inches and wing spread OF
48 feet. to be fitted with both wheels
and skis, the skis, made Of laminated
hickory. to be feet 8 inches long and
81 inches wide.
With single Pratt g. Whitney Wasp
motor OF 500 horsepower 1t is possible to
obtain a high speed of 230 miles an
hour, but the economic cruising speed
will be less. The cruising radius of the
plane total 4,200 miles, so that with a
flight of 1900 miles (about 20 hours)
more than 1000 additional miles will be
available. In tests the plane has done
210 miles an hour at 1000 feet loaded
The total weight of the plane, in
cluding 500 gallons Of gasoline, with
Balchen for pilot and myself as navi-
gator and emergency camp equipment
will be $500 pounds.
have purchased for my expedition q
5o0-ton Norwegian oil-burning motor
ship. the Fanef5ord. a single-deck yes
sci with three masts, 1876 feet long by
20 wide, carrying crew of nine, speed
8 to 9 knots. and with space below
deck for the plane. With bunker space
for 100 tons Of oil, she has a cruising
range OF 5000 miles. while the greatest
single distance on the way to the Ross
Sea will be from Capetown to Dunedin
1900 miles. From America or Norway
to the Ross Sea Is about 10000 miles.
Tests Now In New York.
This month we are testing the plane
around New York. Later We shall fy
to Winnipeg to test the snow LANDING
gear I may remark that Canadian
Winter temperatures are about as sever,
as We expect the Antarctic Summer
temperature to be- II we find that VIZ
can manage in the Far Northwest, W.
shall feel encouraged
This testing done, Balchen, with the
plane in his charge, will journey te
Europe and Join our motor lship. The
little Fanefjord. with the pane In It,
hold. viii start ~ NV Zealand Az