Carolina watchman. [volume] (Salisbury, N.C.) 1871-1937, 1934-03-30


The Antarctic winter Is about to
begin. The Jacob Rupert is a steel
ship. II she is caught in tho ice
when the sea freezes she will al
most certainly be squeezed SO that
her plates will be crushed In. That
Is why she must get out of there
and back to New Zealand before
the freeze sets in. Admiral Byrd has
set February 10 as the deadline.
Meanwhile the good old wooden
Bear of Oakland. with an ice-break-
ing bow 26 feet thick, is coming
south through the Ross ice pack.
The reason the Rupert is having
difficulty unloading Is that the ice
has gone out of the Bay of Whales,
which is nine miles wide and 20
miles long. Usually there is a great
solid ice pack at the Bays entrance
with occasional leads or openings
through which a ship a sneak.
This was the situation when the
Rupert arrived. The ice kept the
sea quiet. Now. however. the ice has
broken up and SO much of it has
f1oated out to sea that a heavy
swell has taken possession of the
bay. The ship can no longer dock
In this swell alongside the crumb-
ling Ice, because her sides rub
against 1t ven when 1t does not
slide into the sea. and her bottom
hits submerged ice. So she Is drift
ing in the Bay until conditions
change.
From the daily newspaper radio
dispatches from the Expedition,
which the Club Headquarters also
receives. we learn that the day
after the ship arrived Arthur ADELE
had a most thrilling adventure. He
had swung over the side of the ship
and was standing on a big ledge of
ice. with an Eskimo dog in his
arms. waiting to board the Mat.
thews motor boat cruiser which was
taking men and supplies to a land
Ing place further along on the ice.
Suddenly his ledge broke Off and
fell into the sea. with him and the
dog on 1t. By a miracle 1t landed
right side up and did not capsize.
Holding the dog safely. Arthur
sprawled out on his stomach and
balanced the floating Ice cake until
Edgar Cox. steering the cruiser, ar
rived and Arthur and his pet were
hauled aboard. Here is a paragraph
we omitted from Arthur's story last
week:
THE tractor trip George Neville
Is planning should be a corker-
half way across the entire continent
Of Antarctica, with a big American
Cletrac tractor and two smaller
French Citroen tractors. Hope /
can go with him but l probably
can't. My job is to stay at Little
America and learn to be an avia-
tor"
Since that was written, n Of
the tractors hauling great drums of
Tydol gasoline to Pressure Camp
caught fire and It's wooden body
completely burned up, and one OF
the others caught fire but 1t was ex-
tinguished by Admiral Byrd him
self.
More than five thousand people,
including several entire school and
college geography and science
classes, whose teachers are using
these stories as weekly lessons.
have &tned the club by sending
self-addressed stamped envelopes toj
Arthur Adele, Jr.. Little America
Aviation and Exploration Club, Ho,
tel Lexington. 48th Street and Lex.
ington Avenue. New York, N. Y.
There Is no charge for Joining this
Club. organized at Admiral Byrd's
request, and all members have re.
ceived membership cards and a big
working map of the South Polal
region. A handsome club lapel but
ton will be sent all members In the
near future. If you haven't Joined
| yet. the club will welcome you and
your friends.