Evening star., 1935-08-11
ELLSWORTH TELLS
OF POLAR PLANS
Explorer Uncertain About
Equipment for Flight
Over Antarctica.
BY CLARENCE X. STREET.

bY CLAnENCE m oAhGAA'
BY Radio to The Star
LENZBURG, Switzerland. August
10.-There is a refrain that runs
through the conversation when one
is talking with Lincoln Ellsworth
about his plans for his coming ex-
rloratory flight across Antarctica. 1t
comes as he answers questions in his
Quiet, soft voice. It Is sort OF re-
frain: just this-"no one knows"
What sort of conditions must you
prepare for in this 2,3o0-mile f1ight?"
mo one knows. Only perhaps 10
per cent Of Antarctica has been
roughly explored. No one has yet
crossed the area I propose to cross,
Seeks 24-Hour Flight.
That seems to cover things pretty
thoroughly. but it is hard nowadays
to conceive land no one really knows
One is lured back into asking foolish
questions. You listen while Ellsworth
tells how he waited A days last year
Tor as much as Il hours OF good n.y.
ing weather. You listen while he tells
YOU what he has been seeking for
three years now is 24-hour flight
across Antarctica from Weddell Sea
to Ross Sea on the Cape Horn side
of the pole.
Twelve from 20 leaves you figure.
and it comes over you rather forcioly
that the risk of being forced down
is great.
"The trouble" Ellsworth is saying,
'is suually weather. But you usually
see the storm coming, and with a
plane such as mine, one can hope
to outrun it. If not, you must try
to land and dig trench before it hits
you. The great advantage Of a low
wing plane. such as I have, is that
you can dig in better with it"
Equipment Is Puzzle.
But if you land and can't take
off and must walk for it-what is
the country best adapted for-Skis,
snowshoes or what?"
I'VE are taking a handsled, with
five weeks emergency rations for the
pilot and me and skis-but no one
knows for sure what is best, for we
don't know just what conditions we
may meet"
THE plane he mentions has a CELL
ing of 24,000 feet, which prompts
the question: How high do you plan
to fy?"
"As low as possible. for want to
photograph with my new camera,
which takes $50 shots without reload
ing. But nobody knows whether or
not there is mountain range across
this area that will force us up.
hope so, for it will make navigation
easier"
Ones eye falls on Alpine pick and
rope. Ellsv orth explains he has just
been spending 10 days at Pontresina
with the famous Swiss guide. Simon
Rehmi, practicing pulling men out
Of ice crevaSses. The question seems
to ask itself "Are there lots of
crevasses in this region you are
tackling?"
mo one knows. From what little
we do know, it seems likely and We
must therefore be prepared But no
one knows"
Leaves for Rio Monday.
On Monday, Ellsworth will leave
for Friedrichshaven, whence he will
sail with Mrs Ellsworth in the Graf
Zeppelin for Rio de Janeiro. Thence
he will 90 to Sac Paulo, whence he
will fly to Corumba, in the wilderness
Of Matto Crosse. He goes there to
meet that strange Latvian. Sacha
Siemel, celebrated in Green Held"
and reputed to be the one white man
who hunts jaguars with a spear.
After three weeks there. Ellsworth
will return to Rio, then go to Mon
tevideo. where his ship Wyatt carp,
is Quitting. He sails from there to
the Antarctic october 20, planning to
make Snowhill, Dundee or one of the
neighboring islands a base for his
flight.
There begins the wait for good
weather. If he does not find 1t by
January first, he says he will re-
nounce the flight for this time
The plane will carry gas for 1000
extra miles and two wireless sets-one
portable for that handsled.
Will Radio Progress.
Ellsworth will radio via his ship
to New York during the flight and
when he announces his landing in
Ross Sea the ship will sail 800 miles
round in order to pick him up. That
Is expected to take five weeks.
There are two things more Ellsworth
plans to take in the planes precious
load. They are two OK shoes, worn
once he says, by oxen that took pion-
eers to California. Il found them my
self" he says, ''in Death Valley"
Now stealing little space from the
Pemmican supplies, these former OK
shoes are going to what remains of
a once vast land nobody knew. To
ny thereover, to plod thereover-
nobody knows.
(Copyrigh+. 1885 by the North American
Newspaper Alliance. Inc)