Evening star., 1935-11-22
ELLSWORTH FINDS
MOUNTAIN RANGE
Great Chain Discovered
From Plane Beyond
Stefansson Strait.
BY LINCOLN ELLSWORTH.
Nv Radin to The Star.

DUNDEE ISLAND, Weddell Sea,
Antarctica, November 81 (N.A.NA).-
Another secret has been wrested from
Antarctica. Although Herbert Holnck-
Kenyon and I had to turn back our
plane today after covering almost
third of the distance across Antarc-
tica to the Ross Sea, we discovered
that the great mountain chain OF
which Graham Land is a part rises
again beyond Stefansson Strait on
what is probably one great Antarctic
continent.
At the edge of Hearst Land and
southwark of Cape Eielson we saw
mountains along a northwest-south-
east direction ranging from 1000 to
1900 feet. Unfortunately, many OF
the lower ranges were covered with
clouds, but, from an altitude Of $4,000
feet, we could see the peaks Of some
of them almost at our level and only
a few miles away. The conspicuous
jagged peaks were not far from the
coast of Hearst Land.
At our farthest south, although we
could not see because of the clouds
beneath us, the feel of the machine
in the air suggested that we were
above a plateau.
Another Range Probable.
Definite details will not be known
until I have had time to check my
observations, but we were probably at
our fartheSt south between latitudes
II and 72 and longitudes IS and 66
west. On our course, which trended
southwestward, the clouds ranged for
probably 70 miles ahead. and even
there we could see rolling cloud
mass, apparently at higher level,
sibly higher than the one over which
we flew.
It would have been foolhardy and
useless to continue on over the clouds,
and it became obvious soon after we
turned that we were in a terrific
wind It is, of course, impossible to
check the drift of a plane over the
clouds, but, as soon as we could see
the coast of the Wedden Sea and
Cape Eielson, it was apparent that
strong south-southwest wind had,
while we were climbing, carried us
much to the eastward.
We came back more or less parallel
TO our outward course and landed
at 1890 G. M. T. after 101s hours
flying.
Our take-off this morning was per-
feet. There was just a breath Of
wind and the temperature was at zero
centigrade The airplane Polar Star
had no difficulty with her load, and,
at O8:03 G. M T. (3:03 am, E. S. T.)
we climbed and headed for the coast
Of Graham Land.
From there, we followed along the
Larsen Barrier. passing Robertson
Island at 09:15. We passed Cape
FramneSs at O9:55. So far, there was
little pack ice to be seen in the We'd
dell Sea, but southwark the pack
close to the barrier was thick. It
seemed open further to the eastward.
At 11:25 we were opposite Mount
Ranck and shortly afterward we could
see Stefanson Strait and the various
channels between the Finley Islands.
That Stefanson Strait exists is very
obvious, for we could see along it for
about 80 miles, but our altitude there
was $500 feet. 1t seemed that the
islands were closer together and the
strait narrower than they are plotted
on our chart.
AS we crossed the strait, we could
see clouds ahead, but, above them,
could be seen high, jagged, bare
rocked peaks. The temperature had
dropped to below zero and the
air was terribly bumpy. To our left,
Cape Eielson was easily recognizable
as low point studded with nunataks.
We had been climbing steadily until
we were at 5000 feet, and there we
sensed very strong wind from ahead.
We must have crossed over the edge
of Hearst Land at about 1850, still
climbing, for the range ahead seemed
about 1000 feet above us.
Avoids Risky Flight.
At 1880 we were at 10000 feet and
the ground was only about 800 feet
beneath, so we climbed and climbed.
But there was a strong -trending
current that made it difficult to gain
altitude. We Gid gain In height at the
sacrifice Of forward speed until $4,000
feet was reached, and then ahead
was the layer of cloud. It spread be-
meath us and as far as we could see.
was greatly tempted and almost
ventured to fly above the clouds until
the eightieth degree of longitude
was reached, but to have done so
would have been a grave flying risk
and would not have given us the in
formation we seek.
So We turned toward the Weddell
Sea, and, borne by what evidently was
a bowling gale, soon reached the
coast. Then, free of the clouds, we
could observe that we were out of the
storm area, although the drift indi-
Gated a wind of about 80 miles an
hour.
Disappointed at our setback, we re-
turned to the Wyatt carp to try our
luck again as soon as the weather
permits.
tCopyright, 1885, by the North American
Newspaper Alliance and the New
York Times Co)