Evening star., 1939-01-12
Antarctic Area
Claimed for j. :.
By Ellsworth
10000 Square Miles
Is Discovered in
Dangerous Flight
BY LINCOLN ELLSWORTH,
Leader, Fourth Ellsworth Antarctic
Expedition,

BY LINCOLN ELLSWORTH,
Leader, Fourth Ellsworth Antarctic
Expedition.
ON BOARD MOTOR SHIP
WYATT EARP, Jan. IL (By wireless).
Eighty thousand square miles of coun-
try never seen before by human eye
has been added today to the known
area of the worlds surface, and,
following a precedent set by earlier
discoverers. have claimed the area
I have explored for my country,
the United States of America.
From the fringe of the Antarctic,
I have flown south to a point from
where 1 could see latitude 74:3O
south on longitude 10 east, and, as
our altitude in fight was nearly
$4,000 feet and visibility was per-
feet, I could see at least $50 miles
on each side of the plane.
In all this area not a mountain
range or speck of bare land
showed after we left the coastal
belt of hills, which thrust their
dark, snowfree tops through the
barriers edge. The whole area, as
far south as we could see, slopes
gradually upward to surface alti-
tude OF approximately 1850 feet,
and, serrated with high sastrugi,
continues on toward the pole. Had
mountains been discovered, I would
have brought back more spectacu-
lar photographs, but the knowledge
that no mountains are to be found
in this area is of equal geological
and geographical importance.
Evidence of naturalization.
Although snow-covered today, the
area I saw in my flight of discovery
might, some years hence, become
snoW-free and disclose righ mineral
deposits, for, on the coast, exposed
surfaces show much evidence of
high naturalization.
Yesterday morning our situation
on board the Wyatt carp was dan
gerous and somewhat hopeless. We
had been driven the day before from
our chosen take-off and landing
fleld-a fiat field of bay ice, lati-
tude approximate SO south, longi-
tude n east-by the approach of an
extensive, steady flow, forced down
on us by several icebQrgs. 1t came
| down hurriedly and we only Just
avoided being hemmed in by the
solid ice. We moved to the other
side, but the ice foe there was not
| c11it O h1n fnr R,,i,, Gal
! While waiting for conditions to
change took the opportunity to 20
ashore on section of the Antarctic
barrier and the rocky surfaces which
SHOW on its seaward side Then, as
evening closed and the wind chang
ed completely around from west to
east, I decided to go back to my
old mooring point and trust to get
ting suitable weather conditions in
the morning. However, much to our
astonlshment, conditions at the port
where we had been lying were COM
pletely changed The ice, which
had remained fast since our arrival,
had suddenly moved several miles
to the forth and completely blocked
on the entrance to the island har-
Dor. Much of the foe we had hoped
to use for a flying field had shat
tered and was drifting out to sea, so
our chances of taking off from the
rest OF it were hopeless.
Trip Took Five Hours.
The weather was showing signs of
clearing. We would either have to
ind a suitable field before "a hours
had elapsed, or, most likely, be
held by the weather for another
week or two. To the eastward SEEM
ed our best chance, so, with all speed,
we moved along the coast. When
we came to the limit of our former
reconnaissance, I sent Pilot Lynn
burner up ahead in the Aeronca sea-
plane, and, after an hour and 40
minutes flight, he came back to re-
port a possibility of finding room
enough to take off in a small ford,
just where the end of the great west
barrier meets the bare granite hill
at longitude 70 east.
1t took us five hours to reach the
place by ship We threaded our way
between hundreds of icebergs of
various sizes. and were sometimes in
such a maze that it was necessary
to send our small boat, fitted with
johnson outboard motor, ahead to
(see ELLSWORTH, Page A-l5.)
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