Evening star., 1939-12-24

he had charted many coasts that had
never been seen before. Now he was seeking
new worlds, as explorers have always sought
them Suddenly pack ice loomed ahead OF HIM.
Behind it. he knew, might lie a continent "a
continent never seen by human eyes, But TINS
explorer his name was Captain James Cook
and the year was 1878 - looked at that pack
ice, shivered and shook his head.
What if a continent did lie beyond: 1t
would be too cold for human habitation. What
if he did find a way to get through to II:
That frozen land - if it were there - could
be of no earthly interest to anyone. 50
Captain Cook sailed back to England. And
thus it was that 100 years ago, Yankee sea
captain, lanes Palmer, of Stonington. Con-
necticut, was the first man ever to set eyes on
Antarctica - the worlds fifth largest con-
tinent, bigger than the United States ana
Mexico put together.
In the middle of last November. Rear
Admiral Richard E. Byrd started on his third
trip to that frigid land. And many an Amer
ican, reading about it in his newspaper, Won
dered why Antarctica is just as cold, just as
forbidding, just as barren as it was when
Captain Cook turned his back on it and con-
demned it to eternal uselessness. Exactly what
was the use of going there?
Has Admiral Byrd an answer to that ques-
ton? Is it just a craving for adventure that
takes him south? Just desire to do something
that other men can't do? To be hero? To
make money? Or is there practical value in
an antarctic expedition? Is there any promise
in the South Pole regions for you and me, for
our children, or for our descendants of some
time in the future? For America? For the
world of today, or tomorrow:
A few days before Byrd left on his latest
expedition, had the opportunity to put these
questions to him quite bluntly. From him,
and from other members of the expedition,
think got the answers.
Byrd sees the antarctic as much more than
the useless wasteland that was imagined by
Captain Cook. To be sure, it is almost COM
pletely covered with ice - some of it more
than 1900 feet thick. 1t is the ooldest con-
tinent in the world: temperatures as low as
seventy degrees below zero have been
recorded, and Byrd estimates that the tenn
least forty degrees lower than that of the
North Pole 1t is the windiest continent, with
winds averaging fifty miles an hour, and blow
ing as hard as hundred miles an hour at
times - so that no man can stand up against
them Unlike the arctic region, which sup
ports population of million people and
where many forms of animal and vegetable
life thrive, it is the most deserted region on
the face of the earth. The seals, whales and
penguins along its shores are almost its only
life, except for few wingless insects OF a
degenerate type: it supports no trees, no
shrubs, no Towering plants. And to get to it
YOU have to sail through the stormiest waters
known to man.
All this, thinks Admiral Byrd. adds up to
make it one of the most important places in
the world Why? Because" he told me,
more weather is made there than anywhere
else on earth. You see, the antarctic is still
in the grip of an ice age. 1t manufactures cold
weather. The land is very high, and gravity
brings the cold down to the sea. Then the
terrific winds sweep it away to chill other
parts of the world
Byrd does not expect, by going down there,
to be able to change the weather - to stop
hurricanes or droughts or killing frosts. But
already meteorologists who have gone with
him have learned many weather secrets from
the antarctic, and they hope to learn many
l. E..