Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-04-26
Adventures
In Antarctic
Recoun+ed
New Book Tells Story
From Cook TO Byrd
BY EDWIN C. HILL

ONE of our favorite items OF
" hayloft reading, back in the
days when all the world was
young, was an old book about
early Elijah e h n voyages.
There was escape literature for
you!
My favorite picture showed
the umbrella-footed natives OF
an island somewhere off the
African coast. Only the right
foot, / believe, was so adapted.
The carefree beach-comber lay
on the sand, hiked up his right
leg. numbered his web foot
and snoozed with his home
grown parasol providing perfect
shade.
The book. which came into
our library from heaven knows
where. was full of such marvels,
solemnly set forth with support
ing testimony. Lacking travel
and establishment. one needn't
have had duh moment, back
in the age of faith. It's long
stretch to the careful. precise
reporting of Russell Owen in
his new book, The Antarctic
Ocean" just now put on the
ways by Whittlesey House.
WE CAN'T recall an instance
w in which a first-class re-
porter, which Mr.. Owen is, has
engaged in a grapple with far
wilderness and has told his story
within the rigid framework Of
both scientific and journalistic
accuracy, and yet made the live
interest and drama of the tale
stand out like a lighthouse.
This combination of the CAM
era eye and the disciplined writ
ing wrist is unique and all but
unprecedented in the annals OF
exploration.
Mr.. Owen rounds up the South
Pole drives of Ross, Scott,
D'Urville, Wilkes. Cook ono,
Wedell, Biscoe, Palmer. Shackle-
ton, Amundsen and Byrd: he
dredges up score OF thrilling
narratives. and, with the Good
detachment which his theme
suggests, debunks some fantas-
Tic ideas about the mineral
wealth and strategic Importance
of this region.
Its only material wealth.
says Mr.. Owen, in conclusion,
Lies In the ocean surrounding
1.-THE whales. Its real wealth
il what man can learn from IL,
the secrets he can wrest from
Its wind and Its rocks"
MIR. OWEN. one of the ace
w correspondents of the New
York Times, won the Pulitzer
Prize for his stories of the first
Byrd expedition of 1929-30.
Previously, he had been with
Amundsen and Byrd at Spitz-
bergen, and had specialized in
aviation and exploring.
In his new book, as usual, he
turns up a brand-new story. or
rather dredges it from the scrap
heap of old log books and
records OF forgotten voyagers.
His stand-out story here has
10 do with young Capt. Nat
Palmer Of Stonington, Conn.
who. writes Mr.. Owen, "is the
first one whose sighting of the
Antarctic continent can be
proved" He was on the brig
Hersilia, sailing from Stonington
in 1919. q.
THE story of how the Her
silia reached the ShetIands Is
worthy OF any dime novel," Mr..
Owen continues.
ION the Falklsnds. young Nat
Palmer was left to kill bullockS
for provisions. While he was
there, a ship called the Espirito
SantO came In from BuenOs
Aires and Palmer piloted her
into the harbor and supplied her
with fresh meat.
Before she sailed, the cap
tain told Palmer that he was
on his way TO place where
there are thousands of seal, but
would not say where it was.
"A few days after the Espirito
Santo sailed, the Hersilia re-
turned and young Nat told Shelf
field 1.-THE captain) that he could
follow the other ship. He did
so and discovered the crew of
the ESpiritO Santo killing seal.
Far from being annoyed, the
British captain of the Spanish
ship was so filed with Palmer's
astuteness that when his own
ship was filed, his crew helped
fill the hold of the Hersilia."
Copyright IQ4I King Feature. svnd l..