Evening star., 1948-11-15
Stars, Men and Atoms
korwegions Will Explore
Borren Queen Maud Lund
Antarctic Area Claimed by Morse
Was Studied by Germans
Bv Thomas X. Henry

By Thomas X. Henry
The 600 0,O00-square-mile ice desert Of Queen
Maud Land, upon whose ue-bulwarked shores
few If any human beings ever have set foot,
will be explored by . major land expedition
Of the Norwegian Polar Institute.
This sector Of the Antarctic continent just
east Of the Greenwich Meridian was placed
under the Norwegian flag by royal proclama.
ton In 1885, Previously entirely unknown,
much Of the territory was explored from the
air by q German expedition in the winter
Of 1s3o-4o and was claimed by Hitler rs Na1
territory under the name OF New schwabia. It
was then that Norway asserted its claim.
Validity Of any German claim, Of course.
was nullihed by the result Of the war.
The Norvesians now propose to bolster their
sovereignty over the territory by necessary
land exploration and by keeping q party on
the coast for at least one winter. Under the
present plans personnel will land from whal-
ins ships during the winter of 1s49-50 and q
wintering party will remain ashore throughout
the winter Of 1951-52. The explorers will be
equipped With both planes and ground equip
ment.
Cliffs of Ice.
They will be in the last known part Of the
world Exploration of Antarctica from land
bases in the past always has been centered
on the other side of the continent. The coast
of Queen Maud Land consists Of almost un-
broken cliffs of ice rising 100 feet sheer out
Of the sea and a major difficulty will be to
md break In this titanic barrier which Will
make 1t possible to get supplies ashore.
The interior consists of black mountain
peaks, with elevations as great as 10000 feet,
rising above high plateau OF ice. The German
airmen however, reported sighting some ice
free areas which might be compared to the
oasis discovered by the 1947 Byrd expedition
on the other side of the continent.
The Norwegian claims rest largely on ex-
ploration of the coastline by whaling expedi-
tions. The Polar Institute will receive both
British" and Swedish cooperation in the ven.
ture
Prevention of gonorrhea with self-admin-
istered penicillin pills apparently has been
demonstrated satisfactorily in cooperative
experiment of the Public Health Service ana
the Navy.
A preliminary report has just been made
by DR.. Harry Eagle Of the National Institute
of Health and group Of Navy medical omcers.
The possibility has been in dispute among
medical authorities since penicilln became gen.
orally available late in the war.
A group of $50 Navy enlisted men were di-
vided into two groups. Half received single
pill containing from 100000 to 250,000 units OF
penicillin when they returned to the ship from
shore leave The other half were given q sugar
pill. In the control group there were 43 infec-
tions after 1916 liberties, or 11.9 per thousand.
Effect Studied.
In 3,2l8 liberties which were followed within
a few hours by 100,000-unit penicllin pill
there were five cases. In 1,239 shore leaves
followed by taking 100000 unit tablet there
were only two infections. In one OF these
it was proved that the sailor had not taken
the prescribed tablet. The other case de-
veloped only after seven days and probably
was contracted long after the medication
The effect falls OF rapidly with length OF
time, between exposure and medication, the ex-
pertinent showed. ....-..yr...l
There has been much criticism OF this klnd
of treatment in the past because Of the pos
sible danger Of developing race OF germs
highly resistant to the drug. This happened
In the case of sulfa drugs during the war.
There was also the possibility that men who
took the penicillin pills regularly would become
sensitive to the drug. 1t was also possible
that symptoms of other diseases might be
suppressed so that it would be very difncult
to treat them when they did make an ap-
pearance.
careful watch for these effects has been
maintained and none of them have been ap'
parent to date. The studies it is emphasized.
still are preliminary and no official conclusions
can be announced.