THE SHACKLETON EXPEDITION.

Press, Volume L, Issue 14985, 4 June 1914, Page 7

THE SHACKLETON EXPEDITION.

"SENTIMENT THE DRIVING FORCE."

(FROM OCR OWN* CORRESPONDENT.) LONDON, April 2_. The Endurance, tho ship of tho Shackleton . Antarctic Expedition, "will reach England from Norway about May 25th, and will bo prepared for the start, whicli is timed for the latter end of July or tho first week m August. The vessel has been built specially for Antarctic work. Tho dog. which are to accompany tho expedition aro coming to London, and arrangements will bo made so that tho animals can bo seen by tho public.

Replying to tho toast of his health at an informal dinner of the .Pilgrims' Club at the Savoy Hotel, Sir Ernest Shackleton paid ...tribute to the economic value of scientific work on Antarctic expeditions, and declared that by studying meteorology in the Weddcll Sea they hoped to benefit the stockbreeders of tho Argentine and'Chiii, becauso it had already been found that denso ice in the Woddell- Sea meant heavy rains in these countries. Sentiment was the driving force. It always had been the driving forco in any work that counted for the ages to come. It would be the first crossing of the last continent to be crossed, and bo wanted to do it under our flag. (Cheers.) Explaining how they hoped to cross the South Polar Continent in four and a-half months, "Sir Ernest declared that their food would contain the highest amount of nutriment. The extract business was wrong. They must have something that would fill as well as heat. They hoped to discover whethor the Andes chain iiiike"u up with Grahamsland, and tho great rango of mountains which they had discovered on the other side o" the Pole. They hoped to ascertain whether the Antarctic Continent was one homogeneous mass or was divided into two. Within 290 miles of the Pole there' was a huge seam of coal, showing that onco the country was tropical or 6emi-tropical. The ice was dwindling away, and in time tho country would bo tropical again. But not in our time: in lil'ty thousand years. Each step taken into the unknown unfolded a page of mystery, and as long as there was any mystery on this globe, it was not only man's right, but it was his duty, to try to unravel it, so that in future ages we should not Im> pointed at as tho men who lived in the dark ages of the twentieth century. He was not going to do any flagwagging. The flag they were carrying cost half a crown, with- bunting. It things did not pan out well it would be 1916 before they -were heard of again. It lay on the knees of the gods what was going to happen, but if they failed i t would not bo his fault, or that of his comrades; it would bo the forces of Nature. They would try to do their best.

In reply to questions, Sir Ernest said alcohol was one of toe worst things to take in polar regions; except for medical purposes it was fatal. They took bottles of champagne for birthdays, and the difficulty was to restrict birthdays to one a month. If it was not the birthday of one or other of the members of the expedition there were relatives who had birthdays. Tobacco was going to bo taken, because it had a good moral effect and produced - comfort, which meant efficiency, when tho men were in their sleepin_r-bag.. and smoked. In the open air. with the temperature at 50 degrees below zero, it could not be used.