COMMANDER EVANS TELLS HIS STORY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1673, 13 February 1913, Page 5

COMMANDER EVANS TELLS HIS STORY.

THE;FIRST NEWS OF THE > :?;;r,; ! ::;r-:,TRAGEDY.; ; V-V'i'; : OF SOUTHERN DASH; •,: ; DiAßrtlS & RECORDS. ,-':;■■• (By Teleiriljn.-P'resi Asspolatibn.).... 7 dtirlslchurcH, February 12. 'At one o'clock; thir afttrlioon Cdrnman-. der Evans and liis : executive officers met a gi'oUpof pressmen in. the wardroom of the v.Terra- Nova,'" in ; or'der' 't'o7:'give" I'subh" additional 0f'.,%, expedition.'.Ho. prflfacwiyiisf, ;j:enin.rkS((b};) Explaining that lie was und?r no obliga-: Fiqns either to give 6r withhold the story, in ,so .'far':'as;ho';w'as an officer::'of. tlio ■Edyai.ijittvyi' nrfd'ao such •.subject to' iliteryibwihgi.' ; .lle .recognised, however,' . that, the'people''of ■'ICe.vf ii?!iliiiid ; were specially interested in, this niatter, and 'he was, prepared, to give sbind particulars. He reserved td' hhnsilf; the' right ; to dbclino io ; ariswbf any': question'.-thitt niight subsequently: be'; put,.and to forbid any- other, members'.'".'of 'he expedition ,' onsitering questions except vitniii'limits. .With explanation the commander, dntered on his 'V'"',-.' V;.';'' .'..' '■'- "'".''" - -;" He first. said after the . Terra ;. Nova ■ left Now..Zealand oh.'lier, recent voyage a stowaway ,*as .tliscdyered...- .'He was subsequently transferred ;•,to. a; Norwegian barque,:tho master of which'promised to land him in /Now Zealand. ".

. ; ;*' Very Good Runs, ■"• ■}..'.. .'•■;. ■A. line, was steered, for lat..CO and long. 160.west in-order to rtui a new. line of spuridifigs for .scientific .purposes. At CO deg. south the vessel steered due south, and rather, to ,their surprise did'hot encounter pack ice:, till',tntW(i9.2o,.'atid until the sbventy-first ; • parallel was reached their progress;was not sufficiently stopped Day runs' were frequently; df ortb.hundred miles; which was very good for a ship-of.'her class travelling in.ica. •..'■ ' ; .' , .'.

■ In.lat. 71.35'a.'pabk,belt6f hnrnmocky ice' .was encounteredj sand progress.te'bhmo so slow that- tho engines. were :stcpped and the fires banked., The ice was observed to ba rapidly siting, ,artd by January 12 it became so'loose that the ship successfully ..worked through 'into open water, ■rind madd a;fairly easy' piisagb to Cape Evans,' which Was reached on January. 18., I ''■' "Are You AILWell?"

: "Wp, had prepare<l,"'. said Colnmartder Evans,-,."t0 givd.tlic.'• ■■sblither'rt..party & grSat ovation. Accomihddtttion wds iriado. ready-fof them, and liixuriss got up fforn tile.store-rpom.; We .steamed'rapidly towards bur winter quarters,, and . anchored less thart!a quarter. Oi a mile from, the 'hntj with dur colours: flying, wheh -ive could.see a largo '■" party on. the beach, waving and: gesticulating, and . as the anchor Was: dropped .they 1 gave Us thfC3 ringing chebrs.which wo answered.' ■'. "I identified Lieutcnnnt Campbell, next in cpihmihd to .Captain Scott, there, but cdtlld riot see Captain Scott, and so shouted to him: 'Are you nil •well?' : "After some hesitation, ; Lieutenant Campbell shouted,in reply-; . ■ . .:. ■ "'The southcrn>party reached the'Pdle on January 18 last.yeiir, but ivere all lost on the way back. We have their records/ , ' ..... 'This rlews df course was received'in silence.' it was;a tremendous shock to us. • We shall regret the loss of -' the southern party allonr lives. Details df that loss you already luivo, and I need not further dwell on thorn. "Our boats were lowered from the ship and tho Miore party camo on board and "''" ," s ,," 1(! '"story of the past: vear. Tt was full of adventure and exciting detail rhe remainder of that dnv was given up to reading home loiters, and disenssin" events. Thereafter the camp was broken up, ami all material to be removed placed on board. The Sbutherii Dash. , ."Now," said tlie '.commander, "I may give you a few details of the prenarntorv work tor the .■•outheni dash. I tbok part in it as you know, but have so far.said iiolliing,;..as 1 did not wisli to trench on Uptnin &cdtt',s records. The scheme of this journey was as followss-Rixtccn men were employed in the advance fn the Of theso four went ahead, under myself, to pioneer. This party consisted ot Duy (motor engineer), 1,-ashley (third engineer), Petty-Officer Cnnn (Ciiptnih hcolts-old petty olhccr), Hooper (steward), mid myself. We took with us two motor-sledges and a large quantity of foud stuffs to relieve tho ponies of heavy oads for the. first fifty miles of their journey. Thir- was between our base and Hilt Point, where the sea icq was very slippery, and from Hut Point to Corner Camp, which consisted of thirtv-four miles of barrier with soft snow. We did not want the ponies to suffer these conditions, of which we knew, and so look motor-sledges in ndvance. 1 "Although these sledees did not come

up to our expectations, they did succeed in advancing some three tons weight for fifty .miles from the base. But in doing so they gave us frequent trouble from lucessaiit brealung-dowu and ovcr-hent-ing. rhis gave those in chargo much discomfort, to put it mildly. The motors hoiug air-cooled becamo very hot. Frequently the temperature was, roughly, 8 degrees below Zero. When they became over-heated we had to wait for them to cool, and we cooled too. When they got cold wo had to warm up tho carburetter with a blow-lamp to get going again. The whole business was most trying, and wo were really thankful when they did break down altogether, ■ although wo mended them nnd used them as much as possible. Tho last'-molor broke down at Corner Camp, and tho party was really pleased. , The Meeting-place, "Leaving the motor's, we took 8801b. weight oft' each ten-foot sledge, and marching •■twenty . geographical miles a day, reached tho meeting-place appointed by Scott in latitude 80.13. Here wo built ah enormous' snow camp, which we called Mount Hooper', after the youngest member of our party. Wo' waited liere a week for Captain Scott to arrive, which he did oii November 12, 1911. He had been delayed by bad weather at the start, ajid when he reached us he relieved us of most of our weight and sent us a feu: miles ahead. '■■''■_ "Wo erected cairns to mark the return, and did all the navigating 1 nnd surveying required. Wo ' were really • a pilot party, and kept ahead of the ,mnin, party. The pony party 'behind us 'established depots, which were approximately-one "week's march apart, and marked each with a big. black flag. Those 'were situated approximately at'Bl .3o, 03.30, 83.30, and 87.30 south. The various .supporting.parties returned, and were taken back to the base at Cape Evans by Day, Hears,' Dr. Atkinson, and Lieut. Evans rsspectively. ! "The total distance to the Pole and back. bv Scott's route was 1812 statute miles, and ;au?ing the speed of the southern partv bv that of the parties led bv Lieut. Evans and Dr.- Atkinson, he should have returned to Hut Point, fifteen miles from the base,-on March 10. Some thought ha would return before this date, but having five men as against three in the last 'supporting party a longer time might bo required. Dreadful Hardships, "No real" anxiety was ever felt for the sledging parties employed on the-south-ern journey,"' said Commander Lvans, "as tho organisation, equipments, and celection were so excellent, thanks to Captain Scott's, experienced and remarkable ability. . . . „ , '"VVlien'l was returning ill with scurvy mv life was very ■.•■gallantly sa™d by LilsMey nnd Kim-art. We had then.been employed on sledging for six months., "Captain Scott's ; last misfortune .was duo to weather conditions,, which it was impossible to overcome,, as is prayed only too clearly by the.^dreadful- hardships which brought: about the. loss-of, the southern party."' .

The Accident to Petty-Officer Evans, ■ A«ked for some particulars concerning the acciddnt 'which' 'l«fcl Petty-Officer Evans; Commander Evans pointed, out that the'nature of. the ice in the vicinity ot where the accident oceurred.tfas very rough, and if .was. often necessary for the men to have-to climb over steep clifrs oi icewhiclt was. very slippery. Apparently Petty-Officer Evans met a difficult stmt to negotiate, and he • probably slipped; and' fell on his head, sustaining concussion of tli* brain." '..-'•• ■;■. „',',' ', Further particulars of the last hours and deaths, of Capt. Scott, Dr.■ .Wilson, C'iipt. Dates mid Lisift.Botfer.s.were Fought by the reporters but Commander .'Evans paid ho did not-.wish to'go into those matters at nil. He said'the prirticiilars already published gave' a general idea of tho fate of the men,' and.he said ho did not desire to make.the tragedy more painful than it is by adding more details. ■r'V.;•"''!''.■ ■' ' -'.' -".:' .'".■•■ ' ■•...:. ■''-'■'■'' ■"•■ The Diaries., ' 1 f'Cbiiimandef 'Evans ,stCid : ..tiat'iin iid.di-. *tion tcf(recovering Caplaih Scott's' diary, the rescue party had also found. diaries which were kept by other members of the. 'southern party. . xN'oho of the diaries, .rbbwever.'hdid: been'opened;."., Commander Evans said be .'thought it 'was right; that .Captain" Scott's diary' should be handed to Mrs. Scotf just as it'-was'found by the rescuo party, and in- cases of 'the other diaries he had decided to hand them to the nearest relatives'of their late owners. '.' Consequently no '-information- con-' tained in the diaries of the men who had reached the Pole will be available ior the public for soino time. ■ ■ ' „'• ■ 'ConUnblulct'Evans went bfl to say that every written record of the journey -had been recovered. ; ■_ "',

'!.;'■' ;'. A Book to ha Published. : :> Questioned Regarding the.publication of 1 the story of the/expedition, which in ordinary: course of events would have been compiled by . Captain Scott, Commander Evaus said that he would arrange a book in conjunction with other, members of the expedition who had different portions of the story to record. Captain Scott's last 'book was published by 'Messrs.' Smith, Elder and Co.; ■ and Commander Evans said that Captaln'Scott had again arranged with Mr. Smithy, of this firm, to publish the history of the expedition ndw brought . to'a close. . 'i ■' ■'■••■'

"I desire to carry, out Captain Scott's plans in their entirety, and whatever ho intended to do in this matter," added Commander Evans. ' Keferring 'to the extensive ground that will be covered iil the book. Commander Evans' said that there'were sixty men in the. expedition, arid Captain Scott had a very big scheme in hand. In-ndditierttn,Captain Scott's journey to tho Pole, other exploration parties Were led by Lieutenant Campbell and Mr. Griffiths-Taylor,.,while a, great deal of survey and Other work was done around New Zealand, and 1 the Antarctic regions.by the Terra Nova,;while : the shore .parties were- at wdrk... All, these undertakings will be fully dealt with. ■ The Terra Nova will remain at Lyttelton for a month, when she will sail for Cardiff. A number of members of the expedition,and officers of the Terra Nova, including Commander Evan?/ will leave hero in about a week's time for England, and the Terra Nova will sail Home under the command of Lieutenant Peniiell. ;■