CIVIC RECEPTION

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2946, 5 December 1916, Page 6

CIVIC RECEPTION

♦ )TO SIR ERNEST SHACKLETON ADVENTURES IN THE ANTARCTIC I Sir Einest Shackleton was given a civio welcome in tho 'IWn Hall yesterday morning. Tho Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke) presided, and thcio was a largo attendanco of citizens. _ Sir Ernest Shackleton had with him Lieutenant Stenhouso, who brought tho Aurora ~ ,;from tho Antarctio last year, and Cap;:j-. tain F._ Worsley, who commanded the :';■; expedition's other ship, tho Endurance, jj;; " The Mayor welcomed the explorers vj? warmly, to Wellington.; He said that ■i," even in a time of national stress and 'zS anxiety a British community could not J y'beiunmindfulof the. deeds that Sir (.':; Ernest Shackleton ■ had performed in V;'.■ tlie Far South.'- People had asked ///what was the use of polar exploration. ''■; The answer to that question was simj- pie'. .The British Empire had been /o built up by British explorers, who had ? pushed out into tho unknown parts of v the world, and had planted the flag in g;,the" empty countries. Now ' Zealand £;. wasa part of the British Empire heft:;; cause British explorers had landed on J/its shores, and Sir Ernest Shackleton Mr',' was tho lineal successor of the men •g/ who had pushed into the South Pacific. /S; : -Mr.._Luke said that he esteemed it a vt';privilege and a pleasure- to. welcome jS. ; Sir; Ernest Shackleton back to New :;.;. Zealand, after the deeds of high couri//;/ age that he had been performing on £V- the Antarctio regions. Tho Mayor ■'-.;.....; also ■ welcomed Lieutenant Stenhouse l;/-; and. Captain Worsley. ;:'.v"''...'Sir Ernest Shackleton, who was reh'.; ceived with applause, mentioned the £. that had,been given to him ;//yn South America, where the Governs/meats of Uruguay and Chile had placed their resources at his disposal without ;; .'hesitation, in order to facilitate the ;•;;;; rescuo of tho men ho had been, com- ;;/ pelled to leave temporarily on Elephant , He had found a wonderful ///-;.: amount of sympathy and good fellows/ship among the South American peor; ;ples, and he ' had realised £:'}/with 'new force ' the strength of '•'■; /the bond of friendship that had attached :'; the Republics to Great Britain. Sir ■jX : ' Ernest\thanked the New Zealand Govv!; , ernment for the assistance that it had i': 1 given in tho preparation of the Aurora >';.; for 'tho relief voyage. He had learned ';,;; iwith deep gratitude that even at a time .';,-'. of ■ stress and strain New Zealand had ■/'y'been ready to lend a helping hand in :;:'/• the prosecution of what he might call ;;,;■/. white- warfare. Ho wished to take ■f.■:.-/.tho. opportunity, on the eve of tho d'e- ;. parture of the relief expedition, of say- ;; cing how much he appreciated the valu- ,;;. able services and tho unfailing loyalty .;■;.; to himself of his colleague, Lieutenant ~,. Stenhouse, who 'had worked pluckily : and well in the face of very great diffi- .'; ".; culties and. awkward situations. Mr. 's .Stenhouse bad endured a long and peril,v>' ous drift through/the ice, and he had - /fitted a jury rudder to his damaged ship ;. : ;'ina manner worthy of the .best records ?,. of the sea. He. had laboured with the )'f~ single . object of completing the work ■/i :,that' had been entrusted to hinij and ;W V ho had earned all the praisb that the : : ;\]-Jeader of the expedition could give to. M/: him'. Sir-Ernest Shackleton paid a ti-- tribute, too, to Captain Worsley, who" 1 ;■''. had commanded the Endurance in the ■ ; jWeddell Sea, and, after the loss of the .vessel, had proved invaluable in sledg- • : .ingand boating operations. Tho.ex- :.. • plorer mentioned some of tho incidents '■■;: of his expedition before again thanking the Mayor and citizens of Wellington %■ .! for their welcome. ':';■' ; Mr. Luke said that ho was sure he ;.;-.' could speak for the people of New Zea- ' land in urging the Government to give . ;■■'••-':•■■Sir. Ernest Shackleton any_ assistance ■ : ; he might need in rescuing his comrades ..'from the Antarctic. . •,■-..' V The proceedings closed with cheers '■'•.■•-■ for the explorers. ".•X'-■■',• '■' |; /: : . A THRILLING NARRATIVE //// -THE LOSS OF' THE ENDURANCE. i In the evening, Sir Ernest Shackleton . :; ' "addressed a very large audience in the / :: Town Hall, the proceeds being in aid of the Returned Soldiers' ' Fund. The ■■'':■ Mayor of Wellington (Mr. J. P, Luke). ; presided. When the explorer mounted ; ' . '; the platform he was. greeted -with an -V. outburst of cheers! Mr. Luke briefly ';■}_■:. introduced the lecturer. ;';' ' Sir Ernest Shackleton said that the /• story he had to tell was in a sense one /-of failure. The expedition he had led ■'.'-.- to the Antarctio had not succeeded in ;.': ..-■ doing what it had planned to do. The '•;v--. forces of nature, arrayed against the \; :; expedition, had proved invincible on the /; present occasion, and his own party, ; ; " after losing their'ship, had narrowly V" escaped with their lives. But he thought '::';. that the' story Would prove interesting. .Ho would deal simply with the ill-fated '/voyage of the Endurance, which was to ■'•.-.'.'■■ have landed him on the Weddell Sea ■; v-' coast, in Teadiness for. his proposed :'>. ;; i°nmey across the Antarctic, and would ," not touch upon the adventures of the 'Aurora, which .was to have met him '/:-.on the Ross Sea side of the continent, v--' 'The expedition, the lecturer said, had ;,/; actually.started, when the war began, ;; ; , and the, Admiralty, replying to his offer of his ships and his services, had -told ;/; -him to go ahead with his enterprise. /.,",./.. The King had given him a flag to take /•'' -couth, and on December 7, 1914, the ;'/■;., Endurance;.a.new andi well-found shio, [';:■: Centered .the' lanes of the pack-ice in ;/r tlie Weddell Sea. ' Tho ship pushed through a.maze of channels /; and on January 10 tho party sighted :,/:. new land to the southwards.- Burthen ;. 'untoward events began to occur. A v.;:' ; . .great migration of the;seals to the north &.;, "jwas. the first indication of a. bad seafj/v" /son: ;.Then:tlie ice closed down upon i,";;. .the ship, whicH never got free again. :/!':,The summer months had winter tem- !;.•,; ./ocratures, so low that new ice.formed .:;.:' in the lanes near the shin. Then pres- ..// sure began to develop. The floes moved against one another, with-an '/:- ..ominous sound of crushing and grind- /.:;;■. :ing. Mighty masses of ice, thirty and ':,, /forty tons in weight, wereiossed up by / /: the pressure, and the surface of the floes was distorted by pressure ridges. ■■ /.; Tho area of disturbance gradually ap- .;;•■;.' proacbed the ship as she- lay '.' locked in tho ice, but it was not /V until the spring of 191 C that '■■•"■': the real trouble began. Then tho Endurance was fairly cauclit in the grip V of the rocking floes. She -was squeez-. ;.;■; ; 'ed out of tho ice till she lay on her beam on the .surface on several occn- .; ;■'. sions. Her planks were started by the '.;■.:'. terrible pressure, and'by tlie middlo '/■ ;■ :of tho year her fate obviously was ■sealed. The Last Scenes. ;V Sir Ernost Shackleton illustrated his '; "■■' . story with many remarkable lantern /slides, showing tho life/aboard the 'slip, the diameter of the ice, the gradual investment of the vessel, and the . Snal scenes. Tho situation, ho said, Gradually grew worse. The ship was leaking badly and he decided that the 'ship' must bo abandoned, each man being allowed one pound of personal effects. Tlie endcame on October 27, 191.5, when the- sides of tho ship were i:rnshcd inwards and tho deck was '- ' buckled upwards. Tlie engines were displaced and the ship became a com- :.'-.■'".' plcte wreck. The party found them- " ''selves on the ice, 340 miles from tho ' nearest jand, where any sor? of food. wuld bo secured. They were 28 men, ■13 do"s, and 3 boats. The situation wn« not a noalthv one. 'About one mile a nay proved tho rate of advance, 'since tho boats had to be brought s.hn" ono at a time, whilo men cut a ; Vayihroush tho ice ridges. Progress -• at'that rato would not-savo tho party, " : i<Br aftor a' big'effort, ha decided to

[ camp, and try to get somo additional stores from tho wreck of the ship. That venture, succeeded. One- hundred cases of food were scoured from the wreck, and transferred to tho camp, which had been established upon a level floe. The lecturer showed some remarkable pictures illustrating the destruction of the Endurance. ■ The party remained in the camp during November and December, and then made another effort to got to land across . the loose ice., xiut the attempt was fruitless, and the party had to remain at the camp. During January, when food was running short, they shot all the dogs, since the supply of food! for the animals could not. be maintained. Tho young dogs were eaten. Sir, Ernest described in some detail the manner of living in the camp on tho floe, which was drifting about and gradually diminishing in size. On April 9 tho floe had dwindled till; it was scarcely 100 yards across. It suddenly broke in two, and the explorers had to take to the boats hurriedly, with the remainder of their stores. They tried to niako Reception Island, but after three days' strenuous efforts found themselves further away than at tho beginning. They pitched a camp on a • floe and it split beneath tho tents, some of tho men falling into the water. It seemed likely that the ice would engulf tho whole party, but at last lanes of water appeared, and 1 the boats managed to push their way through the channels to the open sea. At Sea Again,, The temperature was ' exceedingly low, and the men were suffering severely. They were sailing over a tempestuous sea, constant baling being necessary. The ice formed on the sides of the boats, and had to be cut away. The esplorei'B were at this time suffering severely from thirst, no fresh water being available. But they beat up to Elephant Island at night, in the reflected light of.-the glaciers, and got under the shelter of the cliffs. Contrary to the statements of Dr. W. S. Bruce and other explorers, Elephant Island had no beaches and. landing proved difficult. The boats had to dare a. passage through the rocks to a perilous ledge, since many of the men were much exhausted and could not safely be kept in the boats. Elephant Island proved an extraordinarily inhospitable spot, and after finding a camping ground Sir Ernest called for five volunteers to accompany him in ono of the boats in' an attempt to reach South Georgia, nearly 800' miles away. Every man of the party volunteered 1 . He selected five and started off| in the 22foot boat, to oross a wide stretch of sub-Antarctio Ocean in its most evil mood. Their chart had been torn from a book dated 1823, and much of the men's timo was occupied! in breaking ice off the sides of the boat. After fourteen ■ days' labour they reached South Georgia, to find the seas spurting mountains high along an ironbound coast. The landing took two days and was a task of enormous difficulty.' But the party got ashore at last, several of the men in a very exhausted condition, and after several days' rest Sir Ernest and two of the men started to .cross the Maud, a region of mountains, glaciers, and crevasses, in order to reach, the whaling station on the northern side of the island. The journey was compassed by dangers, and after thirty-sis hours' march the explorers found the whistle of the whaling station's factory the sweetest music they had heard for very many years; The Norwegian whalers provided a ship for the rescue of tho men on the other side of the island and made an attempt to get to Elephant Island, without' success So the explorers proceeded to tho Falkland Islands. Rescue Journeys. The next .attempt at rescuo wa3 made in a,trawler-lent by the Uruguayn Government, and the third in a small schooner, equipped! by the British community in Chili. The ice was impenetrable, but the Chilian Government lent and equipped a steamer for tho fourth attempt. The ice had loosened a bit, and one. evening, as the men on the island were sitting down to a meal of limpets and _ seaweed, they saw the ship off.the coast. .Within a. few hours they were safe aboard. (Prolonged applause.) The 22 men had been on tho island for 4J months, with scanty provisions, and a precarious footing upon the ice-edee. But with the example of their_ leader, Frank Wild, they had remained cheerful in the faco of the most_ distressing conditions. In conclusion, Sir Ernest Shackleton paid a warm tribute to the members of his expedition. His story, he said, was one of failure. But his men had shown wonderful courage in the face of extraordinary difficulties, audi he was very proud of them all. When tho war was over, he, might attempt' the journey across Antarctica again. The task of the' immediate future was the rescue of the ten men who had been isolated on Ross Island for more- than a year, and he hoped to bring them back safely. If Captain Mackintosh and his companions had returned to thejbase they should be fairly comfortable, since there were supplies at the various huts. Sir Ernest Shackleton made special reference to Captain AVorsley and Lieutenant Stenhouse, and called them from their seats in the hall m order to introduce them formally to ' the audience. ' . The audience \ cheered the explorers heartily, and sang "For They are Jolly Good Fellows."