OSCAR-HERO

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 229, 15 June 1918, Page 8

OSCAR-HERO

A DOG FEOH THE ANTARCTIC. The dog Oscar, v who dind. at the Wellington Zoo this woek, had won his place by bravery and determination in the face of danger and privation. Oscar was the leader of the team of four dogs that tho late Captain Mackintosh took south with him from M'Murdo Sound in November, 1915. The task in hand was tho laying of depots far into the interior, for the use of tho party that Sir Ernest Shackleton was expected to lead across tho Antarctic continent from (he Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea. As a matter of fact, sir Ernest Shackleton did not get startfid on his sledging journey owing to the crushing of his ship by the ice in tho Weddell Sea. But Captain Mackintosh, who was in command at the Ross Sea end, could not know this, and the laying of the depots was the task for which he had been sent south. The party that Captain Mackintosh took south consisted of six men and four dogs, with two sledges and very heavy loads of provisions and equipment. The enow surfaces were soft, the temperature was very low, and tho loads were so large that much relaying had to bo done. Men and dogs sank deep into the snow, and an* advance of a mile in an hour often meant exhausting effort. The outward journey occupied nearly three months, and then, after laying the last depot at the foot of the Beardmore GlAcier, the party turned northward again. There was a man on Uib remaining sledge by this time, for Mr, Spencer Smith'had developed scurvy and was a helplees sufferer. Captain Mackintosh himself had scurvy also, and could do no more than struggle along. Presently he' had to be carried. Tho food was running out, and the men were utterly wearied. A succession of raging blizzards threatened the whole party with the fate that overtook Captain Scott and his companions in 1912.

During the latter part' of tho homeward journey everything depended upon the four dogs. Oaoar and his mates did not fail. Struggling through snow and drift, often sinking deep in the soft surface, with little rest and scanty food, they helped the enfeebled men to drag the heavy loads. "If they will only last 80 degrees south, wo shall then have enough food to take them in," wrote one of the members of the party in his- diary. "Then if the ship is in, I guarantee they will live in comfort tho remainder of their days." The dog 3 lasted. Whon they got back to the base they had covered 1561 miles in 150 days, and in all probability they had saved five lives. They certainly had made possible the laying of depots that might havo been essential to the safety of Sir Ernest Shaekleton's party. "Without the aid of four faithful friends—Oscar, Con, Gunner, and Towser—the party could never have arrived back," said another of tho explorers later. "Their endurance was fine. For three wholo days at a timo they had not a scrap of food, and this after a period on short rations. Though they wore feeble towards tho end of the trip, their condition usually was good, nnd those who returned with them will liver ronienibi'r the reoiarkublb service they rendered."

So that wns why Oscar for more than a year now tins led a life of leisure and comfort at the Wellington Zoo. He had been promised a holiday for the rest of his life. The pity, is that he did not live longer.