Christmas in the Ice

Evening Star, Issue 20060, 28 December 1928, Page 5

Christmas in the Ice

Message From Byrd Expedition

First Milestone Safely Reached

King Continues to Progress Slowly

Goodwin’s Lightship Adrift

Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright. VANCOUVER, December 25. 'A copyright message from the Byrd expedition, dated December 25, reads as follows “ Christmas Day, and we arc at (lie ice barrier. That lormidablo and glistening symbol of impregnability which Commander Byrd is about to explore by air appeared before -us late tins evening, a great wall ot white on the distant horizon. Betorc midnight we were roasting along the laee ol it, our first real contact with the- continent on which wo will live lor a year. Wc sighted it just after onr Christmas celebration in the forecastle, when everyone received presents and celebrated with song and talk, some ol humour and some charged with the feeling of all that this Christmas means to ns and to thoso left behind. No sooner had we reached the deck than in a severe storm the first mate in the crow’s nest called down; * Barrier on the starboard bow.’ A great cheer went up, releasing all the pent-up emotion of men who for months had been directing all their energies to this goal. It has been their ambition, to which purpose they have dedicated two years of - their lives, and the word that the barrier was actually in sight acted like an electric stimulus. “To-morrow we expect to go ashore at Discovery .Inlet, when we will set our feet for the tirst lime on that mystic land which has so drawn men that they have laid down their lives to learn something of its secrets. It is as much a milestone as the first flight, will be, and that we should have reached it on Christmas Day, the day of thanksgiving dedication to flic greatest ideals of men, is a source ol thanksgiving and happiness to all nn board. In a few days, if all goes well, onr aeroplane may he winging its way over the snowy wilderness of the barrier. “ Commander Byrd expressed tins to-day, when in a message to the Secretary for the Navy he said; * \\e have reached the great mysterious ice barrier. ft presents to us an ice chh higher than the masts of the ship. Wc are 2,400 miles from the nearest human dwelling in the only area in the world where a ship can get so far from civilisation. That wo are here salely is due to Providence and my loyal and stout-hearted shipmates, who have worked together unselfishly as a unit. Ot will probably be some days before jwo get .permanently ashore on account of the ice that will be in the Bay of [Whales.’ , , “Not the least wonderful ol all these happenings of this evening is that as ,we wore approaching the harrier we all listening on deck to broadcasting Irom home, and one cannot listen to those metallic tones coming Irom the loud speaker without feeling the tremendous progress made by man in science since the last Antarctic adventure. It is weird, almost ghostly, to hear words from home coming to us as wo move through these ice-tilled waters to our base, and comforting, too, lor we know that we have not _ wholly lost touch with the world which is so very tar away. Wo are trying on skis to-night on deck, making ready tor our first run on shore, and there is great expectancy of now things—of meeting at last the tremendous icefield on which onr home will be for fourteen months, and of glimpsing some of the beauty and stark loneliness of the Antarctic. This has been a great Christmas Day for ns. By next Christmas Day our story will have beben written tor what it is worth, and there is not a man aboard who is not in his heart determined that it shall be a worthy one.