IN THE ANTARCTIC

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIII, 20 July 1929, Page 12

IN THE ANTARCTIC

WORD FROM BYRD EXPEDITION

EXTREMELY LOW TEMPERATURES

LOOKING FOR. THE SUN (United Press Association—By Electrio Telegraph—Copyright) (Australian Press Association) (Copyright from the Byrd Expedition, by Russell Gwen.) BAY OF WHALES, 18th July. The last fortnight lias been the coldest we have had. In fact, tho average for July is the coldest ever reported from the Antarctic of 50 degrees below zero compared with Amundsen’s August 47. Eleven out of the first thirteen days averaged 60 degrees below zero, with one day touching 70, and that is the coldest.

“When it is calm at 70 degrees below zero there is no discomfort inside or out for a short time, if warmly clad, for with our fur clothing, only exposed parts of the face suffer, and when the nose is warmed by the hand it soon becomes warm again. The only trouble is that while warming the nose the hand freezes, One feels suddenly a bite on the fingertips, as if it had been seized by a pair of tiny pincers. But when the wind blows at .all at low temperatures, then it is almost impossible no face it for more than a few minutes at a time. ToMay, for instance, it is 50 degrees below, a temperature to which we have become accustomed while walking, but there is a ten mile-an-hour wind, and that wind whips around the face and causes intense pain. The nose continually *suffers and the cheeks arc nipped as if by fire. Cold without wind can be withstood, but cold with wind is impossible.

PHENOMENA OF EXTREME COLD

“Extreme cold does strange things. It is odd to stand outside and hear one’s breath as it freezes. The barrier of snow contracted sharply, and all about us could bo heard cracks *hnd snaps where snow crystals let go under contraction. It was weird as if the houses were built on an unstable element was moving beneath our feot. So small are those cracks that we have never, seen any of them except for a large crack just north of the camp. The" Bay ice booms like distant guns at times when large cracks apparently run across it. The guy wires on the antenna poists become taut as harp strings and hum when the slightest winds hit them. “The cold has a curious effect on our lights also. . Candles used under meteorological balloons must be warmed before they will burn outside for more than' a few minutes. Incidentally, what is believed to be a record observation in cold temperatures was made when a balloon was sent up on tho day when the temperature was 70 degrees below zero. i “Kerosene lanterns, when taken outside, freeze up the mixture of kerosene and gasoline, it becoming as hard as ice. Rubber insulation oil wires gets so brittle that it breaks at the slightest touch, and parous rubber crumbles. “Yes, it’s cold, but our coldest weather is ahead of us. Still, iii two months the sun will begin to warm up this frozen land. It first appears on 2nd

August and everyone is looking forward to seeing that comfortable old glolie loom above the horizon. The light in the north grows a little stronger every day.” '■ (Copyrighted 1928 by “New York Times” Company and “St. Louis Post-Dis-patch.” All rights for publication . reserved throughout tho world.)