HEALTH RESORT

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 301, 15 August 1932, Page 7

HEALTH RESORT

BRACING TONIC OF THE ANTARCTIC CLIMATE. A SOUTHERN SUMMER. "It's damn cold down here, but one day the Antarctic will hecome a health resort," Commander Stenhoiise made that remarlc some years ago, hut the soundnsss of it is brought home to me every time I thinlc of the South Pole. I remember when six of our exploration party sat naked in 74 degrees south with the thermometer registering 10 degrees of frost in the shade! Yet the air was so warm and dry that we revelled in a sun bath'. In January and February the Antarctic is in the height of the southern summer. The sea is a smooth ; sheet of blue, only disturbed-by thei white of ice floesj-the air >is flawless- I ly pure, and the sun makes the snow i and ice glitter and sparkle with pin- I points of fire. No health resort could be more ideal. I went th'era in a small schooner and view the scene from the cramped deck, hut I could not resist its lure. Perhaps the best tribute I can pay to the Antarctic is its qualities of rejuvenation, writes Frank Worsley in the Johannesburg Star. When I returned from the Antarctic exploration, my friends asked me if I had been grafted with monkey gland! I have noticed, too, that all members of the crew seem to he livelier and healthier in that cold, dry climate than in any other part of the world. ) One does not expect luxury on a polar exploration. But I am certain that, even with the more necessities of an expedition, no one could have been happier or healthier. The men found little diffieulty in accustoming themselves to the coarse diet, and throughout the trips there was never any real dissatisfaction with regard to the food. Once we were acclimatised to the change, life was a pure joy. We lived a vigorous and carefree existence. First of all the Antarctic is germfree. There is no disease there. Some idea of the clearness of the air can be given hy the fact that the voices of men talking in an ordinary tone can be heard a mils away, and the top of Mount Erebus, which' is 13,350 feet , in height and 50 miles distant from the place where the party was stationed, could clearly be seen. Meals are never enjoyed so much as at the South Pole. Hunger seems to assail you, and you look on life with the eyes of youth. I recall a remark of a ship's doctor, "I have one ambition," he told me, "that is to set up a sanatorium at Amundsen's base in the Bay of Whal'es and take patients there for the summer. It would heat all the 'Bads and spas hollow!" Apart from the undoubted health.giving qualities of the Antarctic, there is much scope for a pleasure resort. For 400 miles the Barrier, a solid chunk of ice about 1000 feet thick, fronts the sea, and parties could sledge or ski to the huts and jumping points of Shackleton, Byrd and Amundsen. Everywhere you can toboggan, although there are few opportunities for skating. 1 Such possible troubles as a frozen foot or hand, although painful, can be easily treated. We learned by experience that hubbing with snow only aggravated the complaint and was apt to cause an extensive "burn," which might take weeks to head. The best method is to place the frozen \ hand beneath the armpit, where, by returning to the temperature of the body, the circulation is restored and , the frostbite disappears. j In the Antarctic bruises are apt to heal very slowly. I remember a member of the crew who fell while playing at football, and his arm was ; black and blue for weeks. Scurvy i would be the greatest enemy of the ! pleasure seekers, but that can he combated so long as the right methods are employed. Citrus fruits in every form and frozen grapefruit and lemons are most effective, as well as retaining their taste and freshness.