St. Elmo's Fire.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 77, 21 March 1914, Page 5

St. Elmo's Fire.

THE AURORA AUBTRAUS,

WIND-PUFF VELOCITIES. In a coo], sequestered guest room at the University Club, Sydney, on Wednesday week, Dr. Mawson surrendered himself to the interviewer. ~ Atmospherical Prenomsna. j ~ "Can you tell us," asked a pressman representing the Sydney Daily Telegraph, "of any interesting phenojniena in the Antarctic?" At once the light of enthusiasm i shone in Dr. Mawson's face. Evidently this Mas a pet subject. ; "Yes," he said. "St. Elmo's fire was a very remarkable feature at the main base. The terrific winds, driving particles of snow before them—at | a low temperature and high velocity—■are sufficient in themselves to explain .the fact that the atmosphere is satuirated with electricity. Electrical |charges are escaping all the while into

the surrounding atmosphere, and this would show itself as St. Elmo's fire—a blue brush of sparks which forms on the nose, the ears, and other points of the body, producing a strangely weird effect. Tt was seen almost daily throughout the winter months, and was very strong on occasions, so much so that on occasions the meteorologists received considerable shocks from the metal instruments when changing the self-recording daily charts."

"You also observed the Aurora?" suggested the pressman. "Isn't there a theory that the Aurora takes the place of lightning in the polar regions?"

j "Yes. It is certainly a fact that I there is no lightning in the polar regions, and there is no Aurora- in the tropics. The Aurora is probably a slower discharge of atmospheric 'electricity. In the case of lightning lit is the rushing of a cloud of one potential against a cloud of another potential that produces the electrical 'discharge. In the Aurora, however, there seems to be a streaming of the electrical current around the earth. There are many theories in regard to Vne Aurora, but none are final. Our investigations/* however, tend more "in support of Birkland's theory than any oilier. His theory is that the Aurora is formed of electrical currents passing in the higher strata of the atmoshere and reducing an aptieal effect similar to that of the discharge of electricity through vacuum tubes." Tremendous Wind-Puffs. "The main base was a windy place, I believe?"

"Yes, indeed," relied Dr. Mawson. "The greatest number of miles attained- 5y the wind in any on© hour was 116. Of course the puff velocities greatly exceeded that. It is the puff velocities that do the damage. In fact, the damage is determined by the gust velocity which, at the main base, was pretty terrific. But for jthe fact that the hut was almost completely buried in snow during the winter, it would .probably not have stood I the strain. You will remember that 300 miles an hour was the puff velocity in the cyclone which destroyed nearly every house in Galveston.!' Y/ireless in the Ice. "The wind possibly interfered with your wireless installation a good deal?" asked the pressman.

"The wireless' did very Veil," said the Doctor, "but we could hare got more messages through if the station had been erected in any other part of Antarctica. The prevailing windy conditions at the main base worked against the proper sending of messages. ' The noise of the hurricane, alone/ was sufficient to drown the sounds in the receivers. Apart from that, the accompanying electrical i effects caused a continual hissing in I the receivers that ,prevented normal transmitting. In any other location we could have erected-a higher mast j and obtained greater power and I range. The Macquarie Island Sta- I tion, which has now been taken over by the Federal Government, has worked well. On our way back to Alts- | tralia we thought at one time of erect, j ing a plant on the ship and sending messages, but we found that the (space required for the engines was I too great for the limited accommoda- I tion on the ship, and so we contented f

I ourselves with erecting an aerial anc very small transmitting plant thai had a range of only 50 miles. Had any accident happened to the ship we Iconic!, within a few days, have erectled a larger plant and acquainted ships with our plight. The installation of the larger plant would have meant the sacrifice of biological laboratories and the reduction of our scientific results. ' As it is, T think 1 can show that the work- done in the Antarctic was well worth the expenditure of money. Australia has now done her share in exploring the unknown quadrant of Antarctica opposite to her shores. About £6OOO or £7OOO is needed to pay the salaries of the men who went with me. I have to publish a book and deliver lectures to raise this money."

Biological Corrections. "We obtained a few more Emperor penguins," said Dr. Mawson at another stage. "Previously only one rookery of these birds was known, but wo have found two more. The eggs of these birds are quoted at about £BO each. More interesting still were the discoveries of rookeries of the Antarctic petrel and the silvergrey petrel. We have the first recorded eggs of those. A tremendous

bulk of marine life was dredged from the bottom of tho ocean. Forty tons of collections have come to Sydney. The authorities at the Australian Museum are examining these specimens before they are parcelled out. Professor Ha swell, of the Sydney University, is arranging for the description of all tlie biological specimens. Our Antarctic collection of sea birds is unique. The host of all the specimens will be distributed between th© Sydney, Melbourne, aiid Adelaide Mus'eums, those being the three States that contributed money to the expedition."-