Off to the Pole

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 362, 24 May 1928, Page 1

Off to the Pole

NOBILE BRAVES ARCTIC “ A Topsy-Turvy World ” (United P.A. — By Telegraph — Copyrtghl) (Australian P.A.—United Service) Reed. 10.55 a.m. LONDON, Wednesday. A MESSAGE from King’s Bay, Svalbard (Spitzbergen), states that General Nobile set out yesterday for the North Pole in the airship Italia in spite of the fact that the weather was a little unfavourable. He will fly over north Greenland.

The special correspondent aboard the Italia wirelesses:

“Prior to setting out for the Pole, we spent most of the time aboard the supply-ship Citta di Milano. We had every comfort, but occasionally we were home-sick, having to consult the clock and calendar in order to distinguish day and night. “If one feels sleepy, one must consider whether it is bedtime or risingtime. It is a topsy-turvy world of sleep-time and work-time intermingled. “One may go for a brisk walk at 2 a.m. and one may often be abed at 3 p.m., in order to begin work at midnight. “Breakfast is usually 1 a.m., when the sun is already high.

“The Italia *3 resting in the hangar. Six hundred gas-containers, weighing dozens of tons, must be taken across the fields to restore her buoyancy when flying. Six hundred more are prepared against the return journey, depriving Commander Romagna and the crew of all leisure. “Thousands of gulls surround the Citta di Milano, seeking galley scraps. The white gulls are said to be the souls of dead sailors, and the black gulls the souls of stokers. “Seals and sea-lions are favourite game and are easily shot. An icepilot skinned the smallest seal and supervised the cooking, but he alone partook. It was a terrible meal.”