“SNOWMOBILE” FAILS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 816, 9 November 1929, Page 9

“SNOWMOBILE” FAILS

BROKEN THROUGH BUCKING IN SOFT SNOW MEN WALK BACK TO BASE By RUSSELL OWEN Copyrighted, 1928, by the “New York Times” company and the St. Louis "PostDispatch.” All rights for publication reserved throughout the world. Wireless to the "New York Times.” Received 9.5 a.m. BAY OP WHALES, Thurs. Three men who started off in a “snowmobile” a fortnight ago in another attempt at mechanical transportation in the Antarctic are back in camp. They walked back SO miles, having left the “snowmobile” parked in a snowdrift with its rear end broken, from bucking N in the soft snow. They made the SO miles in eight days, one of which was spent in their tent during a blizzard, and were greeted with streamers from the radio towers, a signal rocket and much good-natured “razzing.” The experience gained on this trip leads Commander Byrd to express the opinion that a specially-designed

“snowmobile” would work if it was a long, low, flexible machine with very wide and carefully-designed treads. Returning, the trio had a fairly tough' trip. An overcast sky made the visibility very bad, and frequently they could not see 30 feet in front of them, particularly when the wind kicked up a light drift. They frequently had difficulty in picking up the flags on the trail, and sledge and “snowmobile” tracks were almost obliterated. They would keep one flag in sight behind them until they could see another ahead, but sometimes the one ahead did not show up when it should, and one man Would leave the group and, keeping them in sight, hunt around till he found the marker sometimes away oil on one side, showing how easily one can wander from a straight line over these snowy wastes. The visibility played queer pranks. Sometimes the flag would jump out at them before they expected it, and at other times they would' see one, apparently only a short distance ahead, and then walk miles before reaching it. They could see the water and the sky at the seaward edge of the Barrier after they got about half-way hack to the camp, and they steered on a corner of that.