The Sun 42 WYNDHAM STREET, AUCKLAND MONDAY, DECEMBER 2. 1929 BYRD’S DOUBLE CONQUEST

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 835, 2 December 1929, Page 8

The Sun 42 WYNDHAM STREET, AUCKLAND MONDAY, DECEMBER 2. 1929 BYRD’S DOUBLE CONQUEST

ANOTHER supreme triumph in “exploring vertically the mysterious realms of the aurora” has been achieved by ( ommander E. E. Byrd, leader of the American expedition to the Polar wilderness of Antarctica. Three days ago, accompanied by competent comrades in high adventure, the famous airmanexplorer encircled and flew over the South Pole with almost the same ease and precision as his flying countrymen back home daily display in skimming across the Potomac. A little more than three years ago—on May 9, 1926, to be exact —the same conqueror of the Polar air winged above the North Pole. First'in both achievements, Commander Byrd has gained a double conquest in a new element of exploration—a magnificent triumph equalled only in a different way by the late Ro aid Amundsen whose victories were won on foot in harsher conditions and harder tests of endurance, and whose tomb is the Arctic region where, as a veteran flying in search of lost Italian airmen, he nobly sacrificed his intrepid life.

Fifty-six times faster than Amundsen and his men traversed an uncharted route to the South Pole, Commander Byrd, in the great memorial plane, Floyd Bennett, not only succeeded in the accomplishment of his aerial quest, but demonstrated the remarkable difference between the exploratory achievements of the famous Norwegian and his gallant successor, Captain Scott, and modern exploration by aircraft. The exact distance from Eittle America to the South Pole has not been stated by the chronicler of the American Expedition, but a measurement on the latest map of the region shows a full journey of approximately 1.600 miles. The route was traversed both ways in exactly 19 hours, giving a flying speed of not less than 80 miles an hour, this being virtually equal to the same airman’s first triumphant flight from Spitsbergen to the North Pole and back—a distance of 1,300 miles, which was flown in 15* hours in a tliree-engined Fokker monoplane.

Whatever the exact length of the flight to the South Pole may have been, the success of the efficient explorers demonstrates clearly that engineering' science has conquered the elements in Polar wastes. The discomfort of the airmen does not appear to have been much worse than that often experienced in a stuffy motor-car without adequate ventilation against noisome exhaust fumes. “It was warm in the airplane all the time, so warm that Balchen (pilot) flew with bare hands for the entire trip, while the others only put on their gloves when they worked near an open window.” Petrol fumes alone tried the endurance of the winging explorers, and made them perspire freely and gasp for breath. These discomforts, no doubt, were bad enough, but their effect does not compare with the grim hardships of the famous explorers who blazed the trail in the silence and tremendous disadvantages of other days. Such references to comparative experience in Antarctic exploration do not in any way depreciate the achievement of Commander Byrd and his party. On the contrary, the comparisons serve to enhance the efficiency of the latest conquerors of Antarctica, and prove that, in the spanning of the whole world by aircraft, no condition, no circumstance, however terrible in aspect and nature, is beyond the ingenuity and courage of man to conquer. And the American Expedition has conquered with the highest standard of efficiency that marks its nation. As for the valour of spirit that enables men to reach the summit of fame in exploration, Commander Byrd’s magnificent record of conquest provides an imperishable answer. lie planned well, organised perfectly, and flew to the fulfilment of his purpose with all the confidence of a master explorer. It has been said that the Polar air is full of phaptoms—complex halos, strange mirages, queer distortions of the sun and moon at the horizon, and multitudinous fog-bows and spectral shadows. Every explore!’ who has dared the rigors of Antarctica has told wonderful stories of a ghostly land of iridescence and darkness, but surely nothing there could be more phantom-like than a great plane flying ever southward until there was no more south at all. Its wonderful flight stirs the imagination far beyond the outmost boundaries of human thought and takes it in friendly and warm praise to the company of gallant Americans who have, with their daily wireless messages, brought the South Pole to the centres of pleasant life in many lands.

THE NEW GOVERNOR-GENERAL

BY the appointment of Lord Bledisloe to be the next GovernorGeneral, New Zealand is to have a keen, practical farmer as the holder of the important Vice-Regal office. The Dominion has been remarkably fortunate in the choice of recent Governors. They have not only been men, personally, of the most admirable type, but also close observers who entered cordially into the interests of the people. Like Lord Jellicoe, Sir Charles Fergusson, has won a warm place in the affections of the people. Though a soldier by profession, Sir Charles soon demonstrated that a military career had not blunted his enthusiasm for farming pursuits. Though a soldier of high rank, he showed also that he is a true man of Ayr, and Ayrshire men are farmers. Among the other practical tokens of his interest in farming in New Zealand, Sir Charles leaves behind him a fine trophy for the championship in the Ayrshire cattle section at the Royal Shows. The retiring Governor-General is a soldier by profession and a farmer next; but his successor is a farmer first, and then a soldier and politician. Lord Bledisloe’s principal claim to the present interest of the people of New Zealand is the very fine work lie has accomplished in England in showing what can be done to increase production by means of up-to-date methods. Among the conservative yeomen of England Lord Bledisloe has pioneered what might almost be termed industrial methods on the farm. It is true that, unlike many farmers, he has had considerable capital with which to initiate his schemes Y'et. in scores of articles printed in the country life sections of English papers, there is evidence that these farms have not been simply an expensive hobby. They have not only been operated successfully on a business basis in the interests of their owner, but also have been a very valuable factor in maintaining the confidence of the English farmer and in demonstrating that Britain can still rely considerably on the land for her internal food supply. The London Labour newspaper, the “Daily Herald,” criticises Lord Bledisloe’s appointment on the grounds that a man of Labour sympathies might have been appointed. At the moment New Zealand will not be very concerned about this objection. Lord Bledisloe may, by party affiliation, be a Conservative, but his record shows him to be thoroughly independent. He is a farmer first, and it is as a farmer, quick to study our methods and to appreciate the point of view of the man on the land, that he will be welcomed in New Zealand. Except when there is demand for the formal intervention occasioned by political crises there is not much call for the Governor-General of New Zealand to play more than an aloof part as a political observer. Satisfied of his personal qualities, the people are in no wise concerned about his political colour.