IN ANTARCTICA.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 214, 10 March 1914, Page 6

IN ANTARCTICA.

TEItUIIU.E WIND VELOCITY". VAST COAL AREAS. In the course of his statement on his return from the Far South last week, Dr. Mawson gave 4111 impression of the hardships the expedition had to suffer from the rigor of the climate. The bitter experiences of I lie party ill Adelie Land will never fade from the ' memory of any one member. Their stay there, Dr. .Mawson explained, hud greatly added to the scientific value of their work, but a year Ilu re was about as much as a man could stand, should almost have committed suicide rather than stay there for another twelve months," he added. "The climate is not like that of any other pari of the world. 111 the winter it was worse than summer, and we had lo reorganise all our - equipment to meet the circum.-taiicc.-. Terrific winds were blowing continuously at an average rale of till miles an hour, while our inslriuncnls recorded steady gales of up to llii miles, and hours in duration. The puff velocity went up to the phenomenal .speed of iOU or 31)11 miles an hour, and such pull'* as those possessed an incredible power of destruction. If a similar cyclone were to sweep through Adelaide, every building would be destroyed. They came down like the 'wurlie wnrlics' you have here, only on a much larger -calc, being about a quarter of a mile in diameter: I and anything exposed in their path stood no chance. Our lints were buried ' deep in snow, but the cxpo-ed sides of them were wrenched ami cracked with every pull' that passed them. Our first experiences were very bitter. Having ! 110 knowledge of the conditions under which we were to live, we proposed to proceed with the. usual tents and light equipment, but they were of 110 use'-at all, and we very nearly lost the lives of some of our number before we reor- j ganiscd our equipment to suit local / conditions. We sent sonic parties out j with the usual gear to see what I could be clone. That in .Mr. .Madigan's | charge was the most successful, but they came back wit h their gear all J shattered, and every man was a muss of 1 frostbites. Madigan's toes were swollen I so that they could hardly be recognised as toes. The nails were almost oil', and the feet were covered with great blisters." Would the men go back again if Me- , port-unity offered? Dr. Mawson was asked. "It is difficult to say," lie replied, "Some of them would. The climate at the main base was exceedingly trying, but there is a fascination about the work that would make them forget their hardships." And what about yourself? , "I shoul# want a lot of attraction he- | fore I should go again; hut there, again. I cannot tell you how I should fee] if the opportunity arose. Shackleton said j he would not go a second time, but lie went." INVALUABLE WIRELESS. When asked why it was that the | .Aurora did not get into communication with Australia by wireless 011 her way up from the Antarctic, l)r. Maw son stated that the wireless had been able to hear messages from Australia | as soon as they came out from the ire, but tliey had not troubled to get out the heavier transmitting gear, because it would not have meant a great advantage to them, and it was imperative that they should economise their space. The room that would have been required for a wireless apparatus was urgently needed for laboratory work. "Our wireless plant," he added, "011 the whole was remarkably successful, but we were disappointed in the amount of stuff we transmitted." The hurricanes hampered us very much, and even this year, when we got the masts up early, the drifting snow, which is just like one of the severe dust storms of the north, came along charged with electricity. And the wires were fizzling and sparking so that you could not tell the message from the dots and dashes. Sometimes the outside interference would stop, and everything would go on splendidly for half-an-hour; but then it would come on again, and many of our messages to yotl and your messages (0 us never reached their destinations. Our experiences, however, de monstrated unquestionably the value of wireless under such circumstance*, and 110 other expedition should ever dream of going out without an equipment. Had the ship been stuck in the pack, we were all right, and the need not informed everybody in Australia thai we were all night, and they necil not worry. Or, if we had been in danger, we could have summoned assistance. 011 some nights down there you could send a message over tremendous distances, and 011 one occasion the Macquarie Island station was heard oil' Cape Horn. Twice while we were in the pack we encountered very severe hurricanes, and we were very fortunate to get out of

them as we did. Our motor lamica was carried away, and the bulwarks ol Ihe ship were stove in; but Captain Davis knew everything there was to l,c known about navigating a ship, and we had every confidence in him. ' One night., however, we bumped into an iceberg, which we could not see even when we were grinding along its sides. We always felt safer then because of lie knowledge that we had a wireles-, • 11strumcnt 011 board. VAST DEPOSITS OF COAL. One of the objects of the expediii'-a was to investigate the mineral wealth of the little-known lands to the south, and Dr. Mawson was asked if lie could give the result, of those iuvesligations. He explained that only scattered patches of rock were exposed throughout the 1500 miles of country through whi ■',! tliey had (ravelled, and of coiir- 1 , where such a small area was exposed it was almost hopeless to seek to find a payable deposit. "We did not. fin 1 anything like that, but we did find sn ail shows of great variety, and were aide lo secure sonic good specimens. Taking the, areas examined into consideration, the specimens obtained would seem to indicate lhat the land was even richer than any ordinary country. The nri--; met with were very similar In character lo those found in South and West Australia. Copper was the lm»l abui'dau! of the ores found. Coal was discovered in one place in a visible outcrop, and the fact lhat we dredged it up in man'' places along the whole id retch of cou-.t would seem to indicate that there is a large formation running through I lie land."