SHACKLETON EXPEDITION.

Taranaki Daily News, 28 March 1916, Page 8

SHACKLETON EXPEDITION.

AURORA SEARING NEW ZEALAND. NO ASSISTANCE REQVTiiKI). By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Yesterday. Lieut. Stenhouse has sent a wireless message to the Government stating that he does not want any assistance from a tug to reach port. At 3 a.m. yesterday the Aurora was about fiOO miles from the south end of New Zealand, and she was then going north under sail at three or four knots an hour. She would raise steam when T"0 miles from Cape Saunders, and slm should therefore arrive in New Zealand early in April. SIR DOUGLAS MAWSON'S VIEWS. ptl":ty of pood for pa^ty. con t> hold out fop, a year. Ry Cable.—Press Association—Copyright Received March 2", 9.10 p.m. Melbourne, March 27. Sir Douglas Mawson explain", that Lieut. Stenhouse apparent]v used '»•"' nctic direction when he "wirelessed'' that ho proceeded enst after he left Cape Crozier, for obviously he went west, Sir Dongjps considers the men ashore are quite 1 safe as regards food for at least one year and doubtless they made Scott'-; old hut at Cape Evans comfortable, anil besides food and clothing, which they would take ashore from the Aurora, there would be old stores left by Scott. They would also find some in Scott's other hut at Hut Point, fourteen miles away, whiie at Shaekleton'a old station at Cape Royds there should be a fair amount of food, and, in any case, they could get plenty of fish, seal, and penguin meat.

He says that it would be easy for the Aurora to relieve next summer should she leave Australia or New Zealand in the middle of January. Though able to carry on very well till next summer the party, owing to shortage of equipment, would be seriously hampered. In cooperation with Shaekleton's main object their programme included a journey to the Beardmoro Glacier to lay food depots as far south as possible for picking up Shaekleton's party en route from the Pole. A shortage' in these depots would seriously affect Shaekleon's party, but, of course, there was only a certain chance that Shackleton succeeded in traversing the Pole.

THE ENDURANCE. THE PARTY AND ITS PLANS. Received March 27, 0.30 p.m. London, March 27. The Daily Chronicle, has an interview with Sir Daniel Gooch, who was the last man to farewell Shackleton, and v/l«o signed on the Endurance as an able seaman, but returned fro 71 South Georgia, when Shackleton decided to keep the Endurance in the ice instead of sending the vessel back. Sir Daniel Gooch controls a military hospital, and. could not be absent for sixteen months. He says that on board the Endurance there was the happiest band of brothers and there were the best omens for success. Shaekleton's rare qualities as a leader insnire everybody to devotion and loyalty He did not believe Shackleton would ever turn bnck, and only the biggest obstacle would prevent him from getting across. Seamen in the hold noticed a boot protruding and pulled it, when it wafl. quickly withdrawn and later a stowawav was hauled on deck. Shackleton read the Riot Act in the sternest tones but with a twinkle of the eye, and realising the lad's enterprise and ingenuity Shackleton gratified the boy's dearest ambition and appointed him cook's mate.

Shackleton, in crossing the Continent, proposed to rely principally on dogs, regarding motor sledges rather as an exneriment. The sixty-nine dogs were in first-class condition when put on board the Endurance, and after a month ashore at South Georgia there were a dozen puppies, which were expected in time to assist In light sledge work. Shackleton Intended to drop anchors at Filehciier's landing place if it was found suitable; otherwise he would proceed towards Coats' Land, seeking a better starting point. He decided ho would not risk the party on board the Endurance remaining at the base nfter February 1. Therefore news of the Endurance is expected daily, possibly at the Falkland Islands but more likely at Buenos Aires

!' ?"?. PLAN'S AS LAID DOWN 7 . ■ (From Our Own Correspondent.) Wellington, Yesterday. The significance of tiie news that has come from the Aurora, the Antarctic aijip, is made apparent by a glance at the plans laid down by Sir Ernest Shackleton for his present expedition. Sir Ernest employed two ships, the Endurance and the Aurora. The Endurance was to land him at a point on the Weddell Sea coastline, in the Smith American set-tor of the Antarctic. The Aurora was to establish a base at MoMnrdo Sound, in the Ross Sea, on the other side of the Antarctic Continent. Then Sir Ernest, with four or five companions, intended to travel right across the continent from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea, visiting the South Pole en route. The distance to be covered was over I'Oll miles, more than half of it through unexplored country, and Sir Krnest counted upon the assistance of a party from the Rpss Sea base. This party was to make n depot of fooa and fuel at the base of the Beaidmore Glacier, over 300 miles inland from the coast, for the use of the overland party in the concluding stage of its great journey. Finally the whole party was tu be taken aboard the Aurora and brought back to civilisation. THE ENDURANCE'S PART. The Endurance, which left Buenos Aires late in 1914. touched at Sotitn Georgia, a rendezvous of whalers and sealers, and then pushed southwards into the Antarctic. Sir Ernest Shackleton intended to take the ship as far south as possible in the Weddell Sea and allow it to be frozen into the ice for the winter. He early abandoned any idea of starting on his trans-continental journey during that season, nwi"" l o evoontionaj]y. bad weather <-•»" - >'he £n-

durance lias not ,vot returned to Buenos Aires,- where. s lm. should arrive this month, but it may be assumed fairly and confidently that-Sir Ernest Shackleton established' a base in the Weddell Sea early last, year, spent the winter there, and started on his march across the continent about November 1 last, js-hcn travel became possible during the brief Antarctic summer. He expected to take four companions with him, and the other members of the party would return to Buenos Aires aboard the Endurance. THE AURORA'S PARTY. The Aurora, commanded by Captain A. L. A. Mackintosh, a member of Unoriginal Shackleton Expedition of 19CU--1909, left Tasmania in December, 1914. and proceeded to the Ross Sea. She experienced the ,bad weather that had been encountered by Sir Ernest Shaekleton on the other side of the Antarctic, but landed a party in McMurdo Sound about the middle of January. 1915. After some preliminary sledging' journeys six men, with a motor sledge and stores, started southwards on January 31 in order to lay a depot. Thev returned to their base in the firs' days of March. The message received from lieutenant Stenhouse doe* not state how far this party had travelled or where they Tiad laid their depot. The Aurora, in the | meantime,, lay in McMurdo Sound, where it was intended that she should spend the winter. A good deal depends upon whether or not the time >vas occupied in landing stores and provisions. The sea ice will have commenced to form, in the normal course, during March,' and by May the vessel should have been Well frozen in. But on May fi a violent blizzard from the south broke up the ice in the Sound and carried the Aurora northward into the Ross Sea. Ten men, including Captain Mackintosh, were ashore at the time and were left there.

THE MAROONED MEN. The adventures of tlii? Aurora during the ten montlis tlmt followed until the vessel got free of the drift ice during the present month are briefly Indicated in the wireless message sent jfrom Lieut. Stenhoii.se. The point of pressing interest is that the vessel did not get back to MeMurdo Sound at all, and is now doming to Xew Zealand, in a disabled condition. Captain Mackintosh and his nine companions have been marooned in one of the most inhospitable spots in the world for ten months already, anrl there is now no possibility of their being relieved before the end of the present year. Were thev able to send out a party to meet Sir Ernest Shaeklctdn in January-February of this year? If the overland partv has arrived safely, can the combined body of fifteen men live through tile approaching winter on the supplies that are within their reach ? These are the questions that are suggested by the news from the Aurora,- and they are questions that cannot yet be answered definitely. QUESTION* OF STORES. FUEL THE DIFFICULTY. If considerable quantities of stores and supplies had been landed from the Aurora before the ship was carried away from the Sound; the .position of the shore norty would be fairly secure. Probably Captain Mackintosh and his companions had erected their own hut. In any case, the huts used bv the Scott expedition and the previous' Shackieton expedition would be within their reach, as soon as the ice formed, at any rate, and these huts contain large quantities of foodstuffs. Doubtless supplies of seals and penguins had been killed already and preserved in the snow, in accordance with the practice of Antarctic expeditions, and some further stocks might be secured in May, in spite of the lateness of the season. The sun would have disappeared below the horizon about April 23, to reappear in August, and after that the cold would increase in intensity aiidihe light grow less very rapidly. The most serious difficulty, unless adequate supplies of oil and coal had been landed from the Aurora, probably would be in connection with fuel, but Captain Mackintosh is not likely to have tnken risks in this respect. • WHERE IS SHACKLETOX ? | relief ship should be ready. If Sir Ernest Shaekleton's hopes have been realised, and he has been able to complete the most dangerous and arduout journey yet attempted in the Antarctic. he will have readied MeMurdo Sound some time during the last month. The disappointment that no ship is waiting for him and,that he has to spend a second winter ift the - Antarctic will be I severe, but lie is too experienced an explorer to lie dismayed by the unexpected, and he will make the best of whatever conditions he has to face. He will know that there is now 110 possibility of a relief ship reaching him before the end of the present year. The line of drift ice will be moving northward, the seaways will be freezing over, and the, • blizzards will be sweeping down froni the mountains of the interior with everincreasing severity. The explorers are beyond the reach of help from the otit■lide world until the winter has passed, but the people of the Empire must make quite, sure tlmt a relief ship is ready to proceed south at the earliest possible date when the summer comes again.