THE RACE FOR THE POLE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10032, 30 April 1910, Page 4

THE RACE FOR THE POLE.

Curiously enough, the leader of the American expedition in the forthcoming race for the South Pole will not be an American, for Captain Bar-

tlett, who has been chosen to lead

the expedition from the land of the Stars and Stripes, is a Newfoundlander, and a British subject. It is

interssting to recall that Bartlett

accompanied Commander Peary to within 119 miles of the North Pole,

and inasmuch as Sir Ernest Shackleton got within 112 miles of the South Pole, the achievements of the two men *re practically equal. Bartlett has, in fact, been designated

the Shack icton of America. The New YorK correspondent of th-3 "Daily Telegraph," who recently had two hours intimate conversation with the American leader, appears to have beeu much impressed with his fitness for the post for which he has bean selected After Bartlett's achieveI ment in blazing a track for Peary to I the North Pole, the interviewer approached l.im with the pardonable j expectation of finding him suffering more or less from the malady known as "swelled head." As it turned

out, however, there was not the slightest ground for such fear; the ( intrepid explorer proved to be mod- j est aod unassuming. Captain Bartlett's opinions un tne coming cintest for the honour of reaching the South Pole first are extremely interesting. Ha thinks tha dash for the South Pola will be rather easier work than was the race northwards, the reason being that around the Pole there is always the shifting ice and open water. He admits | that the high winds and crevasses of the Antarctic have difficulties all their own, but they strike this ex- j pert in polar exploration as prefer- I able to the haunting knowledge of i a dangerously insecure surfaca of . ice. Peary has expressed the opinion that the coming race wiil hi the most nerve-racking contest the world has ever seen, and the interviewer sounded Bartlett ps to how the ! sporting side of the business appealed to him. The unexpected reply was: "Not the least bit! Sport be blowed! This race, if it ever cjmes off, will be practically decided before it is begun; it is chietiy a que?tion of equipment, organisation, and training." Bartlett, it appears, believen that Scott will win the race, bat that it will be a hard, uphiil. continuous fight over every yard of the way. Howevtr, he is quite confident that Amenta can reach the Pole — who is first to get there will depend on the thoroughness with which the preliminaries he mentioned are tared for.