DESERT CF ICE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 31, 7 February 1939, Page 3

DESERT CF ICE

CONCEALS RICHES FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS. LINCOLN ELLSWORTH'S HOPE. HOBART, Feb. 5. “In the great desert o£ ice extending hundreds of miles to the south 1 saw areas where one day there may be found rich minerals and oils as in the United States,” declared Mr. Lincoln Ellsworth upon arrival in the Wyatt Earp from the Antarctic to-day with the injured chief officer, Mr. Liavaag, whose knee was crushed in floating ice. He will undergo au operation in Hobart. His condition generally is satisfactory.

Regarding the flight Mr. Ellsworth said: “When I left on this expedition I expected to find a rugged mountainous land. Instead, I found this desert of ice resembling a vast plain and gradually rising to 7500 feet. Our aeroplane continued as far as 72 degrees South latitude and the land I saw was totally different from that flown over on the South American side of the Pole on my 1935 expedition.”

Mr. Ellsworth has claimed for the United States 81,000 square miles north of Princess Elizabeth Land. His two visits to the Antarctic have gained for America more than 430,000 square miles.