HUMAN ASPECT OF A GREAT ENDEAVOUR

Radio Record, 7 August 1936, Page 28

HUMAN ASPECT OF A GREAT ENDEAVOUR

Byrd Tells His Story | bd "ANTARCTIC DISCOVER’ " ‘by Rear-Admiral R. E. Byrd, United States ‘Navy, retired, the _story..of Byrd’s. second _ Antarctic expedition, reflects, of course, the importance of the expedition to scientifie research .and- geographical, discovery. That is one reason why it ranks’ high:in the literature of its own field. But for the general reader the main outline of one book of ‘Antarctiec exploration is very much like that of another. The "Great White South" has been a: testing-ground for men, of several nationalities, of rare courage and high endurances in desperate hardships and unremitting labour. The record of Polar exploration, both north and south, is a noble one. What, then, are the qualities which cause Byrd’s book to rank among a select few at the top of the class? . Byrd and the ‘men, under him: were indomitable in the face of great dangerg and great hardship, but so have been other men before them. This indomitability is not emphasised in the book; it appears naturally in the plain and simple record of the expedition’s doings. But where the book is lifted, above most of its kind is in its inti- mate and faithful picture of the life of a polar expedition. Byrd has an unusual power-unusual, that is, among explorers-of delineating the human aspect.of such an enterprise. But there is one part of an enthralling story. which is not told by Byrd himself. It is the tale of the. illness which almost killed him when he was ° alone for months.in an advanced weather station, 100 miles from the base,’ through the winter. months,. Byrd would not save himself by allowing a relief party to set out to his aid ati

the risk of the men’s lives. While he was sending. reassuring messages by _Tadio to the base at: Little America he was fighting off an. infinite. weakness caused by poisonous fumes from a leaky stove, and carrying:on.his weather observations. It was March -28 when Byrd began his isolation, August when a relief. party reached him. Weeks. passed before he was: strong enough to stand the journey. back, and October came :before he was again in Little America. This part of the story was pieced together by ©. J.. V. Murphy, in Little America; Byrd adds very little to it. But to understand exactly why Byrd ranks among the heroes ‘and the great leaders of exploration one has to. read his modestly-written: book, "Antarctic . Discovery." . Rear-Admiral R. PD. Byrd, Putnam. ‘Our eovy from. the nublisher, .