The watchman and southron. (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, March 16, 1912, Image 8
CAPT. AMUNDSEN'S F?LL ST?RT
OF HIS DASH TO THE SOUTH POLE
?oneglio Eiplortr With Poor ot Pis Men and CW.tett Dogs
Crosses Ice Banicr aid Helenes trie Goal It 65 Ddjs
Copyright, Underwood A Underwood
THE DISCOVER ER OF THE SOUTH POLE.
Captain Roald Amundsen, ':he Norwegian explorer, whose return to
Hebart, Tasmania. Is followed by the announcement of his great discovery.
4T POLE OEC. 14, 3 P. M.?ON A
VAST PLATEAU A HUT WAS
BUILT AND THE NORWEGIAN
FLAG UNFURLED FOR THREE
OAYS?EXPEDITION PLANNED
WITH SCIENTIFIC EXACTNESS
WAS CARRIED OUT WITH MILI?
TARY PRECISION.
By ROALD AMUNDSEN.
Canrrrlfht bv Th# New York I Un*m Os.
' 1 II Kight* Kewrved)
HpaeMU Cfchto to Tb? N?w York Time*.
HobmrL Tasmania. March I, 11.20
A. M ?On the loth of February. 1911,
?? commenced to work our way to?
ward the xu'h, from that day to the
11th of April establishing three ae>
aou. which in all contained a quau
tity of provisions of about 3,00r kilos.
One thousand six hundred kilos, in?
cluding 1,100 kilos of seal meet, were
eached in M degrees. 700 kilos ?n 81
degreea, and 800 kilos In 82 degrees
?oath Latitude.
Aa no landmarks were to be seen,
thaae depots were marked with flags.
Baven kilometers on each Hide in the
easterly and wes'erly directions.
The groind an 1 the state of the
Barrier were of the best, and special?
ly well adapted to dr.vlng with dogs.
Ob FOB. IS. had thus traveled
about loo kilometers. The weight of
the sledges was 300 kilos, and the
?amber of dogs was six for each
eledge The surface of the Barrier
waa smooth and tine with no sastrugl
(Snow furrows thrown up by the
wind.) The crevices were very local
and were found dangerous In only two
gdaoen. For the rest?long, smooth
emdulations.
The weather waa excellent?calm
or a light brecse. The lowest tem?
perature oi these depot trips was mln
as 41 Celsius or centigrade. (49 de?
grees below sero, Fahrenheit ) On
the 4th of March, on our return from
the first tr p beginning on the 15th of
February, we found out that the Fram
had alreadr left us. With pride and
delight we heard that her smart cap
tala had succeeded In sailing her fur?
thest south and there hoisting the
eelors of bis country a glorious mo
ant for Mm and his comrade* the
furthest nrrth and the furthest south
?good old Fram! The highest south
latitude attained was If degrees 41
minute*
Winter on the Ice Bsrrlsr.
Tisfore the arrival of Winter we had
?,000 kilos of seal Tneal *n The ?e
pots. enough for ourselves and 110
dogs F.tuht dog BBBBBBj a combina?
tion of tents und snow huts, were
built
Having cared frr the dons, the tarn
fame to use our gelid little hut. It
%e?? ?.!"ioat entirely covered with
saow by he middle n| April. First WC
And to get hebt and air. The I.ui
lamp, which had a BOWef of KM stand?
ard c indies, ggjfi us a brilliant li^ht
and kept the leanBBtntnri up Kg M
degrees ('eisius (68 degrees l u
0 ~
fiend as your Job work.
aelt) throughout the Winter and our
excellent ventilation system gave us
all the air we wanted.
In dtrect communication with the
hut and dug-out on the Barrier were
workshops, packing-rooms, cellars for
provisions, coal, wood, and oil, a plain
bath, a steam bath, and observatories
Thus we had everything within doors
if the weather should be too cold and
stormy.
The sun left us on the 22d of April
and did not return until four months
later. The Winter was spent in chang
Ipc our whole outfit, which on the de?
pot trips was found to be too clumsy
and solid for the smooth surface of
the Barrier. Besides this, as much
scientific work as possible was done,
and some astonishing meteorological
observations were taken.
Open Wster All Winter.
There was very little snow, and
there was open water close by
throughout the Winter. For the sain ?
11'iison higher temperature had been
expected, but It remained very low.
In five months there were observed
temperatures between minus 50 and 60
degrees Celsius, (58 and 76 degrees be?
low sero Fahrenheit), the lowest tem?
perature on the 13th of August being
minus 59 degrees Celsius. It was
then calm. On the 1st of August the
temperature was minus b8 degrees
Celsius, and there were 6 meters of
wind. The mean temperature for the
year was minus 26 degrees Celsius
(14.8 below zero Fahrenheit )
I had expected hurricane after hur?
ricane, but I observed only two mod?
erate storms and many excellent au?
roras aus trails in all directions.
The sanitary conditions were of the
best all the Winter and when the sun
returned on the 24th of August he met
the men sound in mind and body
ready to set about the task that had
to be solved.
Already, the day before, we had
brought our sledges to the starting
n
place Tor our march toward the south.
Only in the beginning of September
d'd the temperature rise to such an
extent that there was any question of
setting out
First Start for the Pole.
On the 8th of September eight men,
with seven sledges, ninety dogs, find
provisions for four months started.
The ground was perfect. The temper
ature was not bad. The next day it
appeared that we had started too ear?
ly, as the temperature of the follow?
ing <lays feil and was kept Steady be>
tWOOl minus 50 and K) Celsius (SI de?
groot and 76 degrees) below Fuhren?
hell sere Personally we did no! suf?
fer at all from ?Iiis cold Our good
fur* protected us. But with our does
it was a dlft*er< III matter. If COUid
easily be seen that they shrunk from
day to day. and ue understood pretty
SOOfi that they could not stand the
long tun to our depot at 8u degrees
south.
We figtesd on returning and to wan
for the arrival of Spr.ng. The provi?
sions were cached, ami off we went
for the hut With the cxcpt ion Of
? nd us your Job work.
the loss of a few dogs and a c .
of frozen heela everything was
right.
Only in the middle of OctcN r
Spring came in earnest. Seals and
birds appeared. The temperature was
steady between minus 20 and 30 Cel?
sius (4 degrees and 22 degrees below
zero Fahrenheit.)
The original plan that all of us
should go toward th? south had be^n
changed. Five men had to do this
work, while the other three were to
start for the east and visit King Ed?
ward VII. Land.
This last mentioned trip was not
included in our programme, but, ow?
ing to the fact that the English had
not reached it, at least this Summer,
as was their intention, we agreed that
the best thing to do was to make this
trip.
On Oct. 20 the southern party start?
ed?five men, four sledges, fifty-two
doge, and provisions for four months
?everything in excellent order.
The Journey to the Pole.
We had made up our minds to take
the first part of the trip as easily as
possible, in order to give ourselves and
the dogs a rational training, and on
the 23d we made our depot In 80 de?
grees south. We went right ahead.
In spite of the dense fog an error
of two to three kilometers happened
only once in a while, but we were
caught by the flagmarks, and found j
these on our way without difficulty.
Having rested and fed the dogs on
all the seal meat they were able to
eat, we started again on the 26th,
with the temperature steadily be?
tween minus 20 and 30 Celsius (4 de?
grees and 22 degrees below zero Fan*
renhelt).
From the start it was the intention
not to drive more than 30 kilometers a
day, but it appeared that this was too
little for our strong, wll'ing animals.
At 80 degrees south we began to
build snow cairns of a man's height,
In order to have marks on our return
trip. On the 31st we reached the de?
pot at 81 degrees, and stopped there
one day, and fed the dogs on ae much
pemmican as they wanted.
We reached the depot at 82 de
grees on the 6th of November, where
the dogfl for the last time got all they
wanted to eat. On the 8th, southward
again, with a daily march of 50 kilo
meters.
In order to lighten our heavy sledges
we established depots at each degree
of south latitude.
Like a Pleasure Trip.
The trip from 82 degrees to 83 de
grees became a pleasure trip?excel?
lent ground, fine sledging, and an even
temperature. Everything went like a
dance.
On the 9th we sighted South Vic?
toria Land and the continuation of
the mountain range which Sir Ernest
Shackleton mentioned in his chart a?
ri aning toward the southeast from
the Beardmore Glacier, and on the
?arne day we reached 83 degrees and
established here Depot No. 4. On the
11th we made the interesting discov?
ery that the Ross Barrier terminated
In a bight toward the southeast at 86
degrees south latitude and 163 de
grees west longitude, formed be?
tween the southeast mountain range
running from South Victoria Land and
a range on the opposite side running
in a southwesterly direction?proba
bly a eor.tinuatlon of King Edward
VII. Land.
On the lMth we reached 84 degrees,
where we establitdied a depot; on the
16th we were at 85 degrees, where,
also, we made a depot.
From our Winter quarters, "Fram
heim," 78 degrees 38 minutes south
latitude, we had been marching du?
south. On the 17th of November, at
85 degrees, we arrived at a place
where tke land and barrier were con
nected. This was done without an>
great difficulty. The barrier here
rises in undulations to about 300 feet
Some few big crevices indicated the
limited boundary. I
Here we made our head depot, tak
ing provisions for sixty days or.
sledges, and leaving thirty days' pro
visions cn the spot.
A Difficult Climb.
The land under which we lay and
which we now had to attack lookec
quite Imposing. The Tie?Test sum
mits aloug the Barrier had 8
height from 2,000 to 10,000 feet, but
several others further south were 15,
000 feet or more.
The next day we began the climb
The first part of it was an easy task
light slopes and well-filled mountain
sides. It did not take a long time
for our willing dogs worked their way
up. Further up, we met with some
small but very steep glaciers. Her?
we had to harness 20 dogs to each
sledge and take the four sledges in
two turns. In some places it was sc
steep that it was difficult enough tt
use our skis.
Some big crevices forced us from
time to time to make detours. The
first day we climbed 2,000 feet, the
next day mostly up some small glaci
eers, camping at a height of 4,600 feet
The third day we were obliged to gc
down on a mighty glacier, "Axel Hel
berg'l Glacier," which divided the
coast mountains and the mountain}
further south.
The next day began the longest part
of our ollmb. Many detours had to be
made In order to avoid broad cracks
and open crevlcea. Theae wer., appar
ently mostly idled up, as the glaciers
in ail probability had lonr, ago stopped
moving, but we had to be rery careful,
never knowing for certain how thick
was the layer thttt f evered them.
Our camp that night lay In rery n
tnresque surroundings at ;i height of
6,000 feet. Tbe glacier here was nar?
rowed In between the two 15,000 feel
high mountains, the "Fridtjof Nan
sen" ami the "Don Pedro Christopher
?en." Prom the both m of the glaclei
<live us your J<?i> \%ork.
r6*e Mouont "Ole Englstad"- -u I
snow cone 13,500 feet high.
Dogs' Splendid Work.
The glacier was very much broke-)
in this comparatively narrow pa.-.
The mighty crevices seemed to btcp
us from going further, but it was not
so serious as it appeared. Our dogs,
which up to this time had covered a
distance of about 700 kilometers, th<
last day's very hard work, ran thia
day 35 kilometers, the ascent being
6,600 feet, an almost incredib'o record.
It took us only four days from the
Barrier to get up on the vast inland
plateau.
We camped that night at a height
of 10.600 feet. Here we had to kill
thirty-four of our brave companions
and keep eighteen?six for each of
our three sledges.
We stopped here four days on ac?
count of bad weather. Tired of this,
we set out on the 25th of November.
On the 26th, in a furious blizzard and
in a dense snow drift, absolutely noth?
ing was to be seen, but we felt that,
contrary to expectations, we were go?
ing fast down hill. The hypsometer
gave us that day a descent of 600 feet.
We continued our march the next
day In a gale, and a dense snowdrift
got our faces badly frozen. We could
see nothing. We reached that day 86
Map Showing Relative Distances to
South Pole.
degrees, dead reckoning The hypso?
meter indicated a fall of 800 feet.
The next day was similar. The wea?
ther cleared a little at dinner time and
exposed to our view a mighty moun?
tain range to the east, and not far
off?only for a moment?and then it
disappeared in the dense snowdrift.
On the 29th it calmed down and the
sun shone, though it was not the only
pleasant surprise he gave. In our
course stretched a big glacier running
toward the south. At its eastern end
was the mountain range going in a
southeasterly direction. Of the west?
ern part of it no view was to be had,
it being hidden in the dense fog. At
the foot of this glacier, the "Devil's
Glacier," a depot for six days was es?
tablished, at 86.21 degrees south lati?
tude. The hypsometer indicated 8,000
feet above sea level.
A Fine Mountain View.
On Nov. 30 we began to climb the
glacier. The lower part of it was very
much broken and dangerous. More?
over, the snow bridges very often
burst. From our camp that night we
had a snlendld view over the moun?
tain to the east. There was "Helmer
Hanson*! Summit," the most remarka?
ble of th^m all. It was 12.000 feet
high and covered with surh broken
glaciers that In all probability no foot?
hold was to be found. "Oscar Wist
ing's," "Sverre Hassel's" and, "Olav
Hjanland's" Mountains also lay here,
beautifully illuminated in the rays of
the bright sun.
In the distance, and only occasion?
ally to be viewed In the fog, "Mount
Nielsen," with its summits and peaks
about 15.000 feet high. We only saw
the nearest surroundings.
It took us three days to surmount
the Devil's Glacier, always in misty
weather.
On the 1st of December we left this
broken glacier with holes and crevices
without number, with its height of 9.
100 feet. Before us, looking, in the
mint and snowdrift, like a frozen sea,
appeared a light, sloping ice plateau
filled with small hummocks.
The walk over this frozen sea
was not pleasant. The ground undei
us was quite hollow and it sounded as
though we were walking on the bot?
toms of empty barrels. As it was, a
man fell through, then a couple of
dogs. We could not use our skis on
this policed ice. Sledges had the best
of it.
The place got the name the "Devil's
Dancing Room." This part of our
march was the most unpleasant. On
Dec. 6 we got our greatest height, ac?
cording to the hypsometer and ane?
roid, 10,750 feet, at 87 degrees 40 min?
utes south.
On Dec. 8 we came out of tho bad
weather. Once again the sun smiled
down on us. Once again we could get
an observation. Dead reckoning and
observation were exactly alike?88 de?
grees 16 minutes 16 seconds south.
Before us lay an absolutely plain
plateau, only here and there marked
with a tiny sastrugi.
In the afternoon we passed 88 de
grees 23 minutes (Shackleton's fur?
thest south was 88 degrees 25 min?
ute*.) We camped and established
our last depot, depot No. 10. From
88 degrees 25 minutes the plateau b?*
gan to slope down very gently and
smoothly toward the other side
On the 9th <>f December we reached
88 degrees 39 minutes; on Dee. 10, 88
degree! 56 minutes; Her. 11, S!* de
grees, 16 minutes; Dec. 12. 30 min?
utes; Dec. 13, 89 degrees, 46 minutes.
Up to this time the observations
and dead reel oning Agreed remarka*
blv well, ami we made out that we
OUght to be at tne pole on Per Mth
in the Hfl si noon
s uol uh your Job work.
The Poie Attained.
That day was a beautiful one?a
light breeze from southeast, the tem?
perature minus 23 Celsius, (9.4 de?
grees below zero Fahrenheit,) and the
ground and sledging were perfect.
The day went along as usual, and at
3 P. M., we made a halt.
According to our reckoning we had
reached our destination. All of us
gathered around the colors?a beauti?
ful silk 0r>g?all hands taking hold of
it and planting It.
The vast plateau on which the pol?
Is standing got tne name of the "T^ng
Haakon VII. Plateau." It is a vast
plain, alike in all directions; mile
after mile during the night we circled
around the camp.
In the fine weather we spent the fol?
lowing day taking a series of observa?
tions from 6 A. M., to 7 P. M. The re?
sult gave us 89 degrees 55 minutes.
In order to observe the pole as close
as possible we traveled, as near south
as possible, the remaining 9 kilo?
meters.
On Dec. 16 there we camped. It
, was an excellent opportunity There
was a brilliant tun. Four of us took
observations every hour of the day's
twenty-four hours. The exact result
will be the matter of a professional
private report.
This much is certain?that we ob?
served the pole as close as it is in hu?
man power to do It with the instru?
ments we had?a sextant and an arti?
ficial horizon.
On Dec. 17 everything was in order
on the spot. We fastened to the
ground a little tent we had brought
along, a Norwegian flag, and the Fram
pendant on the top of it.
The Norwegian home at the South
Pole was called "Polheim."
The distance from our Winter quar?
ters to the pol? about 1,400 kilo?
meters. The average march a day was
25 kilometers.
The Return Journey.
We started on the return trip on the
17th of December. Unusually favora?
ble weather made our way home con?
siderably easier than the journey to
the pole. We arrived at our Winter
quarters, "FTamhohn," on the 25th of
January. 1912, with two sledges and
eleven dogs, all well.
The daily average speed on the re?
turn trip was 36 kilometers; the low
On Jen. 1^ the T ? p^-^rion
irrived at '!>?)?< ! nd
anded on f.*. - r. ? . *"?':*?*r
luarters. We lift t^e - . I \ "i ice
an Jan. 30. It ?>? e a kn: v - e, 4
with contrary winds, ill ? * 1 "
ROAM) AMUXD32N.
HOW THE MESSAGE CAME.
Crossed the Pacific, Canada, the At?
lantic, and Back to New York.
London, March 9.?Cap*.. Amundsen M
wrote the long dispatch telling of hia'
trip aboard the Fram and handed it
in at Hobart, whence it was trans?
mitted to Sydney by the Australian
State Telegraph Department. At Syd?
ney It was put on the cable of the
Pacific Cable Board for transmission 1
Dver 4,000 miles of sea to Bamfield?
Van couver, where It was received in
recorder characters by the automatic
curb system, originally designed by
the late Lord Kelvin, and in which
the letters of the alphabet are taken
like Hertzian waves.
At Bamfield the message was trans?
ferred into Morse code, and passed |
through Case da over the line which
the Pacific Cable Board rents from the
Canadian Pacific Railway to Montreal*
a distance of 3,000 miles. From Mon?
treal message was transferred to
the Commercial Cable Company for
transmission to The London Chroni?
cle, whence it was dispatched byjp
Western Union cable to The New
York Times.
KING SENDS CON GRATULATION 85
English Monarch Also Wlree Norwe?
gian Ruler His Felicitations.
Christiania, March 9 ?When Capt.\|
Roald Amundsen's brother, Leon, per?
sonally took the explorer's telegram
pnrtcunelnc: tha* he hj?d attained the
South Pole to King Haakon, His Ma?
jesty was attending the manouvres at
Sandviken.
"I thank you for the information.
The Queen and I beg to send you and A
all on board the Fram our most cor* '
dial congratulations on the occasion
of your results, which are so satisfac?
tory to all of us. HAAKON."
This is all the correspondence that
has passed between King Haakon and
('apt. Amundsen. ?
King George of Great Britain andjh
King Frederick of Denmark have tele-^
graphed their felicitations to King
I Haakon.
Copyright, Underwood 6 Underwood.
THE FR AM.
The Stout Ship Which Carried the Amundsen Expedition.
est temperature was minus 31 Celsius,
(23.8 degree* below 0 Fahrenheit,) the
highest minus b Celsius, (23 degrees
above 0 Fahrenheit).
Among the results are the determi?
nation of the extent and character ol
the Ross Barrier, and the discovery
of the connection of South Victoria
Land and probably King Edward VII.
Land, with their continuation in the
mighty mountains running toward the
southeast, which were observed as far
as 88 deg^-ets south, but which in all
probability continue across the ant?
arctic continent.
The entire length of the newly dis?
covered mountains is about 850 kilo?
meters. They have been named
"Queen Maud's Range."
The expedition to King Edward VII.
Land, under the command of Lieut.
Prestud has given excellent results,
Scott's discoveries have been confirm
ed. and the survey of the Bay of
Whales and of the Barrier dome by
the Prestud party are of great inter?
est.
A good geological collection from
King Edward VII and South Victoria
Land is being brought home.
The Fram arrived a? the pay of
Whales en the 9th of January, She
bad been delayed by the "Roaring
Forties" on account of the easterly
winds
Send us your Job work.
TO GO NORTH POLE, TOO.
That It Said to be the Ambition of
London, March 9.?According to 0.
A. Bang, a personal friend of Capt.
Amundsen and the manager of the
Heinmann publishing house, the Nor?
wegian explorer will not be satisfied
until he has reached the north pole aa
well as the south.
Mr. Bang says that in order to gel
funds for his antarctic expedition Cap
tain Amundsen mortgaged everything
he possessed, and that his father and
Nansen, the explorer, also helped.
Hobart, Tasmania, March 9?Cafr
Pjpald Amundsen, the Norwegian ex
plorer, denies having telegraphed any*
thing regarding Capt. Robert Scott or
the British expedition.
Capt Amundsen, up to the present,
is the only member of the antarctic
expedition who has landed from the
Pram. Nobody is allowed to go on
board the vessel under any pretext
a hate er.
View Amundsen's Old Bh'n.
San Francisco, March 9 The sloop
Gjon, In which ('apt Amundsen navi?
gated the Northwest Passage, was ar
object of unusual interest here. Th#v|
little ship is at Golden Gat< Pari
Cspt. Amundsen.
No Word From Scott.
?;i\ ?? us your lob sv