Hie Antartic
Cave Byrd His
Big Christmas
By
■KAR ADM. RICHARD R. BYRD
We know that Christmas at the
bottom of the world is in the An
tartic midsummer. I have eaten
«ght Christmas dinners south of
the Antartic Circle, two of them
within two days of each other.
In 1928 we were bucking
through the ice of the Ross Sea
with the bark-rigged, wooden sail
*■* ship, the City of New York,
•o the western s'wa of the 180.h
I
meridian, and we had lost a day
by so doing. And when Christmas
Day arrived we were too busy
fighting the ice pack and getting
around icebergs to celebrate.
Another Christmas Day
But we had another Christmas
Day coming to us. By going to thi
eastward that day we found
smoother ice; and in doing so we
crossed back over the Date Lire,
the 180th meridian, and thus gain
ed a day. Since the ice was
smoother that Christmas Day we
had a chance to celebrate.
Our cook, George Tennant,
served a fine dinner. Our scien
tist, Taffy Davies, took the part
of Santa Claus; and I gave my
admiral’s uniform to Pvt. Morency
(we called him “Little Moe”) who
presided as admiral. He was a na
tural born actor and took advan
I
We wish yon
a sparkling, joyful
and Happy Holiday Season!
KODIAK BOTTLING WORKS
A ALASKA DISTRIBUTORS
KEN JOHNSON
Lumbermens -''Mmuatauaraiimy
CHICAGO 49
tage of the occasion to bawl out
everyone in sight, especially my
self and the other officers. It was
a grand occasion.
The Barrier at Last
Suddenly, in the midst of our
celebration in the ward room,
Chief Mate Strom’s voice from
the crow’s nest—“Barrier on the
starboard bow”—fell with the
abrupt swiftness of long awaited
news. There was a clatter of din
ner dishes, and a race of foot
steps up the companionway and
a wild crowding of men on the
fo’c’s’le head in the rigging. The
thing we had sailed 11,000 miles
to see was before our eyes, a far
flung reach of lifted ice—the
Barrier.
As we closed in on this phe
nomenon, which extended as far
as our glasses could reach to the
east and west, it appeared to be
a wall of ice rising from 100 to
200 feet up from the water. We
later found that this enormous
sheet of ice that was largely wa
ter-borne was 500 mies east and
west and over 400 miles north
and south, and that it averaged
in thickness above the water from
150 to 200 feet, and we knew it
would be three or four times that
thickness under the water.
First Americans
We knew that we were further
south that Christmas Day than any
Americans had ever been; and we
were to be the first Americans
to land anywhre on the continent.
We were destined to build 8 vil
lages in Antarctica, 5 of which
would be named Little America.
This great continent turned out
to be about 6,000,000 square miles
in area, about twice the size of the
United States. We have since that
day looked upon some 4,000 000
square miles of that area hitherto
not seen by human beings.
Now scientists from more than
40 nations are moving south in
their biggest assault on the geo
physical secrets of the Antartic.
What they find may well prove
of inestimable value to mankind.
For us, it all started on that
Christmas Day in 1928.
CHRISTMAS WARNING
Writing in the Fourth Century,
Gregory Nazianzen, arch-bish#p
and poet, warned against celebra
ting Christmas “with excess” and
protested against dancing, and
decorations of evergreens and
boughs which he described as a
“heathen practice.”
Mirror Classified Ads get fast
results.
Bright and cheery
greetings to all ol
you from all of us'
Staff of the
POLAR BEAR CAFE
SETTING CHRISTMAS DAY
In the 4th century, Dec. 25 was
set aside by the church as the
official day of Christ’s birth. In
some of the Eastern branches of
the church, Jan. 6 is still cele
brated as the great holiday.
K ’ME” Tj •"WHPftmLLjggMB
■
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