ADMIRAL BYRD RETURNS

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Volume 59, Issue 33, 11 March 1930, Page 8

ADMIRAL BYRD RETURNS

(Per Press Association).

'ACCOMPLISHED EVERYTHING PLANNED TRIBUTE TO DOMINION GREATER COURTESY IMPOSSIBLE OFFICIAL SECEPTIONS HELB

DUNEDIN, Last night. After 453 days' absence from eiviligation, Admiral Byrd and members of his expedition returned from the frozen south to-day, the mission baving been successfully completed and having been attended by good luck. "We bave accomplisbed all that we set out to do and perhaps a little more,'5 said Byrd. "We are mighty glad that we selected New Zealand as the base, and we\are mighty glad to get baclc. It would have been impossible for any people to have treated us better or with greater courtesy than the New Zealand people, and the help they have given us has contributed to our success."

D1SC0VERY OF NEW LAND. Continuing he said that th© polar flight was not any mor© outstanding than the discovery of new land comprising 280,000 square niiles which he had named Marie Byrd Land. It was t© the eastward of the Ross dependency. _ ' The claiming of th© land was not Jiis niain concern, said Byrd. The expedition5 s success had been in a way due to luck, and largely owing to tlie very unselfish work and attitude of the men. Byrd said regarding the two planes left in the Antarctic - that arrangements had been mad© to have them returned to America. There was no time to sliip them as it was a race against time getting away, as the bav would have been frozeu over in a day or two. "When I saw that tlfe ice was not going out of the Bay of Whales, I was naturally concerned as it meant a very long hani of the cargo to the skips,5 5said B.vrd. "Th© ice did not recede as it used to do, and it indicated that we had experienced a colder period than Amundsen had. Whether the bad condition was periodic or permanent, I am not preparei to say.55 A ROYAL WELCOME. A royal welcome was given to the 'Admiral and his men, although the weather .was cold and wet. A fleet of tugs, ferry boats and mosquito boats went as far as the Heads to welcome the returning ships, and when they entered the harbour, the discordant notes" of greeting were piped from all' parts of the bay. After her wretched trip to the Bay of Whales, the City of New York experienced fair weather back to New Zealand. For several days a,piping gale was blowing, and she reached the Otago Harbour ahead of the Eleanor Bolling, which was hidden feehind a black cloud of smoke as the barque came under the lee of the peninsula with all sail set. The barque showed marks of her buffeting. .When she left on her final trip to the south she was a spick and span ship, but once again she is begrimed and battered. On that momentous trip the Barrier ice was lying a foot thick 011 the fo'c'sle head. About half a mile distaint the Eleanor Bolling foTTowed up the harbour in ihe wake of the City of New York.

REAR-ADMI RAL BYRD. 'After the harbour had been entered, the official party boarded the City of New York. The party included the Hon. B. A. de la Perelle, representing the Government, the Mayor, Mr Black, Mr Gow, chairman of the Harbour Board, Captain Wren, of the Laburnum, representing the Royal Navy and Mr Tapley, agent for the expedition vessels. MESSACE FROM NAVY. When the City of New York reached the wharf about 2.45 she was greeted by a round of cheering from the thousands lining the wharf. The Kaikorai hand struck up "The Star Spangled Banner," Admiral Byrd standing at the salute at the head of the gangway. The following navat signal was despafched by an officer of H.M.S. Laburnum on bebalf of Commander Hotham: — "I have been asked by Commodore Blake, wbo commands tbe New Zealand division of the Royal Navy, to offer you, your officers and c-rew heartiest congratulations and a warm welcome ob your return from the Antarctic after such a successful expedition. Polar exploration has al- - ways been a subject of interest to us in the navy since the exploits of the late Captain Scott. It gives us great pleasure to feel that tliis expedition has been so successfully Ied by an officer of the navy of the TJnited States of America. The Commodore is unfortunately unahi© to be present in person,' and he has further asked me to express his regrets at his unavoidable ahsence from the welcome to RearAdmiral Byrd.55 "If there is one think I am elated ahout it is that every man has returned,55 said Admiral Byrd. A NOTEWORTHY FEAT. The return of every man is a feat in Antarctic exploration. The call of adventure has been the death call for numbers of gallant men, mostly Engfishmen, who showed, "that Englishmen can endure hardship, help one anotber and meet death with as great a fortitude a* in the past." Aided by the most modern comfort devices, solid houses and modes. of conyeyance which i

were "not the lot of the unfortunate pioneers, Byrd5s men have had much in their favour, hut the expedition would never have been a success without ths same spirit of co-operation and the sinking of selfish aspirations by every member from thb cabin bov on the bas^ ships to the commander himself "VVonderful," was the summary of the opinions of the men who had spent the Winter with the commander 011 the ice. Each and everyone declared that the experience was unforgettable, and they were all delighted because tlie expedition had acliieved success in everything it had attempted. Practically all kinds of weather were experienced by the City of New York and the Eleanor Bolling 011 the long voyage from Otago to the Antarctic regions, and also on the return trip. THE CAPTAJN'S STORY. In spite of the hazards of the ice pack and the heavy weather, however, the City of New York established a record hy making a passage from the Bay of Whales to Dunedin in 18 days . k Captain Melville stated that the ship arrived at the Barrier on February 18. As the ,time was limited, not a moment was Iost and all hands set to work transferring men and dogs to the whaling vessel Kosmos. This work was carried out without a hitch, and the City of New York commenced the return voyage on February 19. She came alongside the Eleanor Bolling which was lying near the ice pack, and a number of men were transferred to the latter vessel. Three days were occupied hy the City of New York in passing through the ice pack. It was an anxious time as the barque frequently came into contact with the heavy ice, and some of her planking sliows unmistakable signs of the hard knocks she received. Captain Melville described the ice as thick and danger'ous. After clearing the ice the ship experienced several strong gales, but the last few days of the voyage were made under moderate weather conditions. ' CIVIC RECEPTlON. The Eleanor Bolling left dunedin on February 11 and cleared the ice pack on February 28. She did not go to the Bay of Whales, but waited near the ice for the City of New York. The latter vessel hove in sight on March 1, and the two ships commenced the last stage'of the voyage to Dunedin. In the evening a civic reception was accorded Byrd and his officers in the concert chamber or the Town Hall. There was a' large and enthusiastic gatliering of citizens. The Mayor (Mr R. S. Black) welcomed the guests on behalf of the citizens, and the Hon. P. A. de la Perelle, Minister of Internal Affairs, on behalf of the Government, Cominander Hotham, H.M.S. Laburnum, on behalf of the navy. Admiral Byrd, Mr Gould, second in command and Mr Dayies, physicist' to the expedition, replied.