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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (June 14, 1935)
MEDF0HT3 MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDrORD, OREGON, FRIDAY. JTTXE 14, 1935. PAGE FIVE BYRD EXPEDITION FOUND EACH TASK CARR1EDDANGERS Balloon Man's Long Vigil Amid Icy Blasts Heads Peril List Cameramen Beset by Many Difficulties By Leicester Wagner Ulnted Press Hollywood Correspondent HOLLYWOOD (UP) Down a.t the bottom of the world, where the winds howl all winter long at a tempera ture of 70 degrees below zero, mem bers of the second Byrd Antarctic Expedition spent. 18 long months. And of all the difficult and dan gerous jobs assigned to members of the crew, the balloon man's long vigil amid those Icy blasts, headed the list. Even the two Paramount camera men who risked their lives to photo graph exciting incidents agree that their job did not compare with that ' of the meteorologist. The story of George Grlminger, sent with the expedition by the Weather Bureau In Washington, was told by John L- Herrmann and Carl O. Peter son, who brought 130,000 feet of film back from Little America. Traced Wind Currents Day after day, Grlminger mounted the snow-covered roof of the science building and Hept a telescope trained on balloons soaring Into the atmos phere. More than 400 balloons were released by the meteorologist to de termine wind velocity and direction at various altitudes. The neat little pile of record books cost Grlminger many a frost-bitten cheek and finger. For hours at a time, exposed to the extreme cold, be kept bis eye to the telscope. Because the Sens must be adjusted constantly, he could wear only silk gloves. These kept his fingers from freezing to the frigid metal, but they weren't much protection from the cold. Grlminger relayed his readings through a telescope to fellow scien tists in the warm building below. Headings were made once a minute until the balloon was lost from sight. In daylight, their course could be followed up to 30.000 feet. During the long winter of endless night, little paper bags containing lighted candles were attached. Grlminger wore a noseguard and other special equipment but still he suffered continually from frostbite, the cameramen related. As a matter of fact, all of the 55 men under Ad miral Richard Byrd and the admiral himself, were frostbitten at one time or another. Lost 18 Pounds Frequently the cameramen and others on trail trips would be caught in & blizzard, and parts of their bod lea frozen before they could erect a shelter. Al Wade, of North Holly wood, suffered the most severe case. He was 18 pounds lighter when re leased from the hospital. , Motion picture photography was difficult at any temperature below zero and almost Impossible from 40 degrees on down, the cameramen re ported. Down to 40 degrees the film becomes brittle, and beyond that It continually breaks. The camera itself freezes at low temperatures and the hand crank cannot be turned. This happened to Peterson when he accompanied Ad miral Byrd to the latter's advance base, where the commander remained alone for seven months. At 64 below zero, Peterson's camera froze, and he had to place it in an oven until It thawed. The photographers developed a technique of their own to defeat the weather. Placing their cameras in ov ens, they would prepare a scene for 333KB Of IN They're 'QUAKER CRISP' ! Here are nourishing whole wheat and rice in their most delicious form made appetizingly crisp by Quaker's famous puffing process. Then double-crisped in a special way. And packed In a triple sealed carton to bring them to your table in all their toasty goodness. SET FOR SYRATOSPHERE HOP When tha Targest balloon ever built aoara away from Rapid City, 3. D,, on a flight to the- atratoaphere, Capt. OrvH A. Anderson (left) and Capt. Albert W. Stevena (right) will bo In It the former a plld ind tha latter as commander. Aociated Preaa Photos) photographing, race for the cameras and grind them until they froze. Lighting a Problem Lighting was another problem, es pecially in winter. When working tn the dark, magnesium flares were lighted. These lasted from two to four minutes. Once Herrmann clambered up a 76-foot steel radio tower for a bird's eye view of the camp. The scene over, he tried to descend but discovered his igs were frozen to a pair of steel supports. Another man climbed up and shook him loose. Another time, on a tractor trip, he fell backward into a 12-foot crevasse, but escaped with brulsos. The cam eramen and four others were bound for the admiral's advance basa to bring back supplies and equipment left by Byrd when he returned to Little America by plane. Shortly af ter Herrmanns mishap, the tractor fell into a 35-foot crevasse. By tre mendous effort, it was extricated, but two miles farther on the transmission fell out, and the trip was abandoned. Side Trips In the 18 months in Little Ameri ca, the expedition made two main tractor and dogsled trips and five major exploration flights. A party of geologist went south ward, toward the Pole, to the Queen Maude range to study rock forma tions and make maps and surveys. Three men made this trip, using dog sleds, and were gone three months. They came within 200 miles of the pole and crossed many sections never before reached by man. The eastern party of four men traveled 300 miles from Little Ameri ca to the Zdsel Ford mountains, Thay also used dogs, although both par ties had advance support from the tractors. The big enclosed, caterpillars went ahead with food and supplies, depositing that at depots a day's dogsled journey apart. Petersen accompanied the first tractor party and was one of the men who discovered a plateau at an alti tude of 4.000 feet. Previously the ge ologists had thought the Rosa Sea, barrier extended through this section. The cameraman was the first to .et foot on Mount Grace McKlnley In the Edsel Ford range, proving that movie work often has its complications and compensations. Little Life There Paul Slple, the Eagle Scout who was Admiral Byrd's protege on the first Antartlca venture, and later be came a talented biologist, led the eastern expedition. He brought back samples of microscopic life forms dlsco'ered In water holes at the bot tom of crevasses, as well as a quan tity of lichen, a low form of vegeta tion. Seals, certain fish and penguins are practically the only life existing in the Antarctic. In addition to the exploration flight, the planes made a number of reconnaissance and photographic trips. In summer, the planes were THE PRICE i I equipped with pontoons and took nfl from the Bay of Whales. Skis were used In the fail and winter after the bay froze over. The outstanding event of the ex pedition was Admiral Byrd's seven month vigil at the advance base, 116 miles south of Little America, Origin ally it was planned to have two or three men stay with him, but winter sets In so fast it was possible only to bring in enough supplies for one. The sun left for good within a month of the admiral's arrival at his one-room insulated shack. In the low temperatures, which reached 80. he was forced to keep his gasoline stove burning continuously. Fumes lea&ed and he became gravely ill. For sev eral days he was so weak he could barely operate the hand-cranked ra dio generator, and It took all . his strength to reach the cabin roof to make daily instrument readings. Foiled by Blizzard Fully realizing Byrd's danger the iLttle America base made a desperate attempt to reach him. A tractor par ty including Petersen, set out in the dead of winter for the hazardous journey over trackless ice. The men were only a short distance from camp when one of the frequent blizzards sprang up. AH movement stops when one of these icy blasts1 rages. Peterson stayed In the covered tractor while the others put up a wind-proof tent five feet away. So quickly did the blizzard increase in fury that Petersen- could not see the tent and dared not risk an attempt to reach it. He stayed in the tractor and almost froze. The blizzard halted this rescue ex pedition, and by the time another party succeeded in reaching the ad vance base, Admiral Byrd had recov ered sufficiently to remain the rest of the winter. He was still a very sick man when the plane reached: him In early spring and returned him to Lit tle America, Despite this, he let the cameramen film scenes of his dally routine in th ten-by-fifteen cabin cooking, read ing, sending radio messages, watching the weather Instruments, playing his portable phonograph. He even made pancakes and oblJg ingly burned one for that best of all cinematic techniques comedy relief. 6-Day-Old Chick Starts Crowing PH1NCB RUPERT. B. C. (OT) Here's a "hair-raiser" that should hold "tall story" tellers, especially tf they are chicken-raisers, for s while: Mrs. C. Hendricksen. wife of a fish ing boat skipper, reports she has s. rooster that started to crow when it was six days old. It stood up in Its basket and greeted the sun by crow ing seven times, she said. Use Mail Tribune want ads. TRIPLE-SEALED TO GUARD THEIR FRESHNESS! mm 'i "mi, PACKED ONLY IK THE RED AND BLUE PACKAGE SCIENTIFIC ARMY 10 WATCH HEIGHT OF STRATO FLIGHT Volunteers Will Measure Course of Balloon in Neighboring States . Barographs inaccurate WASHINGTON, IX C, (Spl.) When the huge balloon of In Ka tions.1 Geographic Society and the U. S. Army Air Corps soars into the stratosphere probably this month, the height that It reaches above earth will be measured with record-breaking accuracy almost to the last Inch by a small "army" of scientists stationed on the ground below. The exact height reached by the balloon, not only at its hoped-to? "celling" of more than 14 miles, but at lS-mlnut Intervals at all stages of the daylight hours of Its flight, will be measured more accurately than ever has been posisble before for a stratosphere balloon. Present plans call for enlisting as many volunteers as possible among surveyors and engineers of Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, and Missouri, to watch the course of the balloon through surveying instruments, and measure angles between Jt and the earth. From this data the height of the balloon can be calculated mathemat ically with high accuracy. Engineers Asked is Volunteer A call for volunteer observers to take part in the project, which will be one, of the most comprehensive experiments of the sort evet under taken, has been issued by Captain Raymond 8. Patton, Director of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey and a member of the scientific advisory committee for the stratosphere flight. It is desired to enlist the cooperation of as many volunteers as possible in order to have observers distributed throughout the area over which the balloon may drift. Each observer will be asked to obtain use of an auto mobile equipped with radio to re ceive time signals so that alt obsei vations will be made simultaneously. This method of measuring the bal loon's height, almost a accurate as though a huge tape measure were DRINK.. HQ "lOTUE-BOTHCft" K DEPOSIT NO RETURNS Take w of ibe Oiual hort pints' of gifir ale, and youll have only 24 . But take two of Ciirqost Ciab'i full pint and yon'II have 32 ounces! That 8 ounces extra enough to make an extra drinkf Here is a brilliant, eparklinft gin ger ale made with natural, pure wa ter from deep rock sources. It needs so purifying chemicals! Jamaica's nst1iit and finest ginger Is b!ndf with aged tarte-hWglilener for a de licious, gentle tingle Then comes all those e;lit!ering bsbblss through carbfi3t.ofi under refrigerated pre sure! Order Clicquot Club today A rUU flNT 16 OUNCIS AH ginger ale manufacturers must print net bottle-contents on the label. Look before yoa boy, and get your money's worth! PALI DRY wj&k f squeezing 1 stretched from balloon to earth. Is expected, to be of gerat future value to aviation in general as well as In determining the altitude of Esploter IX. It will furnish a new check en the accuracy of barographs, the instru ments that measure the height of aircraft by reacting to the changing atmospheric pressure at various lev els. Barographs are knows to be In accurate aa height measurers at the higher levels new reached by bal loons and airplanes. If enough accur ate measurements of the height of the National Geographic-Army Air Corps balloon can be obtained at In tervals as it rises, these, considered wit h barometer readings from the gondola at the same times, trill be useful in developing more accurate height -measuring instruments, . When weather renditions Indicate that the stratosphere balloon can WESTERN WP A MB THRIFT JHAl illlJU BELIEVING THAT THE PEOPLE OF SOUTHERN OBE0OH WERE ENTITLED TO A NEW PRICE DEAL WESTERN THRIFT OPENED A COT RATE STORE FOR TOILETRIES, REMEDIES, SUNDRIES AND TOBAC COS AT 125 EAST 6TH STREET IN JANUARY '33. PUBLIC RECEPTION HAS BEEN SUCH THAT WESTERN THRIFT HAS FOUND IT NECESSARY TO ENLARGE QUARTERS AND INCREASE LINES OF MERCHANDISE Opening Saturday JUNE 15th FREE GIFTS! Including 1000 Bouquets SWEET PEAS for the ladies o Yo's, Balloons and Airpl Aires For the Kiddies Accompanied by Elders NEW STORE Open Daily 8 am. to 10 pra. Sunilas and fioitdaxs 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. 1 Western Thrift Store GUARANTEES The Lowest Prices Your Money Will Be Cheerfully Refunded It You Can Pur chase Locally for Less Than Western Thrift's Low Prices Absorbmejr. S9C The Athlete's Liniment Regular $1.25 WOODBURY'S TOILETRIES 3XQ Cream, Powders, Eouges, NEW ITEMS Sundries Galore Priced Right! A Complete 10c Toiletries Depjt. Beef, Iron and Wine $i tonic TOBACCOS 16 oss. Prince Albert T3 16 oi, Edgeworth 97$ 16 OE, Orangcr......,,,,.. 70 14 oz. Union Leader... 844 All 5o Tobaccos 4 for 15 Copenhagen Snnff 3 for 25 o 2 oz, P. A. and Velvet. 10 All 15c Tobaccos.,..': 12 OUUHVlaA fKIVK AIA Polish Paste, Dauber and EPSOM SALTS U. S. P, 5 Pound Cloth Sacks AMBROSIA SETS Conlalnlnc W.00 a FntsUfr, see ftry SMn Cream and lie Bwp fort Clanr. !, only RUBBING rV a ALCOHOL PEPSODENT TOOTH PASTE take off at the following dawn, the; volunteer corps of scientists will be ! notified by radio the previous even-: ing. Each man will have been ore-i vlou&ly assigned to ana of the bench i marks or bronze marker which are spared at 30-mile intervals ever the piafhs country above which the faai-j loon tsrUI fly. The exact position of each bench! mark, part of a nation-wide govern-; mtnt survey, la already known as ae-J curately as the best instruments cast; detemrtne, and from each bench mart an azimuth or direction line to a! nearby point has been Said out. Each; observer will have an automobile equipped with radio, and a turves -or's transit. The small teiescope that is part of each transit sill be trained upon the r a35oon as soon as It comes into sight. ftadli Signal (a Observations Then, every 15 minutes, the watch, HEE) CESSBCDa3 GSaSSr All SOo Froauett Etc. Visit OCR hew nont PREP Beard Softener 55c lubes 10c KOTEX 17C 19 Polisher. 35c Reg, ALKALINE SELTZER Thirty Tablets A.P.C. 29 29' 5c trs will hear a special coda signal coming over thrir automobile radio sets. When the slgual sounds. W the observers who hsve the balloon in sight at that moment will measure two angles with their Instruments the borisontsl angle, from the aii muth line to he balloon, snn" the vertical angle fro si the balloon to the earth. This procedure will continue all day until the balloon lands. The observers will be asked to stay on watch from . m. until 3 p. m. i The observers will be stationed at the bench marks because the dis tances between them has been meas ured with greatest possible accuracy, thus providing base lines of known length, which are necessary In calcu lating the balloon s height fey trigonometry- Altitude also will be calcu lated with the aid of photossraph of the earth taken straight downward at intervals through the bo? rem ot WESTERN THRIFT'S NEW STORE JACKSON COUNTY BANK BLDG. CORNER MAIN AND CENTRAL Western Thrift Will How Operate Two Stores Featuring Freshest, Nationally Advertised Merchandise, at Lowest Possible Prices, The Same Speedy,' Convenient Service Will Be Maintained. Western Thrift Invites Von to Shop at Either of These Convenient Locations Jackson County Bank Corner or 126 East 6th Street. F 15 CREMO CIGARS now 3 for 10c SAKELITE PIPES . . 10c KREEMOFF Cleansing Tissue Zf VoC VELDOWN Sanitary Napkins Package of 3ft,. OHCOJH 100 cup itae 33 200 cup size 57 400 cap row f7c ZILATONE OVALTINE Skippy Dog Food 4for25c 10c Turns 2 for 15c si. 25 Petrolagar 79 Effervescent Laxative 80o size POND'S CREAMS 25c We 69 mml F J.V Sire STATIONERY hm Claire Bosfd Rontl VeUum g !HbHv m BnTClnpe. Wr. wlw.. - - - GINGER ALE Lime Rickey Johnson's Talc 19c Above Prices Effective Friday, Saturday, Sunday arid Monday Several Everyday Prices Included TWO CONVENIENT LOCATIONS 128 EAST 6TH STREET CORNER MAIN AND CENTRAL "i.nnK roR the wv wvt ktobjm" the pondola. as was oose last yrr on the IMght of the fins KaUossS Geographies Army Air Corp stratos phere bsidoQiu Per this metiiod ta be accurate, however IS is necessary to knew the exact diM&nce between oojects on the ground showing In the phatogra.p'n.t, and tn many cases this Im not possible because the estir arfa over which the ballooa will Art! t has not been accurately surveyed Use WUi Tribune want ads. 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