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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (April 24, 1960)
The Bellingshausen-Amundsen Sea Venture WelllDfflgtoiro Club h Pleasant (Editor'! not: Thli li another In th series of In iiallmtnti of Herb Gray's account of hit trip to Ant arctica. Ha spant about 70 days with tha Navy on iha Oparatlon Daep Fraaia 2960 axpadition. Today's ariicla concarnt imprastions of Naw Zaaland towns, and boarding iha icabraalcar, USS Glaciar.) By HERB GREY Mail Tribuna Advartising Managar One of my early pleasant experiences in Wellington was a visit with Capt. McDonald, Comdr. L. C. Knowles, now U.S. Naval Attache, and Col. Nichols to the exclusive "for men only" Wellesly club for cocktails and lunch. Here I met a handsome elderly man with angular jaw and military bearing, Maj. Gen. Sir William Sinclair-Burgess, 80-year old hero of World War I. American General John J. Pershing had, it seems, con ferred upon this man the Distinguished Service Medal on June 9, 1919, for his command, with distinction, of the 4th Austrailian Divisional Artillery while it was in support of the 27th American Division during operations near St. Souplet, east of La Solle River. Reading on Initial Citation The initial citation read "your consumate skill as an artillerist and forceful determination in keeping your bat teries well to the front were most potent factors in the success achieved." General Sinclair-Burgess' home was destroyed by fire in May 1959. Hearing of the loss of his highly prized American Distinguished Service Medal, U. S. Army Attache, Col. Maybry Griffin Miller, secured a replacement from the United States. In a small, but unique, ceremony at the American Embassy in Wellington Jan. 14 41 years later the coveted medal was again presented to the general, this time U. S. Ambassador Frances H. Russell doing the honors for "Blackjack" John Pershing. Much of America's popular ity in this part of the world may be attributed in a large measure, to the excellent job being done by Ambassador Russell, Consul Edith Stensby, Col. Miller, Comdr. Knowles and USIA head, Blake Lanum. I met these people, their families, and witnessed their personal popularity in official and non-official circles. Although it was hardly in our honor, the members of the First battalion, Wellington Regiment, marched through the city for the first time since World War II. It was a smart outfit of Territorials which took the salute of Welling ton's Mayor Kitts. Flighilats Bird When Comdr. Joe Morgan, Col. Herb Nichols and I visited Wellington's fine zoo, we had an opportunity to see Kiwi, the flightless bird that has become a national emblem in New Zealand. The zoo's caretaker, recognizing us as Americans, let us enter the large cage housing the three . Kiwas, and examine the amaz ing birds closely. The Kiwi is about the size of a domestic fowl and dates .from pre-historic times, its survival due to the absence of predatory animals. One of the peculiarities is the large size of the Kiwi egg, comparable Atlps Missile Leaves Pad at Vandenberg ' Vandenberg AFB, Calif. -(UPD- An Atlas missile rose from Its fire-ready, attack proof "coffin" today and vaulted into the sky for a 4,300-mile flight down the Pa cific Missile Range. NASTY PRISONERS Murphy, N. C. (UPD- Sheriff C. M. Anderson said Friday it wasn't his fault the grand jury accused him of running a sloppy jail. Just before the juron made their Inspection the prisoners threw food all over the Jail floor, he explained. with an Ostrich egg. The zoo keeper carried out the three Kiwis from their hiding place in the large pen, since even the raw meat ban quet could not lure the bash ful birds into the open. After gulping their dinner, the Ki wis beat a hasty retreat to natural brush cover afforded in their pen. Near End of Stay Nearing the end of the Gla cier's enforced stay in dry dock, the officers of the ship entertained members of the official U. S. embassy family and prominent New Zealand ers at a party in Wellington's Skyline restaurant, reached by cable cars reminiscent of San Francisco. Here Wellington's busy and beautiful harbor stretched be low in a magnificent pano rama and the summer New Zealand sun, as it set across the bay, turned the water from shimmering bronze to deep purple a veritable tech nicolor display for the Gla cier's party guests. The guest list for this party Included-) Ambassador and Mrs. Russell, Adm. Peter Phipps of ' the New Zealand Navy and Mrs. Phipps, Air Marshall Kay and his wife, and Group Captain Dutton of the Royal Flying Corps and Mrs. Dutton. Visit Normal School The afternoon before de parture time Col. Nichols and I dropped in at the Kenburn Normal school, attached to the Wellington Teachers' Training college. The instructor, Mrs. Verta Driver, a former San Francisco girl, had asked Col. Nichols to tell her class about the forthcoming polar expe dition. Thoughfully, Mrs. Driver had schooled her class in the words of "America," which they sang with enthusiasm. Only the' words were new to them, the tune is the same as Great Britain's and New Zea land's national anthem. One of the most attractive smaller cities I found in New Zealand was Lower Hutt, just a few minutes by train or car from Wellington. A new, mod ern and beautiful city center is the hub of this busy commu nity, the home of several members of the U.S. embassy family. I attended a meeting of the Lower Hutt Rotary club, and received a warm welcome from the 85 members and Sec retary Paul Brunton. Greet ings were sent to the Medford Rotary club. The speaker for the Rotary luncheon was my Glacier cabin-mate, Artist Arthur Beaumont, who libelously de scribed Medford as a suburb of his own home city, Los An geles.. Later, he carried his community pride a bit far when he erected a "Los Ange les City Limits" on an ice floe in the Amundsen sea. Watch Cricket Games Before leaving the Welling ton Bay area, we watched sev eral "sand lot style" cricket games on a great lawn-covered Section C Medford playing field at Lower Hutt, large enough to hold a dozen football gridirons. Nearby, colorful bagpipe bands enter tained an appreciative crowd of New Zealanders. After taking on fuel at Howard Point across Welling ton Harbor, the Glacier lifted anchor for Port Lyttleton. On the trip down the coast of New Zealand, Comdr. Philip W. Porter, skipper of 8 PAGES Tribune MEDFORD, OREGON, SUNDAY, APRIL 24, 1960 V". ' J . I &$m$?k J WW W aiw4 i iUS ""'-Wrr n i in if Mir fin Hit ui t imams, m hi the Glacier, invited me to join i him for lunch. William Cable, head of the large engineering' firm handling the installation of our ship's propcllors. and Amory Waite were also guests. A highlight of pleasant I luncheon conversation was Cable's graphic description of j his experiences during World War II when his ship was tor pedoed and he, with 56 other survivors, drifted in over loaded lifeboats for more than five days. Record Shows Activity Although Captain Porter did not mention his own dra matic wartime experiences, the record shows that he had active service in the cam paigns in Sicily, Salerno and African campaigns and later in the Pacific theatre of opera tions. He was awarded the Bronze Star and numerous penence oilier citations. At Port Lyllelton, drums of gasoline for the ships two helicopters were loaded. After several days on board we had all become fami liar wilh the Glacier. Ameri ca's fifth, newest and largest ircbreaker. When we were in dry dock replacing propellor blades we had a good opportu nity to see the unusual, keel less, round bottom of this re markable ship a botton that was clear of barnacles after scraping on Antarctic ice. Although this unique con struction makes the Glacier the original rock and roll champion, it enables the ship to sustain the crushing resist ance of a 15-foot solid ice pack. Scientific Research The 310-foot long. 8.600-ton craft, although mounting two five-inch and four three-inch . guns, is more an ocean-going community for scientific re search. Laboratories built into the ship includes facilities for oceanographic, mcteroiogical and photographic study. The Glacier's 10 dicsel en gines generate 21,000 horse power for two shaft-driving motor s the largest diesel electric system of its particu lar kind ever put into a sur face craft. Carrying her full 800,000-gallon supply of fuel, the ship can cruise at 15 knots for 18,000 miles. Her top speed is 18.6 knots. The hanger adjacent to the Glacier's flight deck houses two helicopters, a Sikorsky and a Bell, for ice reconnais sance, a i r-lifting personnel and for rescue work. A 36 foot Greenland Cruiser, de signed for off-shore sounding work, and two 37-foot landing craft for amphibious assign ments are regular equipment. Played Heroit Role Although commissioned but five years ago, the Glacier has played an heroic role in Deep Freeze operations in Antarctic waters. Probably the most dra matic was the rescue of the Belgian expedition ship Polar hav early in 1959. At noon Monday, Feb. 8, the Glacier steamed out of the snug, land-locked Port Lyttel ton harbor into the South Pa cific for her rendezvous with the USS Burton Island off Peter I Island near Thurston Peninsula. This was it! The exploration in un known water to un-mapped land was ahead the Belling shausen sea and the mysteri ous shores of Marie Byrd land. IN DRY DOCK This reproduction of a stalled. Commander Beaumont accompanied painting by Navy Artist Arthur Beaumont the expedition force to Antarctica recently shows the USS Glacier in dry dock in Wei- to capture the scientific data gathering team lington where new propellors were in- on canvas in oils or water colors. (Official Navy Photo) 1 i WTThm 1 STANDARD EQUIPMENT This Is a view sively to scout the way through heavy of the USS Glacier's two helicopters hover- pack ice In the Bellinghausen sea and to ing near the ship's flight deck off Peter I transport scientific personnel to points on Island and the Amundsen sea. The two tan- land for examination and study, gerine-colored helicopters were used exten- (Official Navy Photo) r k ? yy twx Load and unload from either side ...there's a door in the back of a Volkswagen, toot There's a lot mora la Volkiwegen Trucks thin economy end eeiy han dling. Teke loading end unloading. You can get the VW Panel Delivery with 46 inch double doors on both lidei. 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