Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (April 25, 1960)
s West Antarctica Aire Unconnected Meeting Place of Three Great Oceans Topic of Article (Editor'! nolo Thli U anoihtr inttallmani of an ae eount of in Antarctica axpadition by Harb Gray, ad vertising managar o( iha Mail Tribuna. Gray wai a guait of tha Navy in Operation Deep Fraaia 1960 in which tha USS Glacier and USS Burton Itland want Into tha Bellingshausen tea area for scientific purposes.) By HERB GHEY Mail Tribune Advertising Manager What about Antarctica? And what is the history of the Bellingshausen sea? Unlike the Arctic, which is a giant mass of floating ice, Antarctica is solid land covered with a great glacial mantle. Its area is over 5 million square miles, barely equal to that of South America and of the combined size of the United States and Western Europe. Here is the meeting place of the great oceans-Atlantic, Pacific and Indian. There is now evidence to boost the initial estimates of the world's total frozen water to the present staggering sum of 4V4 million cubic miles of ice. East. West Unconnected Apparently, too, East and West Antarctica are uncon nected, split by a continuous ice-filled trough running from the Ross sea on the Pacific side of the continent to Weddell sea on the Atlantic side. Larger, less rugged eastern Ant arctica is apparently a solid land mass beneath the ice; the western portion is apparently a rugged archipelage of tower ing mountains and deep fiords, held together by a thick covering of ice. In the Department of the Navy's brief account of polar explorations published in 1950, this statement appears: "With its innumerable massive glaciers, ice cliffs, ice tongues, barrier ice, volcanoes, high mountain peaks, extreme cold climate, virtual lack of vegetation and general lifeless ness, Antarctica can only be described as sinister and mys terious. Probably less is known about it than the sun-lit aide of the moon." But, since that statement waa published a decade ago, Intensive scientific research has revealed many secrets here about the earth's history dating before the ice age. Al though a land still uncon quered and largely unknown, the light of knowledge is be ing shed upon this vast con tinent. Within the past few years, especially since the start of the International Geophysi cal Year in July, 1957, ex tensive research programs have been undertaken by the U.S. and Russia, with less am bitious studies by Australia, Belgium, Poland, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Ar gentina, Chili, France, Japan and Norway. During the 18-month IGY alone, 27 tons of scientific data were compiled. Scientists representing these dozen na tions painstakingly cooper ated to fit together the pieces of the great Antarctica puzzle. Studies Coniinua And these studies are con tinuing at 62 bases, gathering data in the fields of meter ology, aurora and air glow, glaciology, cosmic rays, grav ity and seismology, ionospher ic physics and geomagnetism. Admiral George Dukek, hero of "Operation Deep Freeze" and the first man to sett foot at the geographical South Pole since the Amund sen party in 1911, has brought the Antarctic into space age perspective by pointing out the importance of this great fixed platform as an observa tion and control point for fiat um'umimi ImmmmmmmmJiamlllC I5- 7 - i' mi r 1 S X V iM iii"'i infill th ii "Viiii I ii mm i UNIT COMMANDER-Capt. Edwin A. McDonald, commander task unit 43, is shown on the bridge of the USS Glacier during the penetration of the unknown and uncharted Bel lingshausen sea during Operation Deep Freeze 60. A veteran of polar exploration in both the Arctic and Antarctic, Cap tain McDonald was Commodore for the expedition, which took the USS Glacier and USS Burton Island into the area. (Official Navy Photo) Section B K T Pages 1-6 MEDFORDslipWrRIBUNE MEDFORD, OREGON, MONDAY, APRIL 25, 1960 QOyl Now tha big plans start ... the things you'll do together . . . the places you'll go . . . all th things you'll give him This meant responsibility! Responsibility to protect what you have and th things you'll accumulate in the years ahead. We are your local Independent Insurance Agent located right in your own community, well versed In all types of insurance and best qualified to give you the proper coverages and amounts of insurance protection to fit your needs. Don Stathos, insuror 1005 Eait Main Mtdford Y0 Phone SP 3-66SS bj" satellites in orbit and as an important hub of future air travel. The pole is stationary while other points on the earth's surface move from west to east. And, while the curtain of mystery is drawn upon enig matic Antarctica, it is heart ening to note in this atomic age that this last vast contin ent became the first to be freed from the threat of nu clear explosions. The 12 in terested nations signed a treaty last year declaring that it "shall be used for peaceful purposes only." Freeies All Claims ' The same Washington treaty froze all claims in Ant arctica and prohibited new ones. According to accepted international practice, titles to land can be acquired only by purchase or transfer from one nation to another and by dis covery and or occupation. The United States has dis covered and occupied much real estate in Antarctica but has made no formal claims. Russia, likewise, has estab lished no claims and recog nizes none. The Washington treaty seems to be a step in the di rection of the U.S. plan to "internationalize" the conti nent. Quite a few men have won fame for their daring and de termination, their persistence and patience in exploring the waters and the land of Ant arctica. 1 Before Turn of Century Before the turn of the cen tury there were Capt. James Cook, Capt. James Weddell, Rear Admiral Charles Wilkes and Sir James Ross. Since that time, Sir Robert Scott, Roald Amudsen, Sir Ernest Shackleton, Sir Douglas Maw son and Rear Admiral Rich ard Byrd have been foremost among those who have carved enduring fame In the ice of Antarctica. Less familiar to many were the voyages of Capt. Thad- deus Bellingshausen, sent by Russian Czar Alexander I to explore the islands of the South Pacific. In the Vostok and the Mirney he sailed from South Georgia Islands on Dec. 27, 1819, to the South Sand- wich group, then crossed the Antarctic Circle on Jan. 26, 1820. He continued to the eastward, skirting the pack ice. After a cruise In the Pa cific, Capt. Bellingshausen re turned to Antarctic waters on Nov. 11, 1821, and it was on this trip that he discovered Peter I Island and soon after found Alexander I Island far ther to the east. Few Ventura Near Saa Few intrepid mariners ven tured near the Ice-gripped Bellingshausen sea until 1897 w hen Adrian deGerlache of Belgium led the Belgica ex pedition to West Antarctica. Roald Amudsen and the fab ulous Dr. F. A. Cook were members of this party. DeGerlache's ship, the Bel gica, coasted along Palmer Land, making numerous landings in which was soon known as Belgica Strait, then penetrated to the westward of Peter I Island. Passing south ward of this island, his ship was beset in the ice. His expedition became the first to winter over In the Antarctic. The Belgica drifted a year in an area where the ice was, and is, greatly crushed and dislocated and finally emerged free. It was to this wind-swept sea that the Glacier and the Burton Island sailed! Pleasant, Enlightening Soon I realized that Com modore McDonald's flag mess would be both pleasant and enlightening during the long weeks ahead of us. The host was Capt. Edwin McDonald, who attended grade school and Medford High school in Medford. "Mac" graduated from MHS In 1925, enlisted in the U.S. Navy and, in 1926, was ap pointed to the Naval Academy at Anapolis. I was Interested In his fine record, which began after graduation from the Academy with service with the fleet un til appointment to flight training at a the Pensacola Naval Air Station. After serv ice on two aircraft carriers, the USS Langley and USS Saratoga McDonald suffered a serious aircraft accident which ended his career as a flying officer. At the beginning of World War II he was stationed at the Naval Ammunition Depot, West Loch, Oahu, Hawaii. Captain McDonald was promptly ordered to the des troyer mine sweeper USS llovey as executive officer and later became command ing officer of that ship. Commanding Oificar During the last war he was commanding officer of the destroyer USS Wren. For suc cessfully directing the fire of his ship to destroy five suicide planes at Okinawa, he was awarded the Silver Star. He was three times awarded the Bronze Star -once for participation with the Third Fleet off Japan dur ing the later stages of the war and again for the campaign against the Kuril Islands. An other time, while in command of the USS Hovey, he was awarded the Bronze Star for operations conducted in the Solomon Islands. The ship also received the Navy Unit Commendation. Following World War II, he served on the Staff of I Commander, Western Sea Frontier and later as com manding officer of the USS Burton Island. After serving as cold weather operations planning officer in Washing to, D.C., he received com mand of the survey ship USS Tanner. ! From 1953 to 1956, Captain McDonald was Sub Group One Commander and Chief of Staff to Commander, Co lumbia River Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet. He reported in 1956 to U.S. Naval Support Force, Antarctica, as Task Group Commander for Wed dell Sea operations. Onpra. tions Deep Freeze II and III. ' Other Medals. Awards In addition to the Bronze Star with Combat 'V" and two clusters, the Silver Star and Navy Unit Commendation, Captain McDonald has the fol lowing awards and medals: National Defense Service Medal, American Area Cam paign Medal, Asiatic- Pacific Area Campaign Medal, with one silver and two bronze stars, American Defense Serv ice Medal, World War II Vic tory Medal, Navy Occupation Service Medal, and the Phil ippine Liberation Ribbon, v For Antarctic operations, he has been awarded the com mendation ribbon twice. Re cently, the Belgian govern ment bestowed the Decoration of the Order of Leopold on him for his efforts in reliev ing the ship Polarhav and the King Baudoin Base. Others in the Commodore's Mess included Dr. Murphy, with sparkling humor, widely traveled Arthur Beaumount, nd Lieut. Comdr. Joseph Morgan, hydrographic and oceanographic officer U.S. Naval Suport Force, Antarc tica, and Chief Staff Officer for the Task Unit, Lieut. Col. Herb Nichols, and Amory (Bud) Waite and Phil Smith, all with long experience in the Antarctic. Conversation was seldom dull. Pick Up Convoy The day following our de parture from Port Lyttelton we picked up a convoy of wandering albatros and giant petrels, with one sooty al batros. I knew that we could be certain of the species of birds on this voyage with such an eminent authority as Dr. Murphy aboard. Bounty Island of fiction fame was passed on the port side approximately 60 miles distant and later tha Anti podes, only about 25 miles off the port side but hidden in the fog. One of the ship's 10 engines was out of commis sion but, with 18,900 remain ing horsepower, the officers were not greatly disturbed. At Tuesday's Commodore's Mess, the discussion included the fesibility of mapping areas by missile photography. The Bellingshausen sea area, our goal for this expedition, has been mapped rjy aerial photography but the difficulty of distinguishing between Ice covered land and ice covered water renders this method less dependable. Five plane flights had covered this por tion of Antarctica during "Op eration High Jump" and sub sequently aerial photos were made. It was our expedition's hope to affect a landing so a fixed point might be estab lished for more accurate reconnaissance. Pickets Ignore Plea To End Boycotting By United Press International Negro pickets ignored a pica Saturday by Mayor Lee Min gledorff to end a protest boy cott movement in Savannah, Ga. Mingeldorff asked that all picketing and measures of force be halted in an effort to ease racial tension in the Georgia city. Negroes have been boycotting Savannah merchants in protest against segregation and racial dis crimination for several weeks. Many Savannah merchants have reported their business is being hurt. Several inci dents of violence have occur red and anti - boycott picket lines have been thrown up by members of the pro-segregation white citizens council. Mexico City (UPD- Canadian Prime Minister John Diefen support, agreed Saturday to try to carry on in an attempt to end Italy' worst post-war political crisis. baker said Saturday night meeting of the Organization of American States but not nec essarily as a member. IW 0n$Jtoie aLits light' L .'(d (Blending the past with the present... ff to create the smooth Scotch of today 86 PROOf ItENDCO SCOTCH MISM HM US. mi i CO.. INC. HI U. SOU U. S. IMP0B1US ' 3 - -3 sv4ha. J i A -i mb& i N WtmmmmmmJk UNDER WAY- America's largest Ice- Freeze 60 penetration Into the Bclling breaker, USS Glacier, is shown plowing shausen sea. The ship has laboratory fa through southern seas for her rendezvous cilitiet for oceanographic, metorologlcal and with the USS Burton Island, another photographic studies and carried several imaller icebreaker, and Operation Deep icientlsti on tha expedition. Official Navy Photo) Bill Van Camp Pork & Beans 300 Can 10e Delrich Margarine 4 49c Tide Detergent Giant Size 59e Borden's Bisquits Sweet ft Buttermilk 10e Cascade Boneless No Fat, No Waste HANDY HAMS Country Sfyfe Special Seasoning Sausaae " 33e Good Cr Choice Locker Beef Half Front '4 Hind V 49c ib. 43c ib. 59c ib. CUT WRAPPED AND QUICK FROZEN FREE -BUCK DEALS- Del Monte Pineapple-Grapefruit Juice 29.oz 551.00 Del Monte SPINACH 303 s 851.00 Treasure TOMATO SAUCE 1351.00 Market KIDNEY BEANS 3o3, 751.00 Tastewell PEAS 3o3, 1051.00 Double Luck GREEN BEANS 303 851.00 Sunshine CRACKERS 2-Lb. Pkg 49c lettuce mm New Crop Sweet Tender Heads Coachella Ruby Reds GRAPEFRUIT MEDFORD ASHLAND 13th and Central 1475 Siskiyou Blvd. PRICES EFFECTIVE THROUGH WEDNESDAY
