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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (April 29, 1960)
The Bellingshausen-Amundsen Sea Venture Rescue Missions in Amiteiircfticq Described Argentine, Vessels Caught in Giant Ice Floes (Editor's note: Thii ii another installment In tha ac count of Herb Grey's trip to Antarctica earlier ihii year. Today's article describes rescue operations for two ships caught in the ice floes of the South Polar region.) BY HERB GREY Mail Tribune Advertising Manager Before the Burton Island slipped off to port near Peter I Island and pointed her bow toward Chili, then home, Capt. John Cadwalader, USN, transferred over to the Glacier, and joined the Commodore's mess, a welcomed addition. Another new-comer to our ship was Comdr. Isaac Schlossbach, USN, retired, who was an official observer for the expedition. Cmdr. Schlossbach, rolling along a stormy deck of the Glacier, appeared like a character right out of the pages of a Robert Lewis Stevenson novel. I found him to be a kindly, soft-spoken man, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a World War I aviator before transferring to the submrine service. He had worked with the famous submarine designer, Simon Lake, and was with Sir Hubert Wilkins, British ex plorer, when he probed the Arctic back in 1931. It was the first time a submarine had been used for polar exploration; her name had been borrowed from the father of modern fiction, Jules Verne. Another Nautilus has since fulfilled Wilkins' dream with the aid of the atom. Now on board of the Glacier we have the only two men in history who have made eight expeditions to Antarctica, Comdr. Schlossbach and Amory Watte. Their first visit to this bleak continent was with Admiral Byrd in 1934. Ray Butler, U.S. Antarctic projects office representative, made his initial visit to Antarctica in 1939. Sweeping past Peter I Is. land, an extinct volcano with deeply crevassed icy slopes rising over 4,000 feet into the white clouds, the Glacier pressed on toward the ice pack of the Palmer Peninsula, .t was the plan to skirt the pack as far as Adelaide Is land, then swing down toward the ice trapped Argentine ship, San Martin (pronounced San Marteen) battling for her life against pressure ice at 67 degrees 28 minutes South, 69 degrees 43 minutes West. Palmer Peninsula was off the ship's port beam March 1, then Victor Hugo Island, nam ed by French explorer Jean Charcot for the famous French novelist and poet, slipped by in a sea of pancake Ice bearing seals and pen guins. Carefully Noted The "beep" of the ship's fathometer was care fully noted on the Glacier's bridge as she moved through shoal filled waters toward the tip of Adelaide Island and her third crossing of the Antarctic circle during this expedition. Then going was tough! The ship's eight remaining available engines were on overload much of the time, visibility was almost zero dur ing continuous whiteouts holding the orange - colored helicopters fast on the flight deck. Ice leads would open and close like a door as the fickle wind shifted. The res cue vessel bulldozed her way way through great pressure packs, her double-thick spoon shaped hull sliding off hard ice like a banking bobsled as she hurried toward the im prisoned San Martin 100 miles away. Pressure on Ice Pack The pressure on the ice pack was so great little prog ress was made as the week end neared. Snow fell and the Glacier became a ghost ship wreathed in whiteout mist. Again the crew became apprehensive and the calming voice of the skipper sounded over the public address sys tem. "The most useful virtue is patience," John Dewey, the Crater Television CENTRAL 13 Years Experience Serving the Rogue River Valley f All : I M lobor :f 1 J J Part VlJrV.tv D'ay . &p Guar;n,M AL OLUFSEN Raytheon Bonded Electronic Technician Serving Central Point Medford . . . Same Rates BONDED, LICENSED and INSURED Days Phone NO 4-1797 Evenings .... Phone SP 2-2248 Danish American philosopher once said. This is certainly true in the Antarctic! Thick ice under pressure is like solid rock and it takes patience to await the wind change that may open avenues of escape. Grant Powers, artist and newspaperman and formerly a cartoonist on the staff of the New York Daily News, had been contributing to higher morale of those abroad with a series of king-sized cartoons which feature various person alities taking part in the ex pedition. At night, before the movie show, Voice of America news broadcasts came through with varying degrees of clarity on Bud Waite's powerful short wave receiver and were tape recorded for later listening. The ship's dentist, endowed with a soft southern accent, Lt. John Savage carried on his nightly feud over the chess table with Lt. Roy Gadberry. Regular Reports We had been receiving regu lar reports from the San Mar tin. After earlier beselment in the treacherous Weddell Sea, she had been forced to turn around 180 miles from Baya Chica, mooring point for Argentine operated Gen. Bel gano and Ellsworth bases. These bases were amply stock ed, but the IGY base in Mar guerite Bay had seven men marooned with but a 30 days supply of food. While attempting to round the south end of Adelaide Is land near Amiot reef Feb. 22, the San Martin was caught in the jaws of a great ice pin cers, hard fast Ice -en one side and a vast body of ice moving at three knots on the other. Nightmare For Crew It was enough pressure to literally tear the ship in two, a situation almost unparallel ed in Antarctic navigation. The starboard propeller blade was sheared off, several frames amidships were smash ed and the bow was forced fice feet out of the water, causing a sharp list. It was a nightmare for the crew, working desperately for 36 hours in a 100-mile an hour POINT I -J . ' ' . . . . : " .' fv, ir & MOORED The Argentine icebreaker, General San Martin, is shown above moored alongside the USS Glacier off Palmer Pen insula in Antarctica after the Navy ship had rushed to her aid from the Amundsen sea. " lmWr iMiiii.,Jiij,jJsiiiiii gOv , J S SNO-CAT Medford-made tail of Argentine icebreaker, vessel escaped from grip of ice er peninsula. When tons of cargo were jetisoned to lighten icebreaker, highly prized Sno-Cat was not considered expen dible by Argentines. Left, San Martin's boatswain examin. ing Sno-Cat with Herb Grey, gale in an effort to shore up bulkheads to resist the crush ing ice. So that the icebreaker might ride higher and ease the pressure on her round bot tom, more than 600 tons of cargo were jettisoned. One piece of major equipment not considered expendable was an Oregon-made Sno-Cat. On March 1 there had been a br.ak in the weather, af fording the San Martin's heli copters an opportunity to hurry to tne Argentine Mar guerite Island base 85 miles away and rescue the seven men stationed there and six dogs. San Martin officers told us that the helicopters had made it back to their ship with hardly enough gasoline left in their tanks to fill a cigarette lighter. A welcomed wind from the south came Saturday, March 5, opening up the ice and springing the trap that grip ped the San Martin. It was the first time In two weeks that the icebreaker was able to tear herself loose from the clutches of the pack. She had covered nearlv two miles i her port beam in an open lead. Relieved Crew i It was a happy day for the j relieved Argentine crew. The j two ships moored and Com modore Jorge Boffi of the Ar gentine Antarctic Naval Group, Capt. Antonio Revucl , to, San Martin skipper and other officers boarded our ! ship. "It was certainly a great boost to our morale, which was never too low, to know that the Glacier was on her way to help us," Commodore Boffi told us. "We feel like we have been j reborn, now that It's all over," was Capt. Revuelto'i com ' ment. Commodore McDonald, I Comdr. Porter and a few guests from the Glacier re- turned the San Martin call, inspected the German -built ' vessel and enjoyed warm Ar igenline hospitality. The dogs After this picture was taken from a hel icopter, the Glacier rushed to the assistance of the Danish polar ship, Kista Dan, also beset in the ice in the same region. (Official Navy Photo) Tucker Sno-Cat shown on fan. General San Martin, after that off Marguerite bay and Palm right. (Offical Navy Photo) rescued from the Marguerite Island base seemed in good condition and high spirits. 'Piped' Aboard Again Noting the Tucker Sno-Cat on the San Martin's fantall, I returned' to the Glacier for Photographer Bob Henry so I might secure a photo. When we reboarded the Argentine ship, I was embarrassed when we were again "piped" on board in traditional Argentine fashion with a bugle fan-fare. But there was another job ahead for the Glacier. The Danish ship, Kista Dan, was beset deeper in Marguerite Bay so, as the San Martin turned toward her base at Buenos Aires, our U.S. ice breaker headed toward open Philharmonic Society of Southern Oregon "POPS" CONCERT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA with Vocal Soloist Medford Senior High School 3 o'clock in the afternoon SUNDAY-MAY 1ST Tickets $1.00 Benefit of Jacksonville U.S. HOTEL RESTORATION Tickets Available at TROWBRIDGE & FLYNN sea to circle the pack and re enter closer to the beleaguer ed ship. On board was Sir Vivian Fuchs, 52 -year -old British polar explorer and leader of the British Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic expedition of 1958. The Kista Dan was the first ship of the red-painted polar fleet built by Ivar and Knud Lauritzen, world acknowledg ed specialists in building car go ships for Arctice and Ant arctic seas. Her keel was laid in 1950 and her unique con struction was based upon les sons learned as long ago as the 1890's by the Norwegian explorer, Fridtjof N a n s e n, when he crossed the north pole in his famous ship, Fram. Strongest Commercial Vessel When she was launched, the Kista Dan was the strong est commercial icebreaking vessel afloat. She even en joyed a brief bit of Hollywood glamour when she was chart ered by an American film company for a role in "Hell Below Zero." Polar expedi tions are not new to her. It was a sister ship, the Magga Dan, which two years ago took Sir Vivian Fuchs and his scientists - explorers and their equipment to the Weddell sea for the history making trek from sea to sea across the South Pole. Other sister ships, Thala Dan and Erika Dan, are chartered by the Australian and Belgium governments for Antarctic re search; the Australians will also use the Magga Dan in southern seas. The Glacier plowed first through brash Ice on a course set by the navigator, Barnard Koether, then into the ice pack with jagged tufts indi cating great pressure. Emerg ing from a wide lead the ship came within viewing range of a tiny red dot on the expanse of forbidding white waste land, dwarfed by towering icebergs. It was the Kista Dan, trapped at 67 degrees 54 min utes South, 71 degrees 32 minutes West! The little Danish ship ap peared lonely and lost amid several hundred square miles of 10 foot ice. And the last lap to reach her was the hardest of all. Man Grows, Hews Own Timber for House for Family New York - WPP - The aver age do-it-yourselfer is a mere apprentice when compared with John Madison. Probably the nation's fore most do-it-yourselfer, Madison is building a new farm house for his family in the most unique manner. He grew all the timber for the housfi on his 240-acre tree farm near Trout Lake, Wash., harvested the trees himself, and sawed them into lumber in his one man sawmill. Besides the lumber, shingles for the new house also will be grown. Cedar bolts are being hand-split to create attractive rough -hewn roofing. Even some of the furniture going into the new house will be fresh off the tree farm via Madison's carpentry work bench. Maximum Use The thrifty tree farmer be lieves in making maximum use of each tree he harvests. Wood shavings from his planer go into the cow barn for use as bedding material; other leftovers are used for firewood; the barn itself was built from lumber grown and milled on the farm. And Madison's chores are not being made easy because of ,ast experience either. He had been an auto mechanic until the auto fumes got the best of him, and he was forced to the wide open spaces. He has enjoyed every inch of th"!. So the next time you drive in d lew nails around the house think of John Madison's doings before patting yourself on the back. British Psychiatrist Appointed by State Salem - HIPP - The Board of Control has approved the appointment of Dr. Maxwell Jones, noted British psychia trist, as director of education and research at the Oregon State hospital. In January, Valiant (Nobody't Kid Brother) got the New York Conture Group'i Design Supremacy Award. They just think it's the best-looking car on the road, that's alL In February, Valiant went to Florida. It had a road test scheduled with Falcon and Corvair. It left them behind in a big cloud of Valiant dust. In April, Valiant did it again, beating the carburetors off good old car "F" and car "C" in the Mobilgas Economy Run. Now, flushed with success, but totally unspoiled, Valiant is waiting for a chance to spoil you. And you will be spoiled quicker than you can say Valiant, King of the Compacts! Q) DRIVE IT AT YOUR PLYMOUTH-VALIANT DEALEr"31 13-0 t Turin In th. Steve Allen Plymouth Show, Monday nights on NBC-TV Section B MEDFORDsMTRIBUNE MEDFORD, Britain Said Determined To Keep U.S. Satisfied in Trade By LEROY POPE New York-lUPH-Now that he has at last succeeded In mak ing Americans his best cus tomers again, John Bull is de termined to keep us sati.sfied with his wares. British auto magnate Lord Rootes said to day. Lord Rootes is here as co chairman of the huge British Trade Exposition in New York's coliseum opening in June. His Lordship is also chairman of Rootes Motors, which makes Hillmtins, Sun beams. Humbers and several other British cars. He also is chairman of Britain's Dollar Export Council, which, by patient work, has succeeded in 10 years in balancing Bri tain's trade with the U.S., and making us Britain's big gest single customer. Trade Expansion Planned "Our aim from now on is to expand the trade both ways and keep it balanced," he told United Press International. "We don't hope for a sub stantial British advantage." On the urgent question of how Detroit's compact cars are going to affect the little British car in the United States, Lord Rootes is not at all pessimistic. "I feel we'll keep on selling you about as many cars and maybe a few more," he said. Imports of British cars won't grow by leaps and bounds over here as in recent years, but we couldn't expect that to keep up Indefinitely." Lord Rootes said the future American market for Britain would be in "a wide range of consumer goods which we will sell you on design and quality not price. You Amer icans have use for such a huge variety of things, and if we OREGON, FRIDAY, APRIL keep on making things that please you and serve you well 1 am sure you will buy them." Lord Rooles disagreed with those who think the split be tween the European common market and the outer seven, to which Britain belongs, is deepening and widening. "I'm happy to see, though," he said, "that you Americans are sharing our concern about the possible implications of com mon market policy on imports Development at Salem Announced Salem - OiPB - Plans for a $750,000 golf course, apart ment house and subdivision development on 233 acres in the Keizer area near here has been announced. Realtor Melviu O. Potts and Attorney William D. Miller said the site is on the McNary farm tract. The 18 -hole golf course, they said, will cover approxi mately 110 acres. The plans include a country club, tennis courts and a swimming pool. Potts said the project should be under way by next fall. It is hoped to be ready for oc cupancy late next year. RECORD GM EARNINGS New York-IUPIl-The General Motors Corp. reported Wed. nesday net sales of $3.657,. 972,071 and earnings of $323,. 625,618, or $1.14 a common share for the first quarter of 1060. Chairman Frederic G Donncr and President Johns F. Gordon said the sales were a record for any three-month period in GM history and the earnings were a new high for a first quarter. WILL SUCCESS SPOIL NOBODY'S KID BROTHER Page 1 8 29, 1960 f farm products commonwealth and o t h o r countries'." While not nnnnsprf In v, plan of U.S. Ambassador Dil lon to got the United States ma Canada to take the initia ive in brineititf the market and the outer seven closer together. Lord said he is "firmly against nasiy measures'' to that aim. Haste in such matinr ic more likelv to lead In pnn mistakes and failure than to success," he said. He was more interpcfnrl In talking about the coming ex position. "It will be the first time your new coliseum ever has been completely filled up -I'm told the Russians only . used halt the SDace for thnir show. "We are not only goine to show most of the products of British Industry, we're going to have a fine cultural and Ilea of the original Lloyd's Coffee House in London, blocks of the famous 'penny black' post stamp, some of Lord Rutherford s original laboratory apparatus from Cambridge and many other in teresting things." He said the exhibits would take up so much space the entertainment features would overflow into Madison Square Garden, where 500 British troops and a huge corps of bagpipers and drummers would stage a "tattoo," a mag nificent and peculiarly British military pageant, in the early days of the exposition. The Duke of Edinburgh Is coming to New York to open the exposition and Lord Rootes intends to fascinate Americans at the show so ' they will be glad to buy Bri tish goods for years to come.
