Antarctic Rush

The southern hemisphere's spring sun was warming Antarctica to almost zero temperature last week. Bands of spectral light bunted the grey ice plateaux with sham festivity. The fringe of sea ice along the continent's frigid hem was softening. Soon four parties of explorers could be poking about the continent.

On the continent itself, at Little America on the edge of Ross Sea which bites deeply towards the South Pole, was Commander Richard Evelyn Byrd and his large party. They were breaking out of their eight months' hibernation. Dog sledges had started making caches for way stations along his route to the Pole. His two planes had endured the winter well in their snow houses. Mechanics were going over them. The men were working hard but they had a holiday coming to them. On Oct. 25 they would pause to celebrate Commander Byrd's 41 st birthday.

Hurrying last week to visit Commander Byrd was Sir George Hubert Wilkins, who will be 41 just six days after Commander Byrd. He stopped at Rio de Janeiro last week. As he left there for Buenos Aires and Graham Land south of Cape Horn, his supply and base ship William Scorseby sailed from Simonstown, South Africa. Waiting for him since last year at Deception Island is the airplane which he and Carl Ben Eielson flew over Graham Land (TIME, Dec. 31, 1928). Pilot Eielson now is in Alaska developing an aviation line for the Aviation Corp. With Sir Hubert are Parker Cramer, who this summer made a second unsuccessful try to fly from Illinois to Europe by way of the Arctic Ocean (TIME, July 15). Also along as a flyer is S. Alward Cheesman, Canadian pilot. They will attempt to fly the 2,000 miles from Deception Island to Little America, exploring the unknown coast en route. Sir Hubert is a native Australian.

Another Australian, by adoption, is Sir Douglas Mawson. In his native Yorkshire fashion he is as handsome as Commander Byrd in his Virginia fashion. Sir Douglas knows the Antarctic better than does Sir Hubert or Commander Byrd. In 1907, when he was a scientific lecturer at Adelaide University, Australia, he was assigned to the staff of the late Sir Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic expedition. He ascended Mt. Erebus and journeyed to the South Magnetic Pole. In 1911-14 he led the Australasian Antarctic expedition. Last week he was at Capetown, South Africa, ready to depart with the Discovery, stout wooden ship used by the late Sir Robert Scott, who reached the South Pole (January 1912) one month after the late Roald Amundsen did. Sir Douglas does not intend to visit Commander Byrd. His aim is to explore the Antarctic coast south of Australia and prepossess it for his dominion. Formal and hurried pre occupation is important, for it would vest in Australia rights to fisheries and miner als which later may be found.

Sir Douglas may, however, be too tardy. Quietly the Norwegians have sent ships to forestall him. If they can plant their Norwegian flag on hitherto unclaimed coastal land they may avoid paying Australia or Great Britain taxes.