Polar Pilgrims

North. Two years ago last week volatile, voluble General Umberto Nobile of Italy, accompanied by his fox terrier bitch Titina; sturdy, silent Roald Amundsen of Norway; able, adventurous Lincoln Ellsworth of the U. S. flew in the dirigible Norge over the North Pole. Seventy-one freezing hours of flight cooled the entente cordiale between the Italian and his companions. Last week the Italian took off from Kings Bay, Spitsbergen, accompanied almost entirely by Italian scientists and an Italian crew, in the dirigible Italia, to explore the unknown regions around the North Pole for the glory of Mussolini and his Fatherland.

Leaving Kings Bay the Italia sailed over a freely moving sea, unhampered by ice; headed north over the Franz Josef Archipelago for Tepliz Bay. Here the Sella Polare, the Duke of Abruzzi's ship, once wintered, here Francesco Querini heroically lost his life in the Cegni polar expedition of 1909, here in loyal commemoration Nobile dropped a symbol of St. Mark upon the ice. Low over the ice flew the Italia, through a dense fog, into a head wind, its speed cut to 40 miles, ice forming on its sides. Gradually the air cleared, visibility improved. Lenin Land, discovered by the Russians 15 years ago, was the next objective. General Nobile hoped to land a scientific party on Lenin Land but so thick was the falling snow, so menacing the cold and dreary waste, that after hunting in vain for a sight of the land, the project was abandoned and the Italia's nose pointed toward Spitsbergen.

South. An organization called Byrd Aviation Associates was formed last week to give "moral and material support" to Commander Richard Evelyn Byrd's expedition to the Antarctic, scheduled for September. Charles Evans Hughes is chairman; Edsel Ford treasurer.