 It's time for the Lawn Jean Chronoscope, a television journal of the important issues of the hour brought to you every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, a presentation of the Lawn Jean Wittner Watch Company, maker of Lawn Jean, the world's most honored watch, and Wittner, distinguished companion to the world-honored Lawn Jean. Good evening. This is Frank Knight. May I introduce our co-editors for this edition of the Lawn Jean Chronoscope? Larry Lasser, CBS News correspondent, and Kenneth Crawford, National Affairs Editor of Newsweek Magazine. Our very distinguished guest for this evening is Admiral Richard E. Byrd. The North Pole used to be a no-man's land, but these are the days when, by buying a ticket on a commercial airline, you can fly across the North Pole and drink a cocktail at the same time. You know, only three score or more years ago, about 35 years ago, our guest tonight found out whether there was any land north of the North American continent. He made that first discovery flight, and I must say that Admiral Byrd, our guest tonight, is not only our greatest living explorer, but he's been an inspiration to countless Americans. Admiral Byrd, you've been to both the North Pole and the South Pole. Is there any unexplored land left on this earth that might appeal to adventurous young Americans? Yes, there is. And not up around the North Pole because it's getting crowded up there now because they find out it's really usable, not only to live in, but militarily. But strangely enough, as left in the world today, an area as big as the United States, that's never been seen by a human being. And that's beyond the pole on the other side of the South Pole, from Middle America. And I think it's quite astonishing that there should be an area as big as that unexplored. That's a tremendous show. So there's a lot of adventure left down at the bottom of the world. Admiral, do you hope to see that? I do. Admiral, would you say that since you've been to both the extremities of Earth, are these expeditions to such far-off places, are they getting easier because of modern techniques or is danger still close at hand? Well, it's a little risky, but nothing like it used to be with the old slow planes and the small cruising radius where we had to put down bases. We replaced the dog teams and of course that was a big improvement. But now the planes go much faster and they are safer and they have a much bigger cruising radius. You haven't got the danger of a terribly heavy load. Admiral, an expedition to which I believe you're the advisor is now en route. What is that expedition doing? Well, that's the Icebreaker Atco and it's a reconnaissance expedition. It's going down to the South Pole area to make certain observations and to look for some bases. They will be back in April and they will report back and upon the information we get from that undertaking, we will base the bigger expedition that's to follow. Is that very definitely planned or is that... That is being planned right now. So I'm willing to say to you that there will be a number of expeditions that will follow, I think, year after year, the bottom of the world, because the government has really become interested. Well, Admiral Bird, I can understand. I think everybody can the interest in the North Pole because it's so near our greatest challenger, Soviet Russia. But why this interest in the bottom of the world? Nobody living down there, is there? No, it's pretty cold. There's only one permanent resident, that's the Emperor Penguin. The little ones live further north. I tell you one reason they're interested. It's by far the most valuable, important place left in the world for science. That's why the scientific groups all over the nation are really interested. But more important than that, it has to do with the future of the nation. Those to come after us or even during your lifetime. Because it happens to be an untouched reservoir of natural resources. And, you know, as the world swings with an ever-increasing acceleration, far-flung places once useless like we thought the North Pole was, and no man's land, become very useful. The bottom of the world will be important, not only to us, but to our allies. I was going to ask you, does it have military importance? It has some, and as the world will continue to shrink with an ever-increasing acceleration, thus bringing these places closer, and in the future I can see a time when it will be very, very important strategically. Has development of air power increased the strategic importance of places like the Palmer Peninsula? Very much so. Even now, if anything happened and we lost the Panama Canal, we would have to control the islands just north of Antarctica, which are part of Antarctica. Then between there and Cape Horn. I've heard it said that there are seven continents in the world, and one of them has never been seen by a woman, and that's Antarctica. Is that actually true? Well, if the Palmer Peninsula is an island, as far as I know, that's true. No woman's ever stepped foot upon the Antarctic continent and it's the most peaceful place in the world. Well, I'm sure that won't last very long. I understand that now that you're working with the Arnold Bred Company in charge of frozen foods now, is there any future for frozen foods down these frozen extremities? Well, I think the human race can be helped by that. This was thought out by Dean Arnold, who's in my opinion the great humanitarian. He learned that we went down there after four or five years and finished a meal that we had left there on the table when we had evacuated Little America. Everything was perfect, including the bread. So he got the idea of this frozen bread and already he sent some to Europe and worked very well over there to some of the starving people. So you can store it down in the Antarctic against the lean years and you wouldn't have any people in the world really starving if you did that. That's in the event of an atomic war. You stay there forever. Admiral, you speak of the resources of Antarctica. What are they? What are the natural resources there? Well, we've found enough coal within 180 miles of the South Pole in a great ridge of mountains that's not covered in snow enough to supply the whole world for quite a while. That's the coal. Now there's evidence of many other minerals. We are pretty sure there's oil. Now that coal shows the bottom of the world. Now by far the coal is spot in the world. Where that coal is gets a hundred blows zero in the water. It was once tropical. So we think there's oil there and there's evidence, probably uranium there. Is it any secret is there uranium there? That would be the only thing that would be practical to actually go after I suppose. Everything else would be economically unfeasible, wouldn't it? Well, as we recklessly expend our resources, the time will come and we'll have to go after that stuff down there. You know why I avoid what you said about uranium? I'm not sure about that. I don't want to have the world fighting over the Antarctic. Admiral, is there a competition among other nations to try to get information about Antarctica and possibly to secure some of these resources? Well, yes. There are now several nations very much interested. Russia is interested tremendously. That I'm sure of. Australia has an expedition down there. The Argentine, the Chile, New Zealand, Britain and so on. Now you can understand those people down there being interested because they live down there. The New Zealanders, the Argentines, the Chileans and the Australians. And so we don't do much about claiming anything. Admiral, you make this sound a little crowded. Are there that many expeditions now there or en route there? Well, you know, as I said, it's the most peaceful place in the world but I don't think it will be for long because of this intense interest on the part of other nations and this nation. Admiral Berger, are private expeditions a thing of the past? Is expedition and exploration, making expedition and exploration now purely a government function because of the tremendous cost of the organization? No, I don't think so. I think down south it may be more or less a thing of the past but not other expeditions. A lot of them are going off now. This latest expedition now on the way is a government expedition I take. Yes, that's the government. Admiral, may I ask you, is there a great difference between the top of the world and the bottom of the world? There is. Now the North Pole is the center of an ocean 10,000 feet deep. The South Pole, the center of a plateau 10,000 feet high. The North Pole of sea is surrounded by continents, slightly frozen. The Antarctic continent is surrounded by a belt of ice, frozen seas of at least 1,200 miles thick. Now the South is a plateau, it gets in some places 14,000 feet up. I've been over areas about 13,000 and it's a little bit chilly up there. So there's that big difference between the top and bottom of the world. North really isn't very cold up there on the Arctic Ocean. Admiral Burby often here said that our young Americans now aren't as hardy as their forefathers. Do you think that Americans do measure up to the standards, the physical standards and morale standards of the past? I do. I don't believe that. I think they're just as hardy. Well, what would you say was the most valuable factor on expedition? Is it morale or physical courage or is it sheer equipment? Well, I've always thought that loyalty was by far the most important trait. The British told me that when I first went down in 28, I couldn't possibly get through the winter night without a mutiny if I took more than 20 men. But to serve science, I had to take 42 men. Then I took 56 the next time and so on. So, and I did find that loyalty was the most important thing during the winter night when it's very hard on your nerves. I think that's the best trait. That's a very valuable characteristic at any time. Well, thank you very much, Admiral Burd. It's been a great pleasure to have you here tonight. It's a pleasure to be with you. The opinions expressed on the Launcine Chronoscope were those of the speakers. The editorial board for this edition of the Launcine Chronoscope was Larry LeSere and Kenneth Crawford. Our distinguished guest was Admiral Richard E. Byrd. A Launcine watch makes the most perfect Christmas gift. It has beauty, elegance, and enduring quality, and a universal reputation as just about the finest of the world's watches. 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