Safe

Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd's giant-wheeled, 55-ft. "snow cruiser," which is expected to straddle crevasses and galumph over the vast white fields of the Antarctic, ran into a peck of trouble in the crowded purlieus of civilization (TIME, Nov. 6). Last week the North Star was anchored in the Bay of Whales, Little America's port of entry, and the snow cruiser was in sight of the broad antarctic plains. But its troubles were not yet over.

Dr. Thomas Charles Poulter, its designer and driver, was easing the monster down a wooden ramp to the ice. Suddenly the heavy planks crackled, splintered, flew in all directions like straws in a whirlwind. In the vibrant words of the radio message which reached the Navy Department : "Dr. Poulter, faced with almost certain disaster, did the only thing possible and, without hesitating, he applied full power. Throbbing and roaring, the cruiser swayed downward, leaving a wake of splintered debris behind. Expedition members, who were anxiously watching the maneuver from the ice, cheered ecstatically. Admiral Byrd, who insisted on sharing the risk of the unloading, warmly congratulated Dr. Poulter. . . ."

Once safely away from the ruins of the treacherous ramp, Dr. Poulter kept the cruiser going for a mile over the ice before he stopped.

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