THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC 



one who undertakes to organise such an expedition 

 must be to provide for every contingency, and in dealing 

 with this work I was fortunate in being able to secure 

 the assistance of Mr. Alfred Reid, who had already 

 gained considerable experience in connection with 

 previous polar ventures. I appointed Mr. Reid manager 

 of the expedition, and I found him an invaluable assist- 

 ant. I was fortunate, too, in not being hampered by 

 committees of any sort. I kept the control of all the 

 arrangements in my own hands, and thus avoided the 

 delays that are inevitable when a group of men have to 

 arrive at a decision on points of detail. 



The first step was to secure an office in London, 

 and we selected a furnished room at 9 Regent Street, 

 as the headquarters of the expedition. The staff at 

 this period consisted of Mr. Reid, a district messenger 

 and myself, but there was a typewriting office on the 

 same floor, and the correspondence, which grew in bulk 

 day by day, could be dealt with as rapidly as though I 

 had employed stenographers and typists of my own. 

 I had secured estimates of the cost of provisioning 

 and equipping the expedition before I made any public 

 announcement regarding my intentions, so that there 

 were no delays when once active work had commenced. 

 This was not an occasion for inviting tenders, because 

 it was vitally important that we should have the best 

 of everything, whether in food or gear, and I therefore 

 selected, in consultation with Mr. Reid, the firms that 

 should be asked to supply us. Then we proceeded 

 to interview the heads of these firms, and we found that 

 in nearly every instance we were met with generous treat- 

 ment as to prices, and with ready co-operation in regard 

 to details of manufacture and packing. 



Several very important points have to be kept in 

 view in selecting the food-supplies for a polar expedition. 



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