University Daily Kansan, September 15, 1983
Page 7
Americans complete first crossing of foreboding wilderness of Borneo
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Three Catholic adventurers ate roasted lizard and battled disease, white-water rivers and treacherous jungles for 43 days to complete the mission. The group flew to the Southeast Asian island of Borneo
Professional adventurers Jim Slade, 33, John Long, 29, and Jim Bridwell, 38, all from California, said they have found ways to have gotten out alive and half well.
The three traveled to Malaysia after completing their thousand-mile journey Sept 2. Team leader Rick Ridgeway, 33, of Ventura, fell ill with typhoid the trek and was evacuated in a single outpocket by a missionary pilot.
"Rain was our constant if not very pleasant companion," said Bridwell, who now sports a Dayak tattoo courtesy of a village chief. The Dayaks are one of the many native peoples on Borneo.
"We used army-style sealed boxes to keep our equipment dry and stop it from rotting. But there was a sweet stench in the jungle of things living
and dying which became all pervasive after a while" he said.
BORNEO, THE THIRD largest island in the world after Greenland and New Guinea, is 289,969 square miles, and mostly jungle. Its northern part is Malaysian and the remainder is Indonesian territory.
The expedition set out July 22 by steamer from the southwest coastal town of Pontiakau to a small settlement on the island of Tankanik and their hired porters and guides.
"The Punan Dayaks were really masters of the jungle." Long said. "They could clear a large patch of jungle, make rainproof shelters and be cooking dinner while we were still around with our stoves and tentls."
"Some of the villagers had never seen Westerners and they were amazed by our fair hair and skins and their hands. They were instant Polaroid camera," said Long.
AFTER 37 DAYS of hacking their way overland through the rugged central highlands and using boats and rafts on the Mahakan and Kayan
Rivers, the explorers reached the Embun rapids — the main obstacle in all previous attempts to traverse Borneo.
"There were 20-foot archives waves, yawning holes and a precipitious drop plunging like a rocket with this hideous risin mist," said Long. "It was impossible for any known craft to survive the Embun . . . We realized it would be totally suicidal to use our boats to run them."
Two and a half days later — 43 days after the expedition started out — the men reached Tarakan on the east coast.
Marching to the roar of the rapids and dining on native delicacies such as roasted lizard, the men instead continued their trek overland through the equatorial jungle — where they found the ants almost got the best of them.
"Our other expeditions have been tough but nothing's been as arduous as this Borneo traverse," the team said from the welcome comfort of an air-conditioned hotel in Kuala Lumpur.
By JOHN HOOGESTEGER
Staff Renorter
Water plan is not liked locally
Staff Reporter
Local government and business officials, fearing possible water shortages in Douglas County, sent a letter to the Kansas Water Office Tuesday saying that the state should reconsider its proposed water plan.
The plan would also transport water from the Missouri River, through Clinton and Perry reservoirs, to southeast Kansas.
The plan, which is still being developed, diverts water from the Kansas River water basin to the southern and western parts of the state. The Kansas River water basin is made up of the rivers and streams in the northern part of the state, which now supply water to Lawrence.
The initial plan was recently presented at meetings around the state. The Kansas Water Authority is expected to make a final decision on the plan and send it to the state Legislature next year for consideration.
Joel Jacobs, president of the Law
Jeol Chamber of Commerce, said he
wished to make his message as clear.
*
sending the letter, because he thought the state had not compiled enough information for the 50-year, $500-million plan.
"They need to do a fully developed, year-by-year analysis to see what each step would do to the water basin." Jacobs said. "We don't have enough time for this. The water will be available and this could create short ages in the water basin."
Mayor David Longhurst, City Manager Buford Watson and Bob Nees, chairman of the Douglas County fire station are among others who signed the letter.
- implementation of the plan would be immediately. The officials said in the letter that the state would develop a long-range plan in a shorter time if it first explored the assumptions, alternatives and consequences of the plan
- Missouri River water would always be available. That might be the case, they said, but other states are interested in the water.
- They disagreed with the assumptions that:
- addressing the need for municipal water supplies was the key to solving the state water problem. The officials must also ensure that divert water away from other users.
In the letter, the officials disagreed with some assumptions the state made in preparing its initial water plan because the plan could eventually cause a shortage of water for communities in the Kansas River water basin.
- additional federal reservoir projects would be started only when pre-financed, saying the policy was not law, and could change.
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