The San Francisco call., 1909-09-08
DFO ARES DISCOVERY
TALES MUST BE TRUE
Lieutenant John G. Berry Says No Explorer OF
Arctic Would Dare Lie About Feat
Rv LIEUTENANT JOHN 6. BERRY
United states Revenue Cutter Service

ceased to be guldes now OcdAA"o
north. now east. even south
Then they got there.
They had reached the great nall but
what of IL? 1t looked 60 be no differ
ent from the miles and miles OF other
ice that they had traversed- Why
should Doctor Cook go crazy, even
more so than be had been during the
last week,
They could not understand. Per-
haps they never will understand.
Much as he hated 70 leave that COW
eted spot every days delay might mean
weeks. months. even an eternity or
waiting before he could reach civiliza-
tion He did not have TO wait a whole
day between observations Of the merid-
ian altitude Of the sun. as would a
navigator in other parts OF the world
All he had to do was TO pick out any
meridian that looked good TO him. He
had them all right there. He could
not find out anything about the depth
of the arctic ocean at that point. even
If there were crevasses in the Ice, be-
cause he had no line long enough TO
reach the bottom He could not tell
from his position on the top OF the
ice pack whether there is really
slight depression OF the earth right at
the pole. and he evidently did not make
any attempt TO find the length OF the
seconds pendulum at the axis OF our
spheroid.
So far as I have ever been able 10
find out, the only scientific facts OBJ
tainable at the north pole are the de-
termination whether there is a depres-
sion there; a fact which he was pre-
vented from discovering. and the de-
termination of the density and weight
of the earth by seeing how long a
pendulum would be to swing just once
in a second, fact that he made no
attempt 10 find out. ThetIength OF the
seconds pendulum at the pole has been
approximated so closely. however, that
it is hardly worth while TO send an
other expedition up there to ind out
about it.
Southwark he turned. regretfully but
happy He must be an optimist and
fatalist. He knew that he was going
TO get back He didn't know how he
was TO do il, but he had more faith
IN the dDllllI OL HIS AAlAAC RaANJ ~
reach civilization than in his power 70
convince civilization that he had really
been to the north pole
LIVED LIKE ANCESTORS
The tree Eskimos, for Doctor Cook
was now as much OF an Eskimo as his
companions. lived as did their common
ancestors when the world was young.
One by one the benefits OF civilization
fell from them. Rifle cartridges gave
out. The rife was Stiu good to club
a seal and they soon found the seals .
Musk oxen and cows were seem Back
they went for several centuries to the
days of the bow and arrow. What bet
ter material than hickory for a bow?
They had hickory sleds. Pieces OF glass
bottle, Clipped by the flint fragments
to be found on the arctic beaches,
made excellent arrow heads Flint
stones ground by the sand and the ice
can not be excelled for spear heads.
Their alcohol. which they had used
for fuel had given out. But they had
reached the region where driftwOod
from the rivers emptying into the arctic
could be found scattered along the
beaches.
Acclaimed. honored. worshiped.
Frederick Cook stands pre-eminent in
the world. Etukeshuk and Aswelab.
hardly less noble, sit in their iglOos
while their wives bring them walrus
blubber dipped in rancid seal OIL And
they are happy
We must accept the account OF the
discovery of the north pole absolutely
on faith 1t is not susceptible of proof.
The Arctic ocean flows across the pole.
The ice foe that covers that spot to-
day may be three miles away tOmor-
row. In a month it may have drffted
hundreds of miles away. Perhaps at
this moment the cylinder with the
little silk American flag is drifting out
into the Atlantic ocean near Spitzber-
melting and that Will soon drop to the
bottom of the sea, the only tangible
proof OF DR.. Cooks wonderful achieve
ment. Whoever comes after him will
find other ice at the pole.
The skeptieS have expected each sue
cessive expedition 10 reach a little far
ther north than the previous one.
Where all latitudes look alike and an
index error of a few minutes on an ex-
plorer's Sextant may readily take the
place of an equal number OF weary
miles of killing exertion. a man might
be tempted to tamper with the adjust
ing screws But when you claim 10
have reached the great nail'' Itself II ,
is safer TO be absolutely sure of your
ground. 1t would be embarrassing
after you had declared that you had
found land at the pole. to have several.
people go there later and find onlv
floating ice. Honestly. / believe all the
great explorers TO have been absolu-
lutely reliable We all believe that Dr.
Cook is telling the whole truth Some
things. like a temperature OF III de-
grees below zero. which seem to be tln-
believable. may be mistakes. OF NAV
even be true. The account of the doc
tors losing two teeth in fight with a
polar bear looks like the stage hero
who is thrown from a FIVE story win
dow and Immediately reappears with
his coat off and one side OF his collar
unbuttoned.
1t is ridiculous to discredit DR.. Cook
because he found no records left nv
other explorers His path was narrow
and the arctic zone is wide. He couId
not readily distinguish objects more
than three miles on either side oe
him even in clear weather And
much of his travel was in
cloud of fog. for the cold ice con-
denses the moisture of the air. and
the foes Of the Arctic are habftuaTv
crowned with a halo of cloud. Also
let them prove absolutely that thew
have left the records at the placss