The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-10-17
AGAIN HITS AT COOK $ ASCENT Four More Amdavits Against
 Explorer. SUPPORT BARRILL'S STORY Claim Mount McKmey's Summit
 Never Was Reached. Three Members of Cook Party and Physician Express Confidence in
 Truth of Statements Made
 By pr. Cooks

Guide
 I New York, Oct 16.--Four more af- fidavits were published here today by The New York Globe in connection with the investigation of Dr. Freder- ick A Cooks expedition to Mount Mckinley. Three of them are by mem- bers of the Cook party--Fred Prints. guide; Walter P. Miller. photographer; and Samuel Beecher.
 Their testimony relates in detail to lthe movements of the party explain ing that Cook and Barrill were alone together the period in which Dr. Cook lclafms to have reached the summit of Mount Mckinley. All three say that
 Barrili assured them later that pr. Cooks story was false. I The fourth affidavit Is that of Dr. John E. Shore. physician of Leaven- worth. Wash. who tells of a conver-
 sation with Oscar F. Blakenship of the United States forestry service, in
 which Blankenship said that Dr. fCook's claims to have climbed Mount Mckinley were false. inasmuch as the
 feat was impossible in the short time
 which Cook and Barrill were absent. | lBlankenship was located near Mount Mckinley at the time Cooks expedi- ton was there
 Prints Affidavit. The affidavit of Fred Printz the guide, Is dated October f. It says that lat the time of Dr. Cooks alleged as- lcent of the peak he and several others
 had been sent on side trip to hunt specimens for the Smithsonian Insti- ltution. The affidavit continues: | '"The doctor picked Dokken for a cook and taking Barrlll. left in the launch for Shushitna station. From there he said they were going up Shu-
 shitna. up the Culitna and up to the
 Tokositna to the head of navigation. then explore the country for the route Ito Mount Mckinley.
 ,Milier and I returned to shushitna station September il where the doctor I joined us with Harrili on September I ga saying that he had made the sum- Init of Mount McKfntey q 'From there. we left for home. on leaving the doctor at Seward, he promised that part Of my pss for the summer would be in Seattle for n1e lbut on arriving there and not finding lit I borrowed money on which to get home and have written the doctor several times since for the amount I due. Have received s100, leaving balance of ss25 due me at this date. | "In about one month after Barrill land I returned home from our trip with pr. Cook in 1906. Barriil laugh ed and told me that he and Cook ney-
 CT got to the top of Mount McKin- Hey"
 Miller Affidavit. Walter P. Miller, the photographer, in his affidavit says that he was with Printz on the side trip during the time Dr. Cook claims to have gone to Ethe summit of the mountain. His tes- Itimony continues:
 .Dr. Cook and Barrill took the Iiaunch and went down the Yetna. an- \ nouncing their intention of ascending the Shushitna, the Schuletna and ex- | pioring the Talshetna glacier for a possible route for future attempts to ascend to the summit of Mount Me- | Kiniey; Printz and I returned to the Shushitna station; on the 22nd of Sep tember we met Dr. Cook and Barrill at the station and thence we all came together to Seward, 1T was called East by Henry Disston, iof Philadelphia, the packer of the ex- pedition to whom related all the cir cumstances of the trip So Tar as | am advised, Barrill Is the only man who has personal Knowledge as to whether or not pr. Cook ascended to 1 inc summit of Mount Mckinley. aIn May, 1908, I met Edward N Bar 1 Till at MissouIa, Mont. He then in- l formed me for the first time that he | and pr. Cook had never reached the summit of Mount Mckinley. l then asked him: Where were your when l he remarked We were only on the first ridge, this side of the mountain.' I asked him about his picture shown oppoaite page 227 in pr. Cooks book. when. he replied, That is my picture.
 but is not the top of the mountain" Beeeher Aaidavit.
 The affidavit of Samuel Beecher after describing the early experience of the party, tells of a trip which he and several other members of the expedl' | ton took from their base camp" He
 says {:
 "on July 2s we reached our nearest point to the mountain, the point being, as R, w. Porter said. fourteen miles | from the summit. On this trip we were mapping and taking observations of the | country. At our last camp the eleva- ! ton was in the neighborhood of 5,O0o ! feet and from that point could read | ily recognize all the pictures shown | bv pr. Cook in his magazine article l on his ascent of the mountain with the ex xceptIon of the pictures shown as be- l ing the summit, and the one on page | S3O, which are such as might have been taken at elevations of 5000 or l 5000 feet.
 'sPictures that I recognized could | not have been taken at an elevation of | above 1000 feet.
 "The point located by Edward Bar Till as being the point claimed as the l top of Mount Mckinley from my posi- | ton had an apparent elevation of ap proximately 1000 feet.
 From our camp I had view of nearly the whole route as stated by Edward Barrill. I was present at all | times when Mir. Barrili made his aflda- l vit of even date herewith and all the | facts stated in his affidavit covering l the period I was with him are cor rect.
 "From my point of view, I recognized all the points mentioned by him and | from my<knowledge of the conditions as existing, there 1t would have been l impossible for the climb of the noun I tain to have been made in the time as | claimed by pr. Cook.
 '"rhe reason for my making this af- | fdavit Is not from any animosity or | i'll will against Dr. Cook, but from a sense of justice to the publlc." | shore Ahldavit.
 | pr. John F. Shores testimony is as | follows