Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1909-09-30

realm Of the Arctic which In ,,nposs-
ibie to man. If the animal fires are
supplied with adequate fue; there Ia no
cold too severe and no obstacle too
great to surmount. In tho ages OF the
polar quest much has tcen tried and
much has been learned. Tho most i'm
portant lesson Is that civilized man, II
he Will succeed, must bend 10 the snv-
age simplicity necessary. Candor COM
polls me TO say that the effort Of get
ting TO the Pole IL not one OF physical
endurance. nor Is II fair to coll II
bravery, but proper understanding Of
the needs Of the stomach and A know
ledge OF the limits Of the brute force
nj tho motive power, be that man or
beast.
STEPPING STONES TO SUCCESS.
our conquest was only possible with
the accumulated lessons OF early ages of
experience The failures Of our less sue
ccssful predecessors were stepping stones
TO ultimate success. The real path1nders
of the Pole were the early Danish, the
Dutch. the English, and tho Morse, Itnl-
ian and American explorers, with whom
we must share the good fruits OF success.
A similar obligation is due to the wild
man The Eskimo and the Jndinn were
important factors to MS.
To John X. bradley, the man who patti
tho bills. belongs at least one-half Of this
fruit.
Nothing would suit ne bette. than 10
tell YOU tonight the complete story Of
our quest but the very frat telegram
gives more specific data thar I could hope
J to tell in an after address In n few days
! I hope to tell the complete story to you
with pictures
ONE CHARGE: no LICENSE.
One Of the most rcmn hahlc charges
brought out Is that did not seek a
geographic license to start for the
Tole Now. gentlemen, to the large
public that may be mystery but
You who know will appreciate that n"
explorer can start and say that he
will reach the Pole All who under
stand the problem know that success
ia but barely possible when every
conceivable circumstance is favorable.
IT Is only necessary to make an
nouncemert that an expedition en-
banks for the Pole, to start an uu-
desirable hombast and flourish Of
trunpcts. This I chose TO escape.
John r. Bradley furnished the funds.
l shaped the destiny of the expedi-
tion. For the sine being the business
concerned us only. l believed then,
as l believe now, that if we succeeded
there would be time enough to fly
the banner of victory.
Now. gentlemen appeal to you as
explorers and men. Am bound 70
appeal to anybody. to any man, to
any body of men, for n license "a
lool, for tho Pole,
EQUII MENT WAS ADEQUATE.
Another criticism is the charge of our
insufficient equipment We have met
this. YOU know that We had every pos
siblc eid to success In sledge travelling
A big ship Is no advantage An army OF
| white men. who at best are novices, is q
distinct hlndrance, while n cumbersome
luxury of equipment is fatal to progress
We chose to live a life as simple as that
of Adam and we forced the strands oi
human endurance to scientific limits Il
YOU will reach the Pole, there Is no Other
way.
Now as to the excitement of the press
to force things Of their own picking from
important records into print. ! have al
ready given a tangible account Of on
Journey 1t ia as complete as the pre-
linlnary reports Of any previous explorer
Heretofore such evidence has been talte'
with faith and the complete record wa
not expected to appear for years.
Whereas We agree to deliver all With
few months.
CONDITIONS AT TIE POLE.
Now. gentlemen. about the Pole. We ar
rived April q. 1905 We discovered ne,
land along the ic2nd meridian between tn
saith and the S5th parallel. beyond thi
there was absolutely no life and no LAND
The ice was in large, heavy fields vii
few pressure lines The drft was scout
Of east, the wind was south Of west
Clear weather gave good regular ohserva
lions nearly every day. These ohserva
tions combined with those at the Pol
on the clst and end Of April are sufcicien
to guarantee our claim, When taken /
connection with the general record, 70
do not require this l can see that bu
tnis and all the other records will con,
70 YOU In the due course Of events.
Tho report OF this polar success ha
come with sudder force, but in the pres
ent enthusiasm We must not forget tn
fathers OF the ART OF pOlnr tTaNel, Jner
Is glory enough for an. There is enoug'
10 go TO the graves Of the dead and L
the heads OF the living.
Many are here tonight The name
are too numerous to mention. Specia
mention for honors must be made 4
Greedy. Schley. Melville. Peary. Fiala
Nnnsen. Abruzzi, Cagni, Sverdrup
Amundsen, Nordensk1old and a numbe
OF English and other explorers.
Enthusiasm was also reused by the re
marks OF Prot Brewer OF Yale and on
Of the Arctic clubs vicc-p presidents.
"Others started other ways and did ne
get there" he said Cook started tn
way he thought Of through the experienc
and the failures OF others And he e
there"
p, When the regular list Of speakers ha
heen gone through. there were repeate
and insietcnt calls for John r. Bradle.
u For while Mr.. Bradley was unr'
sponsivc. but finally he rose and said
"pr. Cook discovered The North Pole;
didn't" Then he sat down again amid
= renewed cheering.