The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1909-12-30
THE CASE OF DR.. COOK.

HE CASE OF Oh- k00h.
The disposition OF most newspa pers +
and scientific men is 10 condemn d.
/ Cook as a monumental fraud, but
opinion is rot unanimous in support
of the idea that he deliberately de-
ceiyed the public regarding his al /
legged discovery of the north pole. The
sew York Press submits the facts IN 4
the case 20 analysis and concludes
that
There Is no proof that he reached .
the pole. there Is Indication. rather,
that me mental bleach from tie
Arctic glare, oE which the explorer
wrosa. lad dzEed his brain with the
j lrssCz Of sacess The thought that
any man OF sozn6 Lalancs could pro
jec- such w0rld-thrIllsng claim as
Cook made unless taa believed L TO be
raid. il iasa portable. eyel II tae
face Of tbs FACT that he capitalized II
s for commercial advantage In tas
season OF peace and good VIII human
= III VIII he disposed rot 70 cenEuTe the
victim Of sucT baIlucinati0n- but 10
syn1pathize with him, hurt In body
and mini as he must be. as much as
with the afflicted pceE who burst the
/ bonds OF reason the ether day
TIE New York World also supports
the theory of self-delusion It recalls
that the fixed idea OF great achieve
ment is ore Of the most common
forms Of alteration:
aAsyIurr,s are full Of self-mads en-
perors, inventors. explorers and
founders of new religions Such de
Iusions NAV even exist in nen orsll-
narily accounted sane The classic
case Of this sort is George II. OF Eng
land The battle of Waterloo, occur
. ring when he was fifty-four Years cid
was the great event Of his life
Though he was sane as rgyal Ges rges
: vent. he came to believe from coz
stantly hearing ii discussed thai he
rad himself been present at TIE great
/, struggle And as few dispute king
he long lived comfortably N his hon
est error.
..rcok has for years been interested
in A-ctia exploration. Would
:. it be strange il q man so trained and
] so environed should come 10 believe
!. himself the Polar coaqueror2 His
vague narrative, his caresfree happl
ness when greeted home, his neglect
TO manufacture proofs for the D4nes
are consistent with such suspicion.
+ THE only other theory is that Cook
4 a man who highly values the worlds
: geed opiBion. deliberately entered up
on a clumsy fraud, and for the sake OF
brief apnIause and little dirty mon
q ey. advanced claims whose failure he
= must have known would not leave hin
e in any civilized land a refuge Were
n under his own name he could be Sc
Il cure from ridicule and contempt.
I'VE should not quarrel with any o
Dr. Cooks friends who caught be
tween these harsh alternatives, prefa
O. EoW to believe that he is one NOR.
s. in the long list Of n,an who have fall
~ en- prev to hallucination Ct their owl
q greatness"
,e The Minneapolis Journal is con
st ,inced that Cook wilfully faxed tn
VI discovery saying:
% "The imposture Of DR.. Cook is no
US to be palliated by the plea that he i
subject to hallucination He Is plat
fraud
He made hay while the sun shone
~ He fastened to hide as soon as tn
In clouds obscured. He evidently ha
o. fore-planned his getaway, for he sli
in out of sight without producing a riI
IN pie to mark his sinking. He is on
To- of the country somewhere, enjoyin
%. the fruits of his iilgotten money"
no The Milwaukee Wisconsin after eli
- ing Minister Egan's statement that
= can't bring himself 'to believe tina
Cook deliberately set out to deceiV
- the world Explorer Amundsen
-, statement that he has known Cook fG
- ten years, and believes he acted
:. - good faith, and the declaration of Wi
- liam T. Stead, foremost among En-
- lish journalists. that there are poy
=, erful and hidden influences againl
Cook In America and that Cook
~ not clever enough to be an imposter
~ considers the case in a light differer
,in from the others and favorable to II
'ei truth of Cooks claim, saying:
Another thing worthy of CONNER
is that a change in the rectorship
he the University of Copenhagen seen
oil to have taken place between the tin
ed three months ago when DR., Cook We
II welcomed there and now, and that
"a reason of this change there may bas
- arisen state of mind on the part
~ the judges prejudicial TO the Amer
re- AN explorer. It was Rector Tor
Ter Now it is Rector Solomonsen, al
or Rector SoIomnson is not above ma
he ing cutting remarks at his predece
ing sor's expense Other facts are worth
VS. of citation--such as the continued b
lief of the inspector OF North Gree
- land in the claim Of DR.. Cook that l
' eh, reached the pole, and the Observable
-ne of Director Steenland of the Cape
in hagen meteorological observatory tat
ent it is regrettable that all of DR.. Cook
of data aud his Instruments with whit
DIS the latter We're obtained were not q
NH amined nv the adindicating bod b
r. fore it pronounced"
ton