The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1909-09-18
HOW COOKS CLAIM
MAY Be VERIFIED
COULD NOT MANUFACTURE REC.
ORD OF NORTH POLE
TRIP.
FRAUD WOULD Be CLEAR
Says Father Rigge Professor Of As
tronomy of Creighton Univer-
sty Who Believes in
Or. Cook.

4
Father William F. Rigge, professor
OF astronomy at Creighton University
has written for the Omaha World-Her
aid the following timely and instruc-
/ tive article:
Dr. Cooks discovery of the north
pole is most deservinsly called one Of
the most daring and successful ex-
ploits of discovery ever undertaken
in all history. 1t owes its success 70
the fixed and infleXible determination
of the will which was not deferred b.
any difficulties or dangers whatever.
not less than to the clear and prac-
teal intellect which quietly and Sc
eurely studied the method to be en-
| ployed, and provided for every posi-
I Bile contingency that might occur en-
the way.
land of the planting of the stars and
stripes on the north pole viii be suf-
| ficiently presented by the press, 1t
may be of interest for us in this place
to examine a little into the scientific
and practical side Of the achievement.
Could Cook Deceive Us?
| The assertion has oeen made that
DR.. Cook has no corroborative evil
dence of his discovery, and that VIC
have only his unsupported word
1t is not possible for Dr.. Cook to
wilfully deceive us in his claim of hay
ling reached the pole. His observa-
tons will show a regular variation in
| that date, which no man could pos
sibly put down in bad faith without
being detected.
DR.. Cook must have kept a double
record of his journey. an astronomical
one, and the one by dead reckoning.
each of which was check upon the
other, BY the latter method he MOTEL
the direction in which he was travel
| ing and of his rate of progress. This
would give him his positions differen-
tally with respect to previous posi-
tions, and would enable him to find
| his way in cloudy weather, in the
same way exactly as Is done at sea
under the same conditions
| AS the ATTITUDES and longitudes of
his previous position were known,
those of his subsequent stations be
came known also,
BY the astronomical method he
found his positions from the sun by
means of his sextant, or small tran
Isit, and his chronometer. These OBJ
seratons would give his position alb
solutely without reference to other
stations.
The difference between his stations
found in this way ought, of course, to
be practically the same as by the
method of dead reckoning.
1t would be a practical impossible
ty for DR. Cook to deceive us in the
original data and figures which he
will show us in his note books
First Of all, there are his sextant
Or transit readings. These reading are
affected by Instrumental errors, by the
suns actual position and motion, and
especially by the unusual refraction
Of the air at such low temperatures
as his thermometers recorded.
Secondly, there are the chronome.
ter readings which are subject to the
errors Of a variable rate caused by
travelling under such severe condi-
lions, and by the usual temperature
mentioned, and also, to some extent,
by the barometer.
Thirdly, his barometer readings
must be consistent with those OBJ
served at other stations. While these
stations were, Of course, pretty Ear
away, still it would not be very diff
cult for an expert weather man to
| trace his barometer gradient to Amer
can or Siberian stations.
Fourthly, DIR. Cooks thermometer
| readings should also, to some minor
extent, tally with those observed else
| ghere, and should at least be consis-
tent with themselves, and with the
weather he recorded, the violence and
direction of the winds, the probable
effect of weeks OF isolation and the
| like. Asx
tiifthly, his data concerning the va
ration of the magnetic needle, of its
declination and of its inclination, il
he observed them, should also be con