The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1909-09-23

starvation, of freezing torture and
blighted hopes that the story Of the
search for the pole has been written.
And 1t remained for DR.. Cook in
the year 1908 to achieve what had
become to be considered the impOssi-
BILE, to accomplish what So many
daun1ess men had attempted. to win
immortal fame by actually penetrat-
ing to the north pole.
And also he played sensational
part in battle Of giants In as pretty
a story Of intense rivalry between
strong men as has ever been imagined
by the most romantic fictionists. In
short, DIR. Cook fulfilled the dearest
wish of his financial hacker. John Il.
Bradley, wealthy New Yorker. who
had registered a grim determination
that Commander Robert E. Peary
should not be the first man to reach
the pole. Bradley, Il millionaire who
has hunted and climbed mountain
peaks with DR.. Cook, was confident
that Peary could be beaten to the pole.
Who was the man to do it? That was
the question. Cook? The very man.
thought Bradley-the very man to back
with million dollars In cash for such
q venture.
And Cook made good.
An Account of the Trip.
During the early part of DR.. Cooks
trip into the unknown. where the one
certainty was the shadow of deaths
grim specter. he met with immense
herds Of big game-musk oxen. bears.
etc. His eleven Eskimos and 1O3 dogs
were IN prime condition us In Febru-
airy, 1908, from Heiberg island they be-
gan a tortuous trek over the mysteri-
GUS polar sea.
Averaging from ten to fifteen miles
day Of progress. week after week
passed. Strictest economy in the use
Of provisions was practiced. of course
He discovered Q large area of hither-
to unknown land. seemingly many
thousands of square miles In area. and
reached the northernmost limit of
rocky formation. From that point there
stretched before him the gray expanSe
OF the northern polar ocean. duIl.!;g Ia
the eye, stupendous to the imagination.
but treacherous as the Quiverins quick
sands that softly and surely smother
and kill.
Overpowering winds often drove the
venturers into caverns or temporary
Ice huts. The cold was the coolest
ever experienced by a white man who
afterward lived. In April DIR. Cook
was In latitude So degrees 81 minutes,
longitude So degrees p minutes. No
more land was TO be seen. The ice
pack was moving with the currents
and threatened to sweep him far to
the eastward. Change of direction.
therefore, was frequently necessary.
On, on. On into the CHASTITY north
plodded man and beast No more seals
nor bears nor even the minute crea-
lures Of the sea were seen. Even they
had succumbed to the strarcling grip
of the abysmal horrors of ttig region.
And 1t was In April that tie orbit of
the midnight sun carrie! brilliant
occupant over the horizon. TIE glitter
on the green-white pack ice and the
purple tinged bergs was stimulant to
the nerve worn invaders of the grim
silence. The dogs began to sicken.
Those that dropped dead in the stiff
ened harness were eagerly devoured
by their mates. Thus the team OF
huskies became self supporting.
A temperature Of more than As de.
grees below zero prevailed In spite OF
the rays OF the midnight sun. The
day came when but 100 miles Of ice
pack lay between DR.. Cook and the
north pole-on, on, around, up, down.
back and again on. circumventing the
shifting barriers, outwitting the frozen
seas. The ice hardened as he got tc
within fifty miles of the pole. The all
prevailing silence and sameness were
telling heavily on the tempers of the
men. The Eskimos quarreled and
threatened to knife one another. The
pail Of the hidden pole, Jealous Of the
discovery Of its long retreat, was work.