New-York tribune., 1909-09-24
CHEERS FOR DIR. COOK
ARCTIC CLUB WELCOMES
EXPLORER At DINNER.
Ballroom of Waldorf-4stOria Re
echoes Wild Storm of Shouts
and applause.

It took the ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria.
ablaze with more colors than ever dis
played by the aurora borealis. to contain the
storm of applause that broke loose when Dr..
Frederick A. Cook. announced by Rear Admiral
Schley as the discoverer of the North Pole arose
20 speak last night. The floor filled 70
the doors by middle aged and elderly men in
evening dress. mostly explorers or members of
the Arctic Club of America. which gave the din
ner. The two tiers of boxes were crowded with
still more brilliant toilets. When the overflow of
two hundred members and guests came in from
the cloakroom. which had been impressed for the
occasion. and a hundred and forty more the
overflow from the Astor Gallery wedged them
selves in, ii seemed that the floor must give way.
Old inhabitants of the house say that there
never was such dinner there before save only
the Taft dinner of last year.
The applause that greeted the explorer when
he stood up 10 speak enough to make him
forget all the hardest words that Peary and all
the Peary men could say of him. Venerable men
who had seen the Arctic maxim of dog eat
dog put a grimmer practice stood up on their
chairs and threw up their napkins like college
boys. The roar of cheering lasted for minutes
clock minutes Of sixty seconds each. The
wonderfully gOwned women in the galleries for
got their coiffures for the moment and jumped
up to yell the pebeian answer 10 the plebeian
shout What's the matter with Cooke" 1t
a demonstration almost as turbulent and all
hearty as that which met the explorer the
day he reached the city The clamor of ap-
plause was continued throughout the speech he
made.
DR.. Cooks moderate opinion that "the effort
OF getting 10 the pole is not of physical
durance nor Is it fair 20 call it bravery, but
proper understanding Of the needs of the stom-
ach and-the limits OF the brute force of motive
power" brought on an uproar His tributes TO
the old explorers 10 the twin families Of the
wild folk the Esquimaus and Indians" to the
Canadian government and to John r. Bradley.
the man who paid the bills" all rung
back with cheers and prolonged handcapping.
PROMISE OF FULL STORY CHEERED.
He explained that he could not tell a story.
even incompIeteIy. but promised to do so within
a few days with pictures pledge that brought
on more applause. His defence of the secrecy
of the expedition. in reply, as he said, TO the
charge that did not seek a geographic license
20 start for the pole" was welcomed quite
heartily. He dwelt again upon the land which
he saw near the eighty fifth parallel and added
70 his previous report of it few details of the
ice conditions at the time. From that point
clear weather gave good regular observations
every day" he said. These combined with
those at the pole on the 21st and 22d of April
are. when taken in connection with the general
record. sufficient to guarantee our claim" Be
fore he could finish his sentence another out
! burst hardly less violent than his first recep-
/ tion had drowned him out completely
! The gathering included many men of widely
differing temperaments and opinions. but the
surge OF feeling caught them all and made them
enthusiasts. Two members of the Peary Arctic
Club present. but neither in official
capacity representing the club They
/ c. T. WyckOff and H II. Benedict and they ap-
plauded with the rest. The one conspicuous alb
sence that OF any representative of the fed
eTal government. No prominent national official
was there. and the chair of Collector Loeb,
which had been assigned To the guests table on
the dais after his acceptance of an invitation.
was the only vacant seat i'm the room.
Or Cook grew almost confused. as diliident as
he has already shown that he can appear when
the tumult broke out upon his rising.
He had 10 face three minutes of more uproar
before Dr. stebbns and Captain Osbon the
mentors of the Arctic Club, got the orchestra
and the racket modified into a campaign
against the popular air. For He's Jolly Good
Fellow" Then the captain got a chair and
led off three cheers. which came furiously
! Somebody else a table called for tiger
which came quite vociferousy. and then there
was a demand for John II Bradley
DIR COOKS SPEECH
The friend OF the explorer stood up and waved
his hand. which did just as well. and then the
cheering rclapsed into chaos again until Dr.
Cook red from embarrassment, finally got the
DR. Cook said:
This is one Of the highest hcnors / ever hope To
receive. You represent most OF the frigd explorers