The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1909-09-22
Bases His Argument Upon the State
ment BY the Explorer That "April
Was Marked BY the Swinging of
the Midnight Sun Over the North
ern Ice.''

John N Stockwell, A. M, Phi. D.,
the noted astronomer and author, says
that when a man announces to the
world that he has done some great
thing, it is the province and duty of
men of science to apply to his ac-
count of his deed all the tests pro-
vided by the learning of mankind.
In the matter of the north pole,
science in many of her departments
provides such tests. Astronomy is
branch of science that of right must
be permitted to apply its tests to the
data furnished by DR.. Cook, Lieut..
Peary or any other man who may
claim to have discovered the geo.
graphical pole.
have taken the best information
1 could secure as to DR.. Cooks data,
and I have undertaken an analysis
of what his observations really show.
Annatook is situated in IS degrees
81 minutes of north latitude. and is
therefore II degrees 23 minutes or
100 miles from the north pole. The
sun rose at this place on February 10,
1908, after having been below it's hor-
lion 116 days, or since the cath Of
tn preceding October. 1t was from
this place that DR.. Cook started on
his polar expedition at sunrise Feb
ruary 10, 1908. He reports that on
March 80 he was in latitude "a de-
grees Al minutes which is 5 degrees
10 minutes or 362 miles from the pole.
On March 3d. at midnight, the
suns declination was degrees min
utes north Of the equator, and II to
this we add 80 minutes for refraction,
we get the apparent declination of the
sun equal to degrees IS minutes
north. and it's distance from the pole
would be IS degrees rs minutes. If
to this we add Cooks distance from
the pole, or 5 degrees 10 minutes we
get 30 degrees 38 minutes for the re-
NTH distance of the midnight sun in
tho latitude Cook claimed to be in at
that time. The midnight sun would
therefore be 38 minutes of a degree
below his horizon. and would Of
course be invisible. But the midnight
sun was approaching Cooks horizon
at the rate of 35 minutes daily, and
consequently must have reached it on
March 81 or April at the latest.
Of April was made notable by the
swinging of the midnight sun over the
northern ice," as it marked the be-
ginning of the six months of summer
at that place.
Now, IL Cook was in the latitude he
claims to have been in, ne must have
had a midnight sun as early as April
1. But we have no reason to doubt
Cooks statement that April showed
him his first midnight sun. as so SIM
pie an observation as seeing the sun
itself would require neither instru-
snents nor skill in using them, and
could as we'll be made by an untu-
tored Eskimo as by the most intelli-
gent white man. Therefore we will
accept April as the date of Cooks
conclusions may be legitimately de-
duced from it,
On April 7, at midnight, the suns
declination may be taken as north
degrees 4 minutes, and to this must
be added the suns semi-diameter, 16
minutes, and refraction, IS minutes,
making the declination degrees 55
minutes, in order that the whole sun
might appear above the horizon. If.
then, the sun was in the horizon Of
some place at midnight, the place
must be as far from the pole as the
sun was from the equator, and con-
sequently the polar distance must be
equal to Z degrees IS minutes or it's
latitude must be 50 degrees min
utes. DIR. Cook gives his latitude at
- atv-
utes. There is. therefore, a discrep-
ancy amounting to degrees 33 min
utes in his latitude to be accounted for
in some way, and this discrepancy is
equivalent to a linear distance of 316
miles in the place of the observer.
Cook is Doubted.
If DIR. Cooks latitude on April
was only 2 degrees 5 minutes, he
was then $50 miles from the pole,
and in order to reach it on April 21.
he must have travelled 80 miles daily.
In his journey toward the pole after
April Z, nothing is related of special
interest except the extreme precision
with which he gives his latitude as
determined by his sextant. namely,
50 degrees SO minutes 46 seconds,
which would give his distance from
the pole equal to 400 feet, or only
so feet more than a quarter of mile.
It is perhaps superflous to add that no
portable transit instrument or sextant
would be capable of giving that de-
gree of precision. even by long Sc
ries of observations.
In conclusion. it appears that DR..
Cooks observations show that he was
really $50 miles from the pole when
he claims to have been only 234 miles
from that point. His observations
therefore show a discrepancy of ZIG
miles.
The conclusions arrived at in this
paper are based upon the assumption