Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-09-15
PEARYs FIRST STATEMENT.

Battle Harbor. Labrador, Sept. IA
| Via Wireless to Cape Ray, n. F.-'I
am the only white man who has ever
reached the North Pole and 1 am pre-
| pared to prove it..
This statement was made to the rep
resentative of The Associated Press
| by Commander Robert E. Peary in re-
ply to a question on the Peary- Cook
controversy.
| The Associated Press tug Douglas
| H. Thomas, after stormy passage up
the west coast of New Foundland and
| through the Strait of Belle Isle from
| Sydney. Cape Breton, arrived at this
| lonely whaling and mission settlement
at noon yesterday. A squall of rain
was blowing over the harbor as the
| Thomas steamed in hut with glasses
| it was possible to make out the mas:
and hull of the Arctic steamer Roose-
welt moored in the inner bay. The
| Thomas broke ont the North Pole"
| Tag, the same emblem that was flying
| from the miZZenmast of the Roosevelt
and signalled The Associated Pres
congratulates YOU
| The Roosevelt then signalled the
| lldikS vi SOif!IltiHuGT ISdTN IOI lHlS
message, Whereupon the Thomas CAV,
three loud blasts on her whistle. II
response there came from the Roose-
welt chorus of barking and yelpins
| from the Esluimau dogs on board
| that echoed back from the surrounding
Mills.
The Thomas drew near to the Roose-
| velt. The Arctic steamer looked little
| the worse For her second trip to the
| Polar regions. Along the rail We're
gathered the members of her famous
| crew, among them the redoubtable
| Captain Robert Bartlett, who was al
once recognized. Capt. Bartlett invit-
| ed the Thomas to lay alongside ant
| the. correspondent to come on baar(
without delay. The correspondent
clambered over the weather beate1
| bulwarks and proceeded direct to the
cabin to meet Commander Peary. tn,
man who has stood upon the apex OF
the surface of the world. The com
| mander'S greeting was most cordial,
This is a new record in newspaper
enterprise" he said, land I appreciat,
| the compliment
The correspondent at once begal
questioning the successful explorer re
garding the merits of DR.. FredericF
A. Cooks claim to have reached the
pole. The commander declared posi-
lively that he would not further dis
cuss this subject until the main point.
| whether DR.. Cook had actually reached
the North Pole or not had been de.
cided by others. He then dictated the
following statement to The Associated
Press for publications:
Il am the only white man who has
ev-r reached the North Pole and !
am prepared to prove it at the proper
time. | have already stated publicly
chat Cook has not been to the pole.
This | reafflrm and l will stand by it,
but | decline to discuss the details OF
the matter. These will come out later.
have said that DR.. Cooks statement
that lie reached the pole should MOI
be taken seriously and that I have
| him nailed by concrete proofs to sup
| port my statement
In six months you probably will get
| the whole story. 1t would not be policy
| for me to enter upon full debate with
| the subject as it now stands. To do
so ! would be giving out much infor-
nation of which other uses could be
made | intend to wait until DR.. Cook
has issued his full authorized state
| ments. Up to the present time there
| have been only newspaper accounts OF
DR.. Cooks alleged polar trip and these
may or may not be accurate.
| When DR.. Cook has time to issue
a complete version of his journey will
be the proper opportunity for me to
make public the information which /
have. After that, the jury, in other
words, the people and the scientific
bodies of the world, will pass judgmen,
on the matter and there will then be
nothing left of DR.. Cooks case but his
own assertions that he has reached tn.
North Pole In the meanwhile it is
my determination to not deal with de-
| bates for the reasons already stated"
| Commander Peary was then asked II
new land could have been discovered
| in latitude "a. longitude Sc. In reply
he shrugged his shoulders and said it
vas quite possible that an unknown
continent existed further west. He re-
! ferred to tie land discovered by him.
! self on previous trips that had not
! yet been explored.
| Asked what would be the interna-
tional effect of planting the Stars and
Stripes at the North pole, Commander
Peary' said that he had notified the
secretary of state that he had taken
possession of the pole in the name Of
the United States and that it remained
| for the secretary to decide what that
meant. He said he had left records on
| the ice at the pole.
Commander Peary is done with ac-
| tive exploring. He will continue to
take an interest in Arctic and Antarc-
| tic exploration but from his home and