The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1909-10-07
Artic Hunter Discredits Peary's
Charge Rival Did Not Get
Away From Land.
EXPLORER ''DIRTIEST
WHITE MAN EVER. "
New Haven Millionaire Spent Half a
Day With Scrubbing Brush to
Clean Him.

Sicdtt
Truro, Nova Scotia, Oct, THE
physical condition of Doctor Cook
when he returned from Annootok, as
described by Harry Whitney, the first
white man to see him, after his alb
sence Of nearly fifteen months from
the Greenland Coast, goes far to dis
credit the story which Mr.. Peary de-
clared the Eskimo guides who accom-
panied Doctor Cook told him to the
effect that they were never more
than two sleeps from land during the
entire time they were alone in the
frozen wilderness.
When the natives at Annootok,
with the keen eyesight which is char
acteristic of the race, saw three men
coming across the ice from Ellesmere
Land. Mr.. Whitney jumped on one
of their sledges and started with
them. AT that time the New Haven
man never had seen Doctor Cook,
was not looking for him and thought
the three men were natives who were
returning from the winter quarters of
the Roosevelt.
When the natives were nearer to
the three men, one of the natives
with Mr.. Whitney who had known
Doctor Cook for many years, said the
tallest of the three was the Brooklyn
explorer.
When they drew nearer, Mr.. Whit
ney said, he saw three emaciated hui
man beings, and if it had not been
for the natives who accompanied him,
he would have had some difficulty in
selecting the white man among the
three.
Doctor Cook and his Eskimos had
struck rough ice, some distance away,
and they were so weak they decided
to leave the sledge and come on,
knowing that when they reached the
native settlement there would be no
lack of volunteers to go back after
their possessions, for these furthest
North people always have had the
greatest respect for Doctor Cook.
Cook Was "Dirtiest White Man."
The sledge which was left back on
the ice is the one Mr.. Peary declared
could not have gone the distance
Doctor Cook asserts was travelled,
but which he would not permit Mr..
Whitney to take aboard the Roose-
welt, although the latter desired to re-
tain it as one Of the most valuable
souvenirs of his entire Arctic exper-
fence.
One of the boys with Doctor Cook
was very i'll, and all the men were
suffering from the effects Of eating
putrid seal, which Doctor Cook de-
clared was the only thing which stood
between them and starvation.
Doctor Cook was the dirtiest
white man | ever saw" Mr.. Whitney
said, when describing his meeting
with the explorer.
1T was impossible for Doctor Cook
to more than think of a bath, and he
had to live as the Eskimos do. His
hair was long, reaching to his should.
ers. His two companions dropped
on the sledges of the other Eskimos,
but Doctor Cook declared he would
rather walk. His strength did no,
last much longer, however, and he
rode back to the place where he had
left his provisions at Annootok.
After Doctor Cook had rested, Mr.
Whitney worked for nearly half :
day with hot water and a brush re
moving the dirt that had accumulated
on the explorer during his long triy
over the ice. II was when he remov
ed his fur clothes that Doctor Cook,
terrible condition was seen, as hi
legs and arms were nothing but skin
and bones. 1t was evident that thil
was due to a lack of food, for aftel
five days he had gained strength s.
he could start for his 5O0-mile sledg,
trip to Upernavik, in South Green
land.
Tells Of Talk With Perry.
Mr.. Whitney told to-day Of the con
tIversation he had with Mr.; Pear,
when the latter refused to PERM
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