Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-09-16
Germans in Greenland Told by
Eskimos of Cooks Feat.
LONG BEFORE WORLD KNEW
Party Afterward Met Discoverer
and Came Home With Him.
IMPRESSED AND CONVINCED
Berlin Montag Publishes Interview
Sustaining Accounts Given to
Press by Cook.

NEW YORK. September 16.-Full cor
roboration and substantation of DR..
Cooks discovery of the north pole. months
before he was able to telegraph 1t, was
Unexpectedly received yesterday by the
arrival in the mail of the Cologne Evening
News, dated Monday. september &, In
which a dispatch is printed from the Ber-
lin Montag giving the account OF the men,
bers of the Stolberg-De Quervain eXpedi-
ton, who incidentally met DIR. Cook in
Egesmnde, in Greenland, many months
after they had heard of his having reached
the pole.
Heard of Discovery First.
This expedition was purely scientific
one into north Greenland. When the
party reached the extreme limit of north
Greenland, months ago, they were in
formed that lone DR.. Cook had discov-
cred the great nail"
At that time the members had no idea
that on their return trip they would meet
DR.. Cook himself and accompany him
back to civilization.
The story they tell is most enthusiastic.
glowing with admiration for the explorer,
telling of his stop at Lerwick, in the Shet-
land Islands, In order to cable the great
news to the public, to his wife and to the
commission for arctic explorations at
Brussels. Mention is made at length of a
lecture delivered by DR.. Cook on board the
Hans Egede, August %. giving the details
of his discovery of the pole, which account
is substantially the same as that contained
in the Cook dispatches and fully corrob-
crates 1t.
Story Of German Explorers.
The story told by the members OF the
<olh H. n,,n~ W fnf
ed in the Berlin newspaper, Montag. is
as follows:
THE report that the north pole had
been attained could not have reached us
in more appropriate surroundings than at
the extreme limit of the wild Sermittlet
Fjord. in north Greenland. or at more
thrilling time than at the moment when
We were about to penetrate the desert of
the interior icebound country.
THE Kayak who was to receive our
last instructions for the colony of Ikora-
SAX arrived with the laconic statement
that on April q. 1903. one DR.. Cook had
reached the pole. We did not at the
time imagine that this thrilling piece of
news would not reach the outside world
for months. and that we ourselves would
meet Cook personally In Greenland and
accompany him back to Europe.
Impressed by DR.. Cook.
ed Of DR.. Cook when we met him at
Egesminde was attractive. His healthy
complexion, his wealth of ash blond hair
and blue eyes betrayed a German descent.
LAS a matter of fact. DR.. Cooks par
ents came from Germany-his father. DR..
Cook CKoch) from Hanover. and his
mother, who was taken to the United
States when still quite young. from the
vicinity of OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES This
fact undoubtedly accounts for the slight
southern German dialect In the pronun-
citation Of Dr. Cook, who speaks German
fiuently.
LAS he approached us in Egesminde.
clad in the timiak. the Greenland blouse,
in boots OF sealskin and with a sailors
cap as headgear and greeted us in the
most friendly manner. he Immediately
made the same winning impression on us
that he did on the Danes present
1T must especially be noted that he
Immediately addressed us in German. The
plastic expression corresponds to the
makeup Of a man who in the most diff
cult circumstances soberly and judiciously
sees the reality of things and takes his
measures accordingly.
In his account of his experiences a
healthy humor appeared which in it's JOY
of achievement seems to take in only the
serene views of the many difficult situ-
atoms which he had to overcome. Now
we are laughing he said over and over
again, but for two years we have not
laughed
Cabled His News.
DR. Cook expressed the urgent and
desire Of giving the news
of his discovery to the world via New
York, and so from the port of Lerwick,
in the Shetland Islands. where the steam
ship stopped for DR.. Cooks accommoda-
ton, he personally wired to his wife. to
the New York Herald and to the presi-
dent of the commission for international
arctic exploration at Brussels
"A message was also sent by the in
spector Of north Greenland. who was on
board. to the Geographical Society at
Copenhagen. and by the Stolberg-De
Quervain expedition to the Geographical
Society of Berlin.
lat the express instruction Of the cap
tain no other announcements were to be
made. In other dispatches that were
sent DR.. Cooks name was not to be
mentioned
The account then gives the contents of
Or. Cooks lecture on board the Hans
Egede. August %, on his trip In this
lecture DR.. Cook stated that he arrived
at Annooatok February IS of this year,
remained at his house there five days and
then proceeded down the west coast of
Greenland accompanied by dogs and Es-
kimos to Upernavik.
From there he proceeded on the Danish
steamship Bodthab to Egesminde. where
the Stolberg-De Quervain expedition met
on, rot hn ty,fa