Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-09-17
their coverings bore the traces OF
2rea av finpara

their coverings bore the traces Of
greasy fingers.
Peary has never had the slightest
faith in the practicability Of aerial
navigation in the polar regions. It is
doubtful II even now, with all the
wonderful progress that has been
made in aeronautics, he has changed
his view on this question. He has al
ways thought 1t would scarcely be
possible to keep a balloon afioat even
for a few days in the higher latitudes,
and he has often given this illustra-
ton in support Of his opinion:
When he was sledging on the inland
ice Of Greenland, q mile and a half
above sea level, he usually found that
any poles that were stuck upright in
the snow when he crawled into his
sleeping bag would be covered with a
thick layer of hoar frost on the wind
ward side by the time he arose. Peary
believed that the effect Of such coat
ing spread over the large area Of cloth
in balloon would be entirely to de-
stroy the buoyancy Of the airship. It
would be interesting to have his views
Of the new aeroplane as means Of
polar transportation.
Many newspapers have recently
made the mistake Of saying that DR..
Cook on starting from the Greenland
coast on his northern journey crossed
Ellcamere Land to the Arctic ocean.
The fact Is that his journey was across
that part Of the great island which Is
known as Grinnell Land. while the
name Ellesmere Land is entirely con-
fined, on good maps. to the southern
part Of the island.
This would be a serious blunder In
the reports If 1t appeared In an Official
work, but 1t Is mentioned here merely
to recall the fact that Peary corrected
the old idea that Ellesmere Land was
separated from Grinnel Land by q
wide strait. Peary discovered that
these two regions are one and the
same land, with different names for
their northern and southern parts, and
he was thus able to settle one Of the
most interesting geographical problems
Of that region.
There were one or two curious re-
semblances between Peary's sledging
experiences in 1906 and those Of Gag
nj, the right hand man Of the Duke Of
the Abruzzi, when he made q record In
1900 that stood for time as the high
est north. Both explorers were great
ly- delayed by the opening Of wide
channels In the sea ice and both ran
great risks Of losing their lives by
crossing from one ice field to another
on very thin, new ice.
Peary's party was saved by the fact
that it had eight dogs which were used
for food. Cagni also was delayed so
long by open water that he could not
possibly get back to camp before, the
exhaustion Of his food supplies. He
therefore picked out eight Of his dogs
which were to be killed one by one as
needed to exc out the rations Of the
party. They began to eat the dogs,
but the conditions Of travel grew more
favorable and not all Of the animals
became food Tor explorers.
On the whole, not much has been
written Of DR.. Cook. The reason is,
evidently, because in polar work he
has heretofore served In subordinate
capacities and his superiors have done
more than he to command attention.
His first book, Through the First An
tartic Night" a description Of the
work and experiences Of the Belgian
south polar expedition. was book Of
merit and was favorably received by
polar authorities and his comrades in
this enterprise. His last book told the
story Of his visits to Mount Mckinley
and his claim to have ascended this
highest of North American SUBMITS.
His first expedition to the mountain
was described by one Of his comrades
in a work ridiculing DR.. Cook on every
page. The book fell fiat
Among the qualities Of DR.. Cook is
one that has been admired by those
who know him well. There have been
times in his career when It has SEEM
ed to his friends that he had not been
kindly treated, that he was snubbed :
and neglected by those who owed him
gratitude. Did any one ever hear Dr.
Cook refer to these things or indicate
in any way the slightest bitterness of
spirit? The writer of these lines, at
least, has never heard from the man
a word of protest, Of anger or Of criti-
cism. In past years his lips seem to
have been sealed against the express
sion of any unkindly or vindictive sem
timent.-New York Sun.