The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-09-02
Or, Frederick Cook Plants the
 American Flag on Pole
SIGNED STATEMENT NlSy
pr. Cook Tells His Exp 0 2 sir Travelling to the B .sf1t Where North Pole .o-
 cated in Icy Region.

| Paris, September 2.-The Paris editios
 of the New York Herald this morning publishes signed statement from Fred 1 erick A. Cook, which is dated Hans
 Egede, Lerwlck, Wednesday, on his ex-
 periences in the Arctic regions.
 After prolonged fight with famine
 and frost" says Dr. Cook, I've have at 1 last succeeded in reaching the north pole. ! A new highway, with an interesting strip l of animated nature has been explored and
 big game haunts located, which will de- l light sportsmen and extend the Eskimo
 horizon.
 l Land has been discovered on which
 rest the earths northernmost rocks. | triangle of 30.000 square miles has been
 cut out of the terrestrial unknown. The
 expedition was the outcome of summer
 cruise in the Arctic seas on the schooner | Bradley, which arrived at the limits of
 navigation in Smith sound late in August,
 1907 Here conditions were found to | launch a venture to the pole. J. R. Brad ley literally supplied from his vessel suit able provisions for local use. My own
 equipment for emergencies served well | for every purpose of Arctic travel Many
 Eskimos had gathered on the Greenland
 shores at Annatoak for the winter bear | hunt. Immense quantities of meat had | been collected and about the camp were | plenty of strong dogs. The combination
 was lucky, for there was good material l for equipment. All that was required was
 conveniently arranged for at a point only -na. ,1IN. +, A
 and workshop were built of packing
 boxes by willing hands and this north
 ernmost tribe of 250 people set themselves | to the problem of devisng suitable out
 fit. Before the end of the long winter
 night we were ready for the enterprise.
 and plans had matured to force new ! route over GrinneH Land northward along
 it's west coast out into the Polar sea-
 .se Campaign Opens.
 l ''1he campaign opened with a few
 scouting parties being sent over the
 American shores to explore the way and 1 seek the game haunts. Their mission was | only partly successful because of the
 storms. At sunrise on February 1s, 19OS. | the main expedition embarked on its
 men and 103 dogs, drawing Il heavily | laden sedges. The expedition left the | Greenland shore and pushed westward
 over the troubled ice of Smith sound, | along which the way was easy. We forced through Nansen sound to Land s
 End. In this march we secured 101 musk 1 oxen, seven bears and 335 hares.
 We pushed out into the polar sea from | the southern point of Herbert Island on | March IS. Six Eskimos returned from l here. With four men and 46 dogs moving 1 supplies for 80 days, the crossing of the 1 circum- polar pack was begun. Three days l days later two other Eskimos, forming | the last supporting party, returned and | the trials had now been reduced by the
 survival of the Attest The two best men and 26 dogs were picked for the final l effort.
 | There before us in an unknown line l of 460 miles lay our goal. The first days | provided long marches and we made en-
 couraging progress. A big lead which 1 separated the land from the ice of the l central pack was crossed with little de-
 lay. The low temperature was persistent | and the winds made life torture. But l cooped up in our snow houses, eating | dried beef tallow and drinking hot tea
 there were some animal comforts oc-
 casionally to be gained.
 New Land Discovered. | For several days after the sight of | known land was lost the overcast sky | prevented an accurate determination of
 our positions. On March 3O the horizon
 was partly cleared and new land was dis
 covered. Our observations gave our posi- l ton as latitude 84.47, longitude SC. 36. l There was urgent need of rapid advance. | Our main mission did not permit a detour | for the purpose of exploring the coast. | Here were seen the last signs of solid | earth; beyond there was nothing stable l to be seen.
 we advanced steadily over the mo- | notony of moving sea Ice and now found
 ourselves beyond the range of all life
 neither foot prints of bears nor the blow | holes of seals were detected. Even the | microscopic creatures of the deep were no | longer under us. The maddening infu- | ence of the shifting desert of frost became l almost undurable. The gloom of the long night was relieved only by few 1 hours of daylight The chill of the winter was felt at its worst. As we crossed l the heights of Ellesmere sound to the ] Pacific slope the temperature sank to I minus S3 centrigrade. Several dogs were l frozen and the men suffered severely but
 we soon found the game trails along 1 which the way was easy. April ! was | made notable by the sinking of the sun i at midnight over the northern ice. Sun- 1 burns and frost bites now were recorded
 on the same day, but the double days l glitter infused quite an incentive into | ones life of shivers.
 "Our observation on April placed the l camp in latitude S6.36. longitude 942 l Slow Advance.
 l 'In spite of what seemed long marches, l we advanced but little over hundred | miles Much of our work was lost in l circuitous twists around troublesome | pressure lines and high, irregular fields. A very old ice drift, too, was driving | eastward with sufficient force to give some anxiety. Although still equal to | about fifty miles daily, the extended marches and the long hours for travel 1 ing with which fortune favored us ear Her, were no longer possible. We were | now about 200 miles from the pole and | sledge loads were reduced. One dog af- l ter another went into the stomachs of l the hungry survivors, until the teams l were considerably diminished in number,
 but there seemed to remain a sufficient | balance for man and brute to push along l into the heart of the mystery to which 1 wa had set ourselves.
 "On April 21 we had reached S9 degrees >--~-- --~-->->- ----~---------->-->~--