The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-11-29
NoW Comes Waiter Wellman to
 Declare Dr. Cook an lmpostor

says wellman, except for the first three days. His party consisted of three men. twenty-six dogs and two sledges for the long dash he made.
 That which he claims to have done declares weiiman. referring to pr. Cook. with his equipment and organi- nation. was physically Impossible. It Is beyond human power.~
 Taking up In order pr. Cooks rec ords of his trip northward. Mir. We'll man points to the statement that the Cook party made sixty-etght miles In three days. despite bad weather, rough Ice and the necessity of going twice over a big lead two miles wide and this. he adds, at . time when the sledge loads we're heaviest. pr. Cook. he says, thus travelled over distance 27 per cent greater at speed 70 per cent faster than Peary with his years of experience and his superior orsani- zation.
 weliman is especially caustic in i,is criticism of pr. cook for not turning over the records of hts trip immedi- ately to some scientific body, especially when his story was questions by crit- ics. This he declares to be indefensi- ble.
 Records Nsea No Essvisisa.
 The records. he says. of any Arctic tIaNtitI HEGQ aO ISNA8EOMs ~ tAoy 6NS honestly inscribed. for they cannot be subject to revision. Such records. he points out. are kept In dirty greasy, grfmy note books" the inscriptions in which have been -penned with frost bitten fingers by q weary man within the half darkness of reindeer skin or snow hut.
 Let 1t be understood" said weiiman. that such records arc always ready. They are complete and perfect the moment they are written. They can be turned over to scientinc commit tee in two minutes as well as in two months--and much better.
 The man who has done an honest piece of work and recorded 1t faith. fully hour by hour. needs not to re- construct that record" weiiman ar. gues. The bank cashier who took his daily ledgers covering a quarter that they needed revision and prepa- ration before being submitted and in- sisted on retaining them for some months with no other eye than his to see them, would probably find hiri. self in trouble with his directors and the officers of the law"
 wellman scofrs at pr. Cooks astron- omical data. especially the observation which he claims to have taken within ltlfb ItGl Ol tftt R0ip- kAc tS ANn-.S 6 marvellous traveller" declares We'll man, who can average 15.5 miles per, day for more than q month over sea Ice with heavy siedges and a marvel. ous astronomical observer who can To- late his position within i.te0 feet four minutes. walk. and then 'advanfe' for the purpose of locating 1t more closely stiil--like the story of the amateur mountain climber who escend- ed q peak and returned with report that he measured its altitude by bs- rometer and found 1t to be miles, 20 rods, 2 feet and 3.s inches" H
 weilman fatiy declares that such observations could be nlanufactured anywhere by anybody and to support this assertion he includes an "obsesva. tion'' such as might have been made at the North Pole on April 2i, 1908, which I made today in Washington with a pencil and a nautical almanac"
 "Any one who knows nautical as- trononny," he adds, ''ean sit down In Annatok or Brooklyn. or anywnere. with q nautical almanac by his side and construct latitude observations at will.
 .Dr. Cooks is, to the trained ear and eye, story of . counterfeit pre- sentiment. precisely such story as one might pen during leisureiy jour ney along the coasts of the game lands. using the incidents theveef to atd she' ma gination in deliberate transfer of the scene Of action some hundreds or miles further north."s