East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1909-09-18

But, although, from the argumen
of this learned authority. neithe
Cook nor Peary can own, sell no
give away the north pole, there ar,
profits that come to such explorer
in another way. So long as the con
troversy exists as to. who got ther,
first, and so long as the whole civil
lied world is divided into two parts
an camps, one believing in Cook, anc
the other in Peary the two men are
certain to. be in great demand fol
their writings and lectures. 1t is cal
culated that both of them will be
worth at least half million dollars
within the next year or two as a re-
suit of their enterprise. That is the
golden reward to come to them for
their efforts and sacrifices, and brav-
cry in facing the untold dangers OF
the north.
Hardly had DR.. Cook had time to
get shave and a new suit of clothes
before he was approached with an Of
fer of s125,000 for the exclusive
rights for the publication of his book.
1t was a big price, but it was not ac-
cepted. Just as soon as Peary came
forward with his claim, and his
,, knocking" of Cooks achievements,
instead of depreciating the market
for Cooks writings, It scared upward.
An American firm of book publish
ers promptly came forward with an
offer to Cook nf $250,00O, just dou-
BILE the original amount bid for his
work.
Following this came a proposition
from a representative of a lecture
bureau who suggested a willingness
to pay s250,0Oo TO Cook for a series
of 100 lectures. An American the
atrical concern invited him to name
his own figures and consider the deal
closed. In addition, a magazine Of
fered him $4,000 for a single article
dealing with his trip to the pole.
Psary has been bombarded with
equally lucrative propositions from
the bookmakers and the lecture man
ayers.
Both of them will be great drawing
cards for some years to come, both
here and in Europe, and, from pres
ent indications, the incomes that each
will receive will make the salary of
the president look puny by compari-
son.
So it does profit a man to find the
north pole, even though he is not
able to sell it.
Upon the we'll thumbed "log books"
which contain the day-to-day obser-
vations of DR.. Cook and Commander
Peary, will depend the acceptance by
scientists, of their respective claims |
of discovery of the north pole.
Nearly all authorities here agree |
that it would be easier to discover the |
pole than to fake" these records
there is a possibility |
that it might be done. So, in the |
end, those who will judge of the
achievements of the two claimants
for the honor of reaching the top Of
the world, will rely very greatly on
the appearance of the diaries of the
two explorers.
washington scientific men say
that three factors enter into the
method of proof which will Judge the
explorers claims. First, their daily
observations. taken with a textant,
must tally with conditions known to
have existed at that time.
Second, astronomical sharps will
ook for certain slight errors which,
t is said, must of certainty appear
in calculations made with the in
struments the two intrepid men used
n their observations.
Third, the record of these observa-
ions must infallibly show, in the
opinion of scientists, the conditions
under which they were made-that is,
f the explorers entered their records
while actually en- route and at the
pole, that diary would certainly be
we'll thumbed dirty, smeary volume.
rhe fiures ought to be straggling-to
Indicate that old-benumbed fingers
oenned them.
1t is in the last two factors that
Dr. Willis Moore, president of the
National Geographic society, chief OF
he q. S. weather bureau, and well |
known scientist believes the burden
If proof will rest.
If an explorer, intent upon taking
observations, was an expert astron-
1mer, and a mathematical marvel, 1t
might be possible for him to compile
day to day record that would hold
water" said Dr. Moore today, when
asked as to the possibility Of fake"
records. "Still, this looks to me to
be difficult task But granting ne
could d. this, it would be still harder
10 duplicate a thumb-worn log book,
and the lack of errors in his account
would convict him. For a faker
would have no means of knowing,
even If he compiled his record under
he most favorable conditions, how to
-eproduct errors that arose from con-
litions existing at the time he claim
ed to have discovered the pole"
DR.. Moore declares that scientltic
reproduce errors that arose from con-
fict Of the Cook and Peary claims af-
ter the records Of each of the claim
ants have been passed upon by SCI
antific authorities. "The observa-
ions Of an explorer" said he, would
be similar to those Of navigator
However, since he does not have the
facilities Of an ocean liner, his OBJ
5ervations would probably vary
5Hghtly-though, az they were taken
-. al. .t.ta ~ rintfnn ehnuld not II