The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-09-05
Dr. Cook Lands Amid the
 Cheers of Thousands
BIG BANQUET IS HELD
pr. Cook Is Overcome By the Welcome He Receives and Hastens To Speak of Wonders of
 His Trip.

Copenhagen. September Abr. Fred erlck A. Cook stepped from the steamer Hans Egede in Copenhagen harbor on the arm of the Crown Prince of Denmark at 10 o'clock this morning, unshorn and looking a sailor before the mast. He sat to dinner at 8 o'clock at the city hall, the guest of a brilliant party of men and women. dressed in evening clothes provided by the Kings tailors. The hours between these events were the busiest of his life. His polar expedition never afforded anything half so crowded with variety and action. There was speechmaking, handshaking and lowing to clamorous applause and then, after addressing people who almost tore him to pieces in their eagerness to see the discoverer of the pole. pr. Cook was the recipient of formal welcomes at the hotel, where he is the governments guest. There he passed through the hands of tailors, outftters and barbers. Later he lunched with Maurice F. Egan, the Amer ican minister, being piled necessarily for an hour with questions He went through hundreds of telegrams, including con gratulations from geographical societies of several nations, explorers and friends, offers of exploitation, ranging from books to music hall engagements. and then hurried to the palace and gave the King and other members of the royal family a long account of his adventures Return Ing to his hotel he received a battalion of correspondents. who subjected him for another hour to merciless cross examination, demanding explanations of all the criticisms that have been leveled against his claims.
 These questions Dr. Cook answered with the best temper, frankly and fully. Whatever may be thought of Dr. Cook elsewhere, he has impressed all who con- versed with him here as modest, frank and able man.
 Danish explorers-and Denmark Is the home of Arctic pioneers-were the first to indorse Cooks claims to the discovery of the pole and his methods of getting to the goal. Their opinions were based primarily on a general knowledge of Dr. Cooks character and former achieve ments Only after consulting them con- fidentially and receiving the fullest pro- nouncement of their belief in the genuine ness of Cooks feat did the Danish gov ernment give it's official seal by today s reception to Dr. Cooks good faith.
 Big Banquet Held.
 The banquet tonight was held in the magnificent municipal building. Four ma nf attended, while thousands congregated in the streets in a drenehing rainstorm to catch sight of the explorer when he en- tered
 There was a preliminary reception in the lofty and spacious entrance hall. The spectacle with so many of the men wearing orders must have impressed the explorer by contrast with his recent ex- periences.
 The company marched upstairs to the air of the Star-Spangled Banner.
 After all had been seated, the minister of commerce. Johan Hansen, escorted Dr. Cook to the chair of honor, amid a dem onstration, which caused him to color deeply Minister Egan sat at Dr. Cook s right with the mayor of Copenhagen and Miss Egan beyond. Mrs. Camel, a wealthy Copenhagen lady, who has con- tributed extensively to Arctic explora- tions, was at the chairmans left The menu was an example of enterprise, with a Autograph of the crown prince greet ing pr, Cook and a map of the Arctic circle, givin pr. Cooks route and a. fac-simile of his autograph with the date which was a reproduction of souvenir he gave Miss Egan.
 The speeches teemed with compliments to Dr. Cook.
 The mayor of Copenhagen said that the name was once more enrolled among the great explorers. Minister Egan briefly proposed a toast to the King of Den mark, and the corporation president in proposing a toast to the President of the United States spoke of the pride which must be felt by the nation which could boast that it was her son that first plant ed her flag where no human being had ever before set foot.
 Skeptics Silenced.
 When the nation was first thrilled by the news of Cooks exploit, he said, he had to confess that there was some skep- ticism but this was afterwards dis pelled and he hoped that Dr. Cook would try for the south pole with the same success.
 When the American minister raised his glass to "Our noble guest" there were nine hurrahs Commander Havgaard spoke from the standpoint of an expert explorer and commended Cooks meth ods,
 Cook replied in few words. modestly saying:
 q thank you very much for the warm and eloquent words, but I am unable to express nl<>elf properly It was a rather hard day for me but I never enjoyed day better The Danes have taken no active part In polar explorations, but they have been of much importance as silent partners in almost all Arctic expeditions in recent years. The most important fac tor in my expedition was the Eskimo and his dog and cannot be too thankful to the Danes for their care of the Eskimo, and now they have in addition instituted mission at Cape York. Had I not met with the right Eskimos and the right dors