The Cairo bulletin., 1909-09-10

lance north and not out OF sight o
land. other members OF the trib
corroborate their story.
COM. ROBERT f. PEARY.
1t will be seen from this that afte
lCommander Peary had announced u
the world his discovery of the nortl
pole. he at once began an attack oil
Or. Cooks claims. As this is the be
ginning OF controversy that prom
Uses to be bitterly interesting as wei
as interestingly bitter, it is in order
to state the case fully.
DIR. Cook claims to have discovered
the pole on April q. 1908, being &C
lcompanied by two Esquimos. He
claims to have had proper instru
ments for making observations, that
he took 400 photographs, kept a di'
AIRY and planted a tube at the pole
He says that having lived with the
Esauimos for some time, he knew
their language and that the two who
accompanied him will substantiate
his account. DR.. Cook has always
hitherto borne an unbemished repu-
tation as a man and an explorer. He
s an expert at photography. and on
The Belgian expedition to the antarctic
regions, he was the surgeon-anthro-
pologist and official photographer. and
his handsome volume on Through
the First Antarctic Night is one of
he most interesting books OF polar
exploration yet published. DR.. Cook
,omes back to civilization ami lands
n Denmark. Here he satisfied every
body with whom he came in contact
md was the recipient of the highest
lonors. He announced his claims and
declares his readiness to prove them.
On the theory that Cook did not
discover the pole it is necessary to as
sumo that his observations were in
correct. or that he is insane. or that
he is the monumental charletan Of
the centuries.
He is prepared to submit his astro-
nomicaI calculations. his diary and
his photographs in support of his
claims If he has made any fragrant
errors, they can doubtless be detected
by geographers. Certainly this is a
point upon which opinion should be
suspended.
There is nothing to show that his
mind has become unbalanced by his
soiourn in the arctic SHOWS. He has
told his story we'll He has been put
through rigid cross examination and
has never been disturbed or confused.
He has accepted without enbarrass-
ment on the one hand or effrontery on
the other the honors heaped upon
him.
Admiral Melville has come out with
the charge that Cook is humbug and
has never been to the north pole at
all. The whole thing is a fake, he
says. But as the admiral is superan-
nuated and had nothing to sustain his
charges with, he may be dismissed as
one having nothing to do with the
case.
Commander Peary, however. comes
out unequivocally with the declara
ton that Cooks story should not be
taken too seriously. He also claims
that the two Esquimos says he went
no distance north and not out OF
lsight of land. and that other emmbers
of the tribe corroborate their story
| This is plain Indictment of Cook $
veraeity ami honor Thus right al
the threshold Of the controversy, il
lis necessary for Peary to prove that
his rival is fraud.
If Cook is a fakir he ought to be
| exposed as a matter Of course, but
Peary ought to have the most incon
Itrovertible proofs of the turth of his
charges No graver indictment could
be brought against fellow man thar
he brings against Cook.
Peary's communication naturally
suggests several questions Wher
and where did he first hear that Cool
claimed to have discovered the pole
How did he happen to run across tn,
two Esquimos who accompanied Cool
in all that wilderness of snow? z
Cook never went out of sight of land
why this detailed story of the two
EsQuimos? Where did Peary NEE
the other men of the tribe who cor
roborated the two companions o
Cook? The world has only hat
Cooks story about a week, and i
would be interesting to know HOY
lPeary could have collected evidence
since then to refute it. The explorer
took different routes; so how Iii
Peary happen to cross Cooks ira
Il and get the evidence on which I