Los Angeles herald., 1909-10-13
PEARY ISSUES
His STATEMENT
REITERATES COOK DID NOT
REACH POLE
TRIES TO PROVE HIS ACCUSATION
BY ESKlMOS
Other Arctic Explorers Sought to De-
fend His Charges-Doctor Cares
Nothing for Rivals
innuendos
,costinued from Pare one,

by us to the Eskimo boys
Still later Commander Peary asked
the Eskimo boys two or three casual
questions on minor points that had oc-
Cured to him.
During the taking of his testimony
it developed that DR.. Cook had told
these boys, as he told Mr.. Whitney and
Billy Pritchard, the cabin boy, they
must not tell Commander Peary or any
of us anything about their journey, and
the boys stated DR.. Cook had threat
ened them If they should tell any
thing.
The narrative Of these Eskimos Is as
follows:
nine other Eskimos, left Anoratok,
crossed Smiths sound to Cape Sabine
slept in Commander Pearys old house
in Payer Harbor, then went through
Rice strait to Buchanan bay After a
few marches Francke and three Eski-
mos returned to Anoratok.
Goes Up FIager Bay
Dr. Cook with the others then pro-
ceeded up Flagler bay, a branch of
Buchanan bay, and crossed Ellesmer-
land through the valley pass at the
head of Flagler bay, indicated by
Peary in 1898 and utilized by Sverdrup
in 1899 to the head of Sverdrup's Bay
fiaod" on the west side of Ellesmer-
land.
Their route then lay out through
this ford, thence north through SVer-
drupss "Heureka sound" and Nansen
strait. On their way they killed musk
oxen and bear and made caches, arriY-
ing eventually at a point on the west
side of Nansen strait (shore of Axel-
heiberg), south of Cape Thomas Hub
bard.
A cache was formed here and the
four Eskimos did not go beyond this
point. Two Others Koolcotingwah and
Inughito, went on one more march
with DR.. Cook and the two boys helped
to build the snow igloo, then returned
without sleeping. These two ESk1mos
brought back a letter from DR.. Cook
to Francke, dated the 18th of March.
The two men rejoined the other four
men, who had been left behind, and
the six returned to Anoratok, arrlv-
ing May 7. This information was OBJ
tained, not from the two Eskimo boys,
but from the six men who returned and
from Francke himself, and was known
to us in the summer of 1908, when the
Roosevelt arrived at Etah. The in
formation is inserted here as supple
mentary of the narrative of both
boys.
Uses Two Sledges
After sleeping at the camp where
the last two Eskimos turned back, DR..
Cook went in a northerly or northwest
erlv direction with two sledges and
twenty odd dogs, one more march
when they encountered rough ice and
a lead of open water. They did not
enter this rough ice, nor cross the
lead, but turned westward or south
ward and returned to Heibergland at
a point west of where they had left
the cache and where the four men had
turned back. Here they remained four
or five sleeps and during this time
Shoe went back to the cache and got
his gun, which he had left there ana
a few items of supplies.
When asked why only few sup
plies were taken from the cache, the
boys replied that only a small amount
of provisions had been used in the
few days since they left the cache ana
their sledges held all they could carry
SO they could not take more.
After being informed of the boys
narrative thus far, Commander Peary
suggested a series of questions to the
bows in regard to this trip from the
land out and back to it.
Interrogates Eskimos
These questions and answers were as
follows:
Did they cross much open leads or much
open water during this time?
Answer-NOne.
Did they make any caches out on the ice?
Answer-None.
hid they kill any bear or seal while out on
the ice while north of Cape Thomas Hub
bard?
Answer-No.
Did they kill or lose any of their dogs
while out on the ice?
Answer-NO.
with how many sIedges did they start?
Answer-TwO.
How many dogs did they have@
Answer-Did not remember exactly, but
something under twenty.
How many sledges did they have when
they got back to land?
Answer--Two.
Did they have any provisions left on their
aIedges when they came back to land?
Answer-Yes; the sledges still had about
all they could carry, so they were able to
take but a few things from the caches.
Gives Direction Taken by Cook
From here they went southwest along the
north coast of Heibergland to a point indi-
Gated on the map sverdrups Cape northwest.
From here they went west across the ice,
which was level and covered with snow,
offering good going, to low island which
they had seen from the shore of Heiberg-
land at Cape Northwest. On this island they
camped for one sleep.
The size and position of this island as
drawn by the first boy criticised by the
second boy as being too large and too far to
the west, the second boy calling the atten-
tion of the first to the fact that the posi-
ton of the island was nearly in line
with the point where they had left Heiberg-
land (Cape Northwest), and the channel be-
tween Amund Rngnes land and EIlef Ring
mes land.
This criticism and correction accepted
by the first boy, who started to change the
position of the island, but was stopped as
Commander Peary had given instructions
that no more changes or erasures were to
be made in the route as drawn by the Eski-
mos the chart.
Could See Two Lands
From this island they could two lands
beyond syerdrup's Ellef Ringnes and Amund
Ringnes lands.
From the island they journeyed toward
the left hand one of these islands (Amund
Ringnes land, passing a small island
which they did not visit.
Arriving at the shore of Amund Rlngnes
land the Eskimos killed a deer as Indicated
on the chart.
The statement of the Eskimo boys
covers the period of time in which DR..
Cook claims to have gone to the pole
and back and the entire time during