Arizona republican., 1909-10-05
PHoENIx. ARIz. OCTOBER 5. 1909
Cook Weighed by Lawyers

Dr. Cook having declined to present to American scientists the proofs" of his pasear to the North Pole un- til he shall have laid them before the learned men of Copenhagen-and MT. Whitney having failed to bring out
 of the arctic the boxes which Dr. Cook says contain some of his data it seems clear that pr. Cooks state ment of his exploit will be a matter of debate for some months to come. Those of our readers who may not
 he able to sleep well O nights until the controversy is settled may get some comfort meanwhile from look ing at the case through the spectacles of the lawyers.
 The current number of the Bench and Bar undertakes to state the case, as thus far made. from the point of view of the lawyer. Point ing out that pr. Cook has as yet failed to sustain the burden of proof which inevitably and properly rests upon any one who claims to have performed so wonderful feat, Bench and Bar insists that in order to es- tablish his claim, he must adduce something more persuasive, something more convincing, than his bare as- sertion that he has reached the nine tieth degree of latitude. It is neces- sary for him either to introduce cor roborative evidence in the shape of credible witnesses who will testify to the truth of his story, or for him to tell his story with such a degree of circumstantiality as that the de- tails related by him will convince sci entists of the truthfulness of his story and the accuracy of his obser- vations. So far he has failed to do either"
 As to the two Eskimo witnesses. whom pr. Cook says he has sent for and will produce next year, Bench and Bar observes that if they were to cor roborate his story fully, their testi- mOny still would be liable to be weighed in the light of certain max inns of the law of evidence In the first place, it tells us, "as untutored Eskimos they may be, and probably are devoid of the scientific know ledge that would enable them to give intelligent and valuable testimony" If they thought themselves at the pole, it must have been because Dr Cook told them So, and so their testimony to the ultimate fact could not add much to his. On this point the elementary doctrine is quoted: Wit nesses who are ignorant . are peculiarly liable to the influence of parties of superior intelligence and craft" Bench and Bar thinks there fore, that the Eskimo witnesses are negligible.
 Laymen are the jury, however, and it seems to us that laymen are not likely to coincide fully with this pro- fessional conclusion. concerning the worthlessness of the savage witnesses. If Dr. Cook is lying at all. he prob ably lies as to the chief part of his story-that is, it is likely that he did nrnRaad rn hn all, but comfortably sequestered him. self somewhere on land for a year, with his two Eskimos, beyond the knowledge of the remainder of the tribe, with the design aforethought of returning to civilization with a story of discovering the pole. Indeed, Peary claims to have proof that Cook did not go out of sight of the land" On these questions of fact not only the two Eskimos who accompanied Dr. Cook, but others of the tribe, might be valuable witnesses. While the two Eskimos in question of course. can not say with any certainty whether they were at the pole or not, they can testify whether it is true, as stated by Dr. Cook. that for a given number of days they travelled steadily in a northerly direction. They can testify as to the approximate length of each days travel, and as to the Affffa.a1tfas. A illustrate physically the average de- gree of speed. As to the credibility of these Eskimos. this would be matter for determination after they had been fully oss-examined. If | they have been coached by Dr. Cook |