Norwich bulletin., 1909-12-22

OOQElHdBGIl, DSC- GI---l llG ACpOAl VI the special committee of scientists which the university of Copenhagen appointed to scrutinize Dr. Frederick A. Cooks claims that he had discov- cred the North pole, was submitted to the consistory of the university this morning, endorsed by that body and given to the public.
 Cooks Title Contemptuously Shattered
 The report shatters completely, al- most contemptuously, the American explorers title to such discovery, and fills the officials and people of Den mark with chagrin at the figure Den mark Is made to assume in. the eyes of the scientific world. The public was prepared for vefdist of mot proven" ;" but did not expect its recent hero to be branded as an impostor. Many still cling to the belief that Cook acted in good faith, but harbored a delusion.
 Explorers and scientists almost unanimously have lost faith in Cooks honesty, while one of his warmest SUD- porters. Knud Rasmussen. helped to frame the report. The evening papers attack Cook severely and reproach him for hiding, which they regard as a sign of a guilty conscience.
 The rector of the university, Dr. Salomonzn, when questioned as to the possibility of the university cancell- ing the degree which it S,nferred on Dr. Cook. said that no decision had been reached, but he thought that the degree could be withdrawn in the same way as a government could deprive a person of an order obtained under false pretenses.
 Commodore Gustav Helm, the Arctic explorer and a member of the com mittee, said:
 Bad Observer and Swindler.
 Cooks claim that he made the ob- servation S9 degrees. 59 minutes, 46 seconds near the pole proved imme- diately that he was a bad observer but nothing indicated that he was swindler. Now his papers convict him of being a swindler. We examined Cooks observations first, and agreed unanimously that they were worthless. Loose's observations were not used in tha papers Cook submitted to the uni- versitys
 'The Saddest Event in My Life." Professor Oiufson, secretary of the Danish Geographical society, said: Ut is the saddest event in my life. As an explorer there seems to be no doubt that Cook is absolutely unreliable"
 The National Tidende, while deplor- ing that the university conferred the degree in moment of enthusiasm, finds consolation in the fact that oth- CTS honored Cook when he returned tc civilization.
 'sThe president of his own country and its envoy at Copenhagen" says the paper, "were the guarantors for him. Denmark did not blunder alone. Our country must now leave this sad affair to America and Cook"
 The Documents Submitted by Cook.
 The documents handed to the com- mittee of the university of Copenhagen for examination are:
 First, a typewriter report prepared by Cooks secretary, Walter Lonsdale, covering sixty-one pages of foolscap.
 Second, a typewritten copy made by Lonsdale from Cooks notebooks. This occupies sixteen pages of foolscap and includes a description of the expedi- tion during the period from March IS, 1908, to June IS, 1908. during which, according to the statement, Cook 1ourneyed from Svartovog 70 the North pole and returned to a point on the polar ice not specifically indicated. but west of the Axel Hefberg land.
 The papers were not accompanied by a private letter from Cook, but Lonsdale stated verbally to the con- mittee that the original notes and books of the explorer from his copies were made had been sent to Europe by another route, as a precautionary measure, and would be delivered to the university in the course of a few days.
 Original Notebooks Not Received.
 In presenting the data Lonsdale stated explicitly and repeatedly that the copy numbered two was a com- plete and accurate duplication of the fT1f a Q in al 0fC yIe. notebooks that could be of any im- portance to the university for the purposes of this examination. In spite of the explorers promise and his sec retary's assurance that they would be forthcoming, the committee is not yet in possession of the original notebooks and diaries
 Up to this time it has been impossi- ble for the university authorities to re-establish communication with Dr. Cook since it was suspended some time ago. The explorers address is not known here even to his secretary, Lonsdale.
 After the members of the examining committee had made themselves ac- quainted individually with the mater ial delivered and so convinced them selves of its utter worthlessness as a means of determining whether Cook reached the pole, the president of the committee, Professor Stromgren. called 2 general meeting of the committee for last Friday. when the report to the university, which is now made public, was drawn up.
 Lonsdale, who had been invited to this meeting to answer some ques- tions brought with him a letter which he had received from Cook which bore neither the place nor date of it's writing. The opened envelope, how ever. bore the postmark Marseilles, December IA. 1909. The same envelope contained a letter addressed by Cook to the former rector of the university of Copenhagen, Professor Torp. The letter to Professor Torp was dated New York, September 27, 1909.
 In his letter to Professor Torp, Dr. Cook states that not only were his instruments lsft at Eetah as indicated in his cable despatch of October 9 to the university, but most of his astro- nomical observations were also left at that northern point, and he adds that without these 1t seems unwise and impossible to pass a final judg- nent upon his expedition.
 &ter obtaining all available infor- nation the committee finds as fol- lows:
 The Findings.
 First, the report of the expedition sent 10 the university by Dr. Cook is the same as that printed in the New Hpr% f1sfsld dufing the months of 6sptaDsaw asA ostaAaz last