The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1909-09-21

SLnlie Oh MAN WHO SmlieS IN de-
fiance of gloomy thoughts.
Probably that is what his smile
is. On his lonely, desperate hunt
for the pole and on his return,
when he was not certain whether
he would ever get back, DR.. Cook
must have had hours and days of
thought that leave scars on a
mans spirit. He did not give way
to them, of course, or he would
not have been the stuff that sue
cessful explorers are made of.
But imagine the kind of set smile
man who had been through this
would wear when he tries to look
cheerful and happy-and you have
the Cook smile.
On the bridge of the Hans
Egede, pacing slowly up and down
in rough pea-jacket and cloth
cap, stubby beard, missing tooth
and mechanical smile, DR.. Cook.
is resolute, picturesque. heroic
figure. But in United States Min
lister Egan's drawing room in Co.
penhagen, in Prince Albert coat, :
patent leather shoes, the conven-
tional clothes of court society, he
looked out of place and awk-
ward.
He is an outdoor man. The
Van Dyke, scholarly pictures did
him an injustice.
The doctor has an agreeable,
unpretentious manner. He shows,
too, the effects of his long stay
in the far north. His air is alb
stracted; he gives you the impress
sion of a man who has forgotten
and is half afraid of his own
voice. When asked a question
he answers politely but somewhat
YEARLY. He very seldom volun-
teers remark of his own.
Nevertheless, everyone who
met DR.. Cook in Copenhagen liked
him. The newspaper men were
decidedly and outspokenly skepti-
cal of his story before they talk
ed with him. Afterward, With
hardly an exception, they de-
clared themselves convinced. The
doctors tone and manner and
words carried conviction.
That he actually reached the
pole, 1t is agreed, can never be
proved beyond some shadow of
doubt. But all the men best
qualified to speak. who have talk
ed with him thus far, say they
believe him-that the weight of
evidence is in his favor.
Knud Rasmussen, the Green.
land writer-half-Dane, half Es-
kimo-who talked with him i'm
mediately after his return to COM
parative civilization from the soil
tudes of the "farthest north" was
absolutely convinced. Rasmussen
has been with many arctic expedi-
tfons, knows Greenland as al
man knows his own back yard
speaks Eskimo as his native
tongue, and is in every way a COM
petent Judge.
Capt. Thorsen of the Hans
Egede knows less than Rasmus-
sen of the polar regions, but he
knows much, and he holds there
is no doubt of the truth of what
the doctor says. Commander
Hovgaard of the Danish navy,
president of the Danish Royal
Geographical tociety, and IA
Greenland explorer of years expe-
rience. says ''the weight of evil
denee Is in DR.. Cooks favor"
Copenhagen is full of men well
acquainted with the region north
of the Arctic circle-it's the home
of hardy explorers-anda all accept
the Americans story at par.
The doctor shows no resent
ment when asked to prove ais
claims. He simply continues to
smile that fixed smile. and an
swers in tired voice:
81 was there. and I stand on |
my records and the verdict of any
scientists who care to examine
them. They are open TO any
geographical society in the world. |
! was there--if anyone doubts 1T,
all right, let him doubt; I don't
care L WAS thaPa all the eama - |