The Cairo bulletin., 1909-10-01

uOiln pune w du NHliitiy new iOhN'
through hansen Strait"
This viii give the public an idea o
the sense Of fairness entertained by
Herbert l.. Bridgman. This same fus
sy individual has recently discovered
that some of the pictures used to IL
lustrate DR. Cooks narrative were no
taken on his trip to the pole. One o
these was the picture of an Eskimo
hitching his dogs to a sledge and an
other was a picture of headland OF
iceberg that Cook passed during the
! preliminary stages of his trip. Evi
IDENTIFY the Pearyites are catching Al
straws.
| More than three weeks ago Mr.
Peary announced to the world that he
was the only man that had reached
| the pole, and declared that he hat
| Cook nailed He has been asked tt
produce his proofs but declined to dc
so until he had consulted with law
yer For several days he has been In
conference with an attorney, Gen.
Hubbard, who happens also to be the
president of MY Arctic Club AS q
result he and his lawyer have pre-
pared an Indictment against Cook
embracing fourteen points Thest
points have been outlined by Mr.
Peary himself for the New York Her
aid. We have read this indictmen'
carefully and we have no hesitation
in saying that it affords the flimsiesI
basis for indicting man that We
have ever seen There is not In Il
from beginning to end single fact tC
support Peary's accusations.
First Peary says all the Eskimos
say that Cook never got out of sight
of land. That is what Peary and the
negro Henson say that some othe'
people say. 1t Is not proof; and We
know that Cook cautioned his Eskt
mos not to tell Peary that he had
been to the pole, Cook evidently
knew his man.
The second charge is that Cook did
not bring back records that Peary had
left in a cairn at Cape Thomas Hub
bard. This may have been violation
OF polar etiquette, but nobody but an
insane man would accept it as proof
that Cook had not passed that Cape
Besides, Cook was not looking for
cairns, but for the pole.
The third charge is that Cook could
not have made the trip from Annataf
to the pole and back to Jones Sound
in the time he says he did That, oi
course, is merely an argument There
are plenty of people who don't set
how Peary made 139 miles in -four
days and about $50 miles in sixteen
days
The fourth charge is that Cook
didn't have the equipment to reach
the pole This is mere opinion.
The fifth charge is that Cook didnt
have a proper horizon. This was be
cause. doubtless it differed from
Peafy's. This is not proof
| The sixth and seven counts are tina
Marvin and Bartlett, when they turn
ed back, took duplicate records o
Peary's march. This Of course, ha'
no bearing on Cooks case.
IN the eighth count Peary criticiset
Cooks sledge, whose style he doesn'
approve of This is no proof.
In the ninth count he condemn,
lcook's snow shoes as not conducive
to speed
The tenth charge is that Cook left
his records at Etah as a part OF q
scheme on his part by which he coult
claim they were lost or destroyed
This is a mere suspicion, unsupported
by particle Of proof
The eleventh charge is that Cook
should not have left the American
flag in charge of a stranger. Both
Cook and Whitney say that the flaa
was left in the latter's possession.
The final three charges are utterly
trivial and do not constitute the finn
siest proof that Cook did not reach
the pole. Peary, in these counts
claims that Cook could have carried
his burdens easily from Etah to Up
ernayik, and he thinks it strange that
Whitney did not go back to Etah and
get Cooks possessions.
Whitney has explained why he dill
not so back to Etah. and practically
all the doubts raised by Peary have
already been dispelled. These charges
are nothing but suspicious born of a
gangrened mind Not one of them
rises to the dignity of evidence. No.
body would drown cat on such It's
sue OF silly suspicious. The only
Icharge having even the semblance of
evidence is Henson's and Pearys re.
port of what the Eskimos said There
is nothing to show that the EskimoS
ever said it or that Peary ever heard
il According tp Harry TNbifppN