Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1909-12-23
COOK HAD NO PROOFS
UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN DE.
ClDES AGAINST EXPLORER.
Data Furnished Said 10 Be Childish.
Proofs of Discovery VaIueleSS.
Almost Identical with Newspaper
Story. No Original Calculations
Submitted.

COPENHAGEN, Dec. 22-The Uni
versity of Copenhagen, the first in
stituton of learning to recognize DR..
Frederick A. Cook as the discoverer
of the North Pole, today solemnly de-
clared that the explorer had failed
to establish the claim on which his
high honOrs had been based.
The committee appointed by the
university to examine DR.. Cooks rec
ords recently presented its report to
the consistory of the university. The
committee discussed the findings from
every standpoint. That both COM
mittee and consistory were disap-
pointed was soon known.
The consistory met today and
adopted "A written report to the eff
feet that the alleged records submit
ted for examination by DR.. Cook fail
ed to prove his claim.
The report of the committee of
which Professor Stromgren was
chairman, as presented to the con-
sistory, states that DR.. Cook S papers
are without any value; that his re-
port to the University of Copenhagen
is practically the same as that pub
lished by the New York Herald on
his return from his Arctic expedi-
tion.
The copies of his note books sub
mitted, says the committee, contain
no original calculations of Observa-
tions, but only results thereof. Ac-
cordingly, the committee concludes
that he affords no proof of having
reached the Pole.
There was produced before the
committee a letter from Cook post
marked Marseilles, December 4. This
letter lends color to the earlier re-
port that Cook sailed from New York
for a Mediterranean port.
The documents submitted for eX-
animation are: First, a typewriter
report prepared by DR.. Cooks secre-
tary, Walter Lonsdale, and covering
sixty-one pages of foolscap.
Second, a typewriter copy made
by Lonsdale from Cooks note books
This occupies sixteen pages of fools
cap and includes a description of the
period from March IS. 1908, to June
13, 1905, during which, according to
the statement, Cook journeyed from
Svartevog to the North Pole, and re-
turned to a point on the Polar ice
not specifically indicated, but west
of AXel Heiberg Land.
The papers were not accompanied
by a private letter from Cook. but
Secretary Lonsdale stated verbally to
the commission that the original
notes and books of the explorer, from
which copies were made, were sent
to Europe by another route as a pre-
cautionary measure and would be de-
livered to the university in the
course of few days.
In presenting the data Lonsdale
stated explicitly and repeatedly that
copy number two was complete and
accurate duplication of the informa-
tion contained in all of Cooks note
books that could be of any import
ance to the university for the pur-
pose of the examination.
In spite of the explorers promise
and his secretary's assurance they
would be forthcoming the committee
is not yet in possession of the original
notebooks and diaries.
But to this time it has been i'm
possible for the university authori-
ties to re-establish communication
with Dr.. Cook, which was suspended
some time ago. The explorers ad-
dress is not known here, even to Sec
retary Lonsdale.
After the members of the eXamin-