The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1909-09-23

That was the first word Peary hGd
on the subject of Cooks claim. After
hearing this he made full speed for
Indian Harbor, the northernmost wire
less station in Labrador"
! AS Mcmillan was talking, Bos'n
John Murphy and William Pritchard,
able seamen, Joined the group forward
on the deck. Murphy and Pritcherd
are the two whom Peary mentioned in
his last letter to the navy department
mailed at Etah on August II, 1908, the
day before the Roosevelt sailed for
the north.
In this letter he had said that he
was taking supplies for DR.. Cook, who
had not yet appeared, and coal against
the Roosevelts return and that he had
detached two men from his crew to
guard these supplies.
Murphy was asked to supplement
McMillan's story. He spoke unwill-
ingly, evidently under previous ad-
monition by Commander Peary. He
said that last spring Cook and two
Eskimos came to Etah very much
fatigued and they only stayed there
two days and then passed on to Uper-
navik. Cook talked little to them at
the time.
Anything more about Cook you
will have to get from Commander
Peary," was Murphy's abrupt terni-
nation of the interview. Pritchard
added something to Murphy's story.
He said that when Cook and his Es-
kimos arrived, Cook had long talk
with Whitney. The Eskimos' names
Pritchard remembered as E-Tuck-A-
Shoe and Ah-Pel-La. Phonetically very
like the names Cook himself had given
as those of his companions.
Cook was in a bad way, Pritchard
said. He had lost all of his dogs and
he and his two huskies were pulling
their single slegde alone. Pritchard
had asked the natives where they had
come from and their reply mad been
"far, far north (the repetition of the
adverb in this case is more a measure
of distance than an expression of
the superlative, says DIR. Greve, of the
Grenfell mission), that they had been
a long time gone and had suffered
much"
Il didn't have anything to do with
Cook" said Pritchard. But Murphy
had some trouble with him over
stores. Cook claimed he had some
stores there, but Murphy said all the
stores were Peary's and / don't think
Murphy gave Cook any. Cook seemed
to want to stay at Etah but after the
trouble about the stores, he and his
Eskimos left"
That was all Pritchard would say
on the score of the much-discussed
dispute between Cook and Peary over
the possession of the Etah supplies.
Mcmillan took up again the thread
of his adventures.
"Hardships" he echoed, "why, yes
there were some, but they were for
gotten each night after we hat
turned into our snug igloos. The ex
citement of the whole thing far out
weighed the dangers and, ali in all,
don't believe you will find aman OF
the ship who realizes today that, what
we considered just a bully good time
) has really been an event so important
that you fellows chase us away III
; here to get the news of it. If they star
to give us such demonstration il
New York we don't know how to take
it, of that supposition am certain"
The man who stood with his ful
clad head leaning against the mas
and his hands jammed into his pock
cts found the correspondents impor
tunate.
They wanted all he had 20 tell. HI
shrugged his shoulders good-naturedly
and began to speak of remarkable ad
eVntures in the light of common
places.
Il had to turn back at SO degree,
because had frozen one of my feet
pretty badly. Others had said tha
Mcmillan had kept up with his froze1
feet for days before Peary had order
ed him back.
you see, we wore deerskin SOCK
and boots.
We wore grass insoles. Should tha
grass slip otut and allow the feet tC
touch the sole of the boot, that i.
itself would freeze the foot. This IL
Just what happened to me. wa.
ordered back to the Roosevelt ant
given orders to go with Marvin on :
geodeic survey and todal measure
ment expedition to Cape Morris Jes
: sup in North Greenland. But | hat
: to take Borup instead of Marvin be
, cause before we started Eskimos hat
: come to me to tell of Marvin's death
They have hung their heads in the
! telling and pointed downward and hat
> repeated young ice, young ice. w
understood.
One day before we left the Roose
! Velt for Greenland Borup and triet
a little stunt. There was a ribbon O
open water near the ship and W,
> stripped and plunged in. It was Apri
IT, | remember, and the thermomete
!, = stood at 29 above. When we got ou
we found that the ice was not as coll
as the water and we ran up and dowl
on the ice sheet for four or five min
utes, while the huskies yelled will
laughter. They thought we were OF
our dot, first because we had takel
bath at all and then because of tn
manner of our taking it.
: ION April 10, we left the ship 70
4 the trip across Grant Land and mort
Greenland to Cape Morris Jessup
| "