Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-10-18
Edwin N. RarriIl.

cIareS tndt Dr. COOk Cltiiiio W nov
ing performed this remarkable feat are
spuerious, that DR.. Cook directed him
to falsify his diaries, that the picture
alleged to be Of Cook at the submit is
really a picture taken on a peak but
5000 feet in height and that Cook new
er was nearer than a point IA miles
from the top of the giant peak.
In reply Cook expresses surprise and
SAYS that unfortunately he overlookel
paying Rarrill all that he owed him
and leaves us to infer that Barrlll is
simply taking his revenge. The pub
lie is demanding more than that sort
of a denial from Cook and will have
some satisfactory explanation before
| he goes much farther He will find
| that his lecture tour will be anything
but pleasant with such cloud hang
ing over him. 1t can no longer be
laughed away.
| When Peary first flashed the charge
that Cook had not reached the poll,
| the public was astounded. A few
days later whispers of something
queer" in connection with the ascent
of Mt Mckinley. developed into def
mite charges brought by guides and
photographers who accompanied him
throughout a portion or all of the trip.
Cook laughed them to scOrn and pro-
ceedel to the lecture platform with
hop, skip and jump. He disposed of
them too easily, however, for they hal
friends and Cook had enemies. TIL"
two groups got together and thor
ough inquiry into the whole Mt. Ne
Kiney incident is already on foot.
Meanwhile the New York Globe had
a man seeking out those who had
formed a part of the expedition and
getting their detailed statements OF
the facts as they understood them
The pith of the whole matter is con-
tanned in the affidavit OF Barrill. who
reviews the trip in detail and with
great care. The diary upon which so
much depends is now in the possession
of the Globe.
Barrill under oath states that when
they reached point not over 5000
feet in height, which strongly resem
bled the topmOst peak, DR.. Cook said:
THAT point would make a good
just about like the gunsight peak
would look on Mt. Mckinley"
In summing up the trip, and before
he designates as fakes certain draw
ngs which appeared in DIR. Cooks
book, The Top of the Continent" M.
Barrll says:
Il was with Dr. Cook continu-
Ously every day during the time
he was attempting to ascend the
mountain in the year 1906 and the
nearest point to the summit of Mt.
Mckinley which we reached was
at least IA miles from the summit
of that mountain and at no time VI
did we reach an elevation in ex-
cess of 10000 feet and the doctor
lDlu lie With we were DIT lIle place
where my picture was taken that
we were not over 5000 feet high.
| neglected to state that on the
18th of September and on the
evening of Sept. 8, DR.. Cook asked
me if l was willing to stay with
him. / said Yes when he said L
will see you get 5000 extra for do
ing So
Somebody is giving Anannias al
run tor the prize. Barrill has always
been of good repute in the community
in which he lives and has nothing to
this time. His only recorded fall from
grace was his acceptance of the offer
to help fool the public for the paltry
remuneration of 5000. His acceptance
of that proposition is the weak spot in
his position.
There is nothing in the doctors book
to disprove the statements of Barriil
and there is much corroborative evil
dence in Barrlrs behalf to be had
ii'iii 'tiltl vi tIlt party. w III
this ilat statement that Cook fooled
the public once, what can be said of
his second unsupported claim that he
reached an imaginary point in the
Arctic wastes known as the North
pole? If he was false in one partc-
ular. why should his word be accepted
in any?
1t would indeed be strange if man
who had succeeded in fosting a coloS-
sal fake on the public once did not at
tempt to repeat the performance as
soon as the public ceased to take an
interest in the first. The Pole has
been the dream Of the centuries and
there was a fortune awaiting the man
who could make the public believe
that he had visited it. If the public
could be made to accept peak 5000
feet high as the summit of Mt. Me-
kinley, why could not a desolate field
of ice be made to answer for the North
pole? The unfortunate feature Of the