, 1909-10-02

0Durd the supp. es from depr5dltOns.
Later, pursuant to further instructions,
Fraucke came back to This country when
DR.. Cook did not return on the GLOWING
June. He had taken leave of the explorer
on March 3, 1908, at which time DR.. COOK
had been four days on his way to the Pole.
II am thoroughly convinced, sald ne
ain reading The accounts cabIed by Dr.
Cook to the Herald, that every word which
he has sent is absolutely true, and that
he has indeed discovered the Pole. ! lived
with him for months, helped him III pre-
pairing his outfit and constantly saw how
he acted in his relations with men OF all
classes. When he says a thing he means 1t;
he never makes any statement which he can
not prove he never gives a promise which
he does not keep.
sThis Is the kind Of a man Dr.. Cook IS.
Form the first time | ever met him | was
impressed by his perseverance, by his
strength of purpose and by his wonderful
mastery Of details. | had been for some
wear, ia the khlp)oy Of German steamships
~ steward AID was lodging in Hoboken
looking for another job, when l advertised
in the Herald and thus obtained q place
to 90 north on John b Bradley's yacht III
the summer OF 1907.
1T was ut Gloucester. where the vessel
was being fitted out, that | first saw Dr..
Cook. He was busy o%verhauIln6 the sup
plies, and his alert manner and his under
standing of every detail, the way that he
had even then mapped everything out,
even to the smallest thing, Impressed me.
Later I saw something every day to sho"
how thoroughly Dr.. Cook had planned
everything which he undertook.
"Some of the critics intimate that DR..
Cook would not have known he was ut the
North Pole when he got there. The phfsl-
clan made the obseryati ms for the nnylga,
ton Of tile Bradley, often determining the
position OF the vessel for the captain, and
he had been practicing with all kinds Of
scientific Instruments before that time.
When the call for volunteers came l glad
ly offered to go, and / felt pleased and
complimented at being chosen.
1--WE ~disembarked at Anoatok on August
II. The thermometer was then % degrees
above zero and the air was filed with mist,
The supplies for DIR. Cook, all packed in
boxes especially made for that purpose,
were taken ashore in the launch and in
dingies and they were landed with difficulty.
We were much exposed to the weather
for two DAYS until we completed a bous~,
which was constructed of the packed boxes.
and the cold was kept from entering
through any chinks by the snow covering
later and by blankets on the inside.
"When anything was needed in the way
of supplies all we had to do was to open a
hole in the wall AS sooa as Dr.. Cook
was settled in his Arctic quarters he began
to make preparations for his dash to the
Pole.
"He had brought from the yacht a guam
tity Of hickory wood, from which we built
the sledgos after his own design. They
we're twelve feet long and about three
wide aud designed SO that they balanced
evenly, They we're lightly well supported,and
braced with steel and shod with iron.
Right here l want to say that Dr.. Cook is
q skiIful sled. builder. Many a week we
worked on these sleds, stealning and bend
ing the runners and testing them in every
way. No one ever went to the Arctic with
better sled8 than these. They were adapt
ed in every way to carry heavy loads, and
vet they could be drawn at high speed.
/ speak of this as one of the details which
made for the success Of the expedition and
az showing how DR.. Cook planned for his
final dash.
HE also selected and trained the best
1ors Thav MIGHT we'll he called fancy