The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1909-09-23
Commander Also Located Food Supplies Which Might Have Saved Men Who
Formerly Tried For the POe-hrng Stories by Members Of
the Crew Are Told For the First Time and
Romance Of fhe Farthest North

| that Cook had passed that way?"
mo"
Would you have been likely to find
traces of his passing had he made the
trip he says he did?"
No." said Peary, and he indulged
himself no further on this unpleasant
| subject.
Cook went 80 miles to the west of
my course he says, and a year in ad-
vance of me. l will say it is quite
| possible for hundreds of other expedi-
tions with equipments like mine to
have gone to the pole on routes diff
ferent from mine without my having
seen any trace of them"
When Peary spoke it was deliber-
ately almost pedantically. Each SEN
tence was crisp and concise. there was
not. word wasted. He had knack
of clearing his throat before empha-
sizing a point.
One of the group on the floor wanted
to know if it could have been possible
for Cook to have faxed set of OBJ
servations without himself going to
the pole.
In the opinion of Rear Admiral
Melville, Admiral Sir George Mares
and myself it would have been DOS
sible," said the commander, and then,
explicitly, he put restrictions on fur
ther inquiry along this line,
He quoted a statement he had sent
through the air on September 16,
which was to the effect that he would
pay no attention to fake stories or
side issues Of any kind" until the
main question of whether or not Cook
had been to the pole had been set.
tied. After that he would be willing
to take up any matter he deemed
worthy of his attention.
This statement shows my posi-
tion," he said, 'and it must remain
until a definite and detailed state
ment by Cook is out over his own
signature"
Peary had risen from his seat of
nets while he spoke and there was
emphasis in every word. He remained
standing for minute, casting his eyes
from place to place. Decidedly this
was not the like of Cooks heckling at
Copenhagen.
When they asked Peary if he in
tended continuing polar exploration in
the future he replied that he would
do all in his power to advance polar
expeditions but that he would not take
the field in person again.
II will leave that to younger and
| hnftnF oaItb n
he expected to see his Eskimos again.
He probably will take summer ex.
cursion up to Smith sound before
many years. The time was surely
coming, the commander said serious
ly, it might be within Ave or ten years,
when folks would go TO Eskimo land
on summer trips. Another question
prompted a startling statement.
81 think that given the same condi-
tions, the same equipment and the
same men at their present age and
strength I could get to the pole twice
out of every three trials, just as Bart,
lett here is the only man who could
put the Roosevelt through the ice to
Cape Sheridan three times out OF
FIVE"
Another question popped out of the
halflight in front of Peary's seat and
in answering he turned to Captain
Bartlett.
Don't ask me-" came Captain Bob's
thin voice. I'D rather go up to the
pole than be cross-examined"
Someone asked Peary to tell of the
death of Ross c. Marvin, the member
of the party who had been drowned
in crossing thin ice. The tall mar
there by the window lowered his voice
and answered. He cited the details
already made public and he told oi
how Wardwell, his chief engineer had
made a brass memorial tablet of a
sheet of tubing and how Mcmillan had
spent long hours engraving upon il
this inscription:
I'm memory of Ross G. Marvin, Cor
nell university, aged 81, drowned
April 10, 1909, forty-fVe miles north oi
Cape Columbia, returning from S6.3t
north latitude" .-..a
J This tablet had been left on top o
cairn of feldspar, white and glisten
ing as frozen tears back of Cape Sher
idan.
In happier vein, Peary swung into
the recitation OF the likes of Whisk!
Oo-Que-Ah and fair Ewaloo. A shorter
J story this than that of Siegfried anC
Brunhilde, but brimming with inter
! est that makes the world akin.
Oo-Que-Ah was an Etah husky anc
: his lass lived in Annatok, tWent!
miles away. Her dad was an ogre o
the ancient type and not word woult
) he hear of the Etal swain's protesta
) tions. An unpleasant custom prevail
} among the Esklmos which wills it tina
should father object to a daughter
} marriage, the lover may have the gir
J providing he can smuggle her ava,
from the parental igloo without beini
caught, but if caught he Is killed
Ewaloo's father was strict abider b.
r custom.
When Peary touched at Etah, oO
r Que-Ah wanted to smuggle his sweet
heart aboard and then repel boarder
) from behind the Roosevelt stack. Th
commander said nay, better that oc
Que-Ah come along, help discover tn
, pole and then return to the igloo o
/, his wished-for father-in-lew, with
3 boat, a sledge, a rife, a shot gun an
+ ammunition to boot, tent, and abou
three cords OF walrus blubber. Tha
would surely move the icy heart o
the father
oo,Que-Ah followed the advice 0