Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-12-09
Engaged, They Say, to
Prepare Records" of
Alleged Trip,
BUTTHE PAY WAS SLOW
Assert That They Were to Re-
ceive $4,000 for False
Data, but Didn't.

Copenhagen, Dec. "a summary OF
the affidavlts of persons claiming to
have aided Cook In the preparation OF
his polar data were read here with
amazement. Scientific circles are in
cIined to be increduIous regarding the
charges, and some persons like DR..
Carl Burrau, the astronomer. consider
them so improbable that their effect
will be to strengthen confidence in
Cook.
Loose Repeats story.
New York, Dec. Captain A. w;
Loose, master pilot and navigator,
whose affidavit stating he had formu-
lated a long series of observations
and data for Cook at the latter's re-
Guest since his return from the arc
tic region was published today. in
an interview today practically reit-
Grated the story told in the affidavit.
He persists in the declaration Cook
did not reach the POLE and suspects
Cook never was out of sight of land
He admits he never saw Cooks orig
inal records.
Men Put Under Oath.
New York. Dec. 9.-The New York
Times presents today the remarkable
narrative OF two men, made under
oath declaring that they were en-
ployed by DR.. Frederick a. Cook to
fabricate astronomical and other OBJ
seryations for submission to the I'm
iversity Cf Copenhagen, which is
about to pass upon DR.. Cooks as
sertion that he discovered the north
pole on ApriI-.221.l9 l9AS----s-.-z.-z.,,y-7.--.,
These men are George H. Ddnkley
an insurance broker of 81 Nassau
street. New York, and Captain Aug
ust. Wedel Loose, a sea captain of
4S7 Thirteenth street. Brooklyn.
Do Not Get Pay.
For their labors they were to have
received jointly from DR.. Cook
$4,000, with an additional bonus of
$500 to Captain Loose upon the ac-
ceptance of the records by the Uni
versity of Copenhagen.
They say DR.. Cook had paid them
only $3.50 when he disappeared on
she eve of the dispatch of his rec
ords'' to Copenhagen. two weeks ago,
and his failure to pay the sum re-
naming due them, they freely ack-
forward with the story.
Mems Movements Are verified.
The Times has followed the steps
described by these two men and has
verified their goings and comings,
their purchases of books and charts,
and the fact of their intimate rela-
tions with DR.. Cook.
Whether the observations cal
culated by Captain Loose and sup
piled, as he alleges. to Cook, were
adopted by the latter .s4d made
part of his report toA3he University
of Copenhagen, it is, of course, i'm
possible to say. without comparison
of Captain Loose's narrative with
that report.
The Times has communicated to
the University of Copenhagen the
main facts of Captain Loose's story
and Mr. Dunkle's, and has offered to
supply to the university the corrobor-
ative documents it has received from
these two. men. One of these pur-
ports to be DR.. Cooks memorandum
directing the preparation of observa-
tions from Scartevaag all the way to
the pole.
Narratives Are Fascinating.
The full narratives of Captain
Loose and Mr.. Dunkle constitute one
of the most fascinating chapters in
all the literature of imposture. Cap
tain Loose frankly expresses his
scorn of DR.. Cooks claims. laughs a
his ignorance of the simplest essen
tials for accurate observations in the
arctic regions. and describes at
length how, working backward from
the pole, he calculated observations
that would fit in with Cooks nara
tive, and coached him on the neces-
sary notifications of the latter-as.
for example, that he must be sure to
to record that he rose before AIS
o'clock on certain morning, be-