Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1910-12-23
Cook Returns to Native
Continued from page -

solely for the purpose OF Ienaplllldt
ing myself and my family by setting
matters right with my countrymen.
An argument among the George
Washington passengers arose when
the doctors sympathZers undertook
to give out a statement that ne was
| received with no shadow OF dlscriml
nation by the passengers. His decrl'
crs wished it made clear that he had
been Stunned. AS soon as the news
paper men who had gone down the
revenue cutter, stepped into the sal
DON. represent atiyes OF both sides de-
scended on the reporters and button
holed them in their eagerness to De
the first 10 present their case.
A crew of men was in the center
of the floor, tramping on each others
toes, shaking their fingers in each
others faces, and shouting unqualified
Sedfaced contradictions down each
others throats Women had given
up pouring tea to stand on the bro
caded chairs, finger tips on their es-
corts' shoulder, peering over the rim
of the throng into the vortex OF the
discussion.
The doctor himself was spared the
embarrassment of this hubbub. He
met the reporters at the ladder when
they boarded the ship, perfectly pois-
ed, with steady hand and clear,
raightforward eye for all of them.
1t was the same Cook, little less
tanned and worn than when thy had
seen him last, but with the same lock
of hair hanging over his forehead, the
same reticent half smile, and the
same stubby mustache.
"ln half an hour, gentlemen, l will
have a statement for you. Just make
yourselves at home in the ladies'
saloon" said he, and led the way
himself.
1t was perceptible that everyone
followed him wherever he went, but
he spoke here and there to friend,
shook hand and excused himself iWth
out a trace of self consciousness.
While the dispute in the ladies
saloon boiled, more temperate mind
ed persons elsewhere found time to
tell without heat of the doctors trip.
said He came aboard at Brennan,
they said, wearing full beard, but
had it shaved off on the first day.
His name did not appear on the pas
senger list at first, but was placed
subsequently as Herr DR.. Frederick
A. Cook" an the supplemental list.
He was an unOstentatiOus passenger,
playing cards of an evening with a
few friends, and neither seeking nor
avering attention. Once when toasts
were going around, before bed time,
and it came his turn to name the
health, he proposed the Strs and
Stripes toast, that none could refuse.
Another time when the passengers
who had not remarked him before
asked brusquely:
Are you Mr.. Cook?"
my name is Cook" he answered.
Are you the DR.. Cook who went
to the North Pole?" persisted the
questioner.
81 have been there replied the
doctor gravely.
Cook referred all questioners to ar
ticles he is writing for magazines.
"Will you not answer questions
about what you alread have publish.
ed?" was asked.
NO." said the doctor firmly, and
then qualified it with AT least not
now, and only in my own time and
and way"
"You have said this, doctor: After
mature thought, confess that I do
not known absolutely whether l
reached the pole or not Do you be-
lieve that you did,"
81 still believe it,
"Does your uncertainty at all ex'
tend to your ascent of Mount Ms.
Kinley?"
mot in the least. I shall have a
reply to make to Prof. Herschel G..
Parker's latest attack on my ascent
of Mount Mckinley in fe wdays,
probably next Monday"
did you still believe in your rec
ords when you sent the INTO the Uni
versity of Copenhagen"
"Oh, certainly"
Then why did you call Captain
August Loose to aid you in compil-
ing them"
"That will be answered in the next
instrument.
"You have also written, doctor:
Most positively and emphatically am
not thief. It most certainly was
no plan to hoax the world to my own
financial profit But if you now ad'
NIT doubt of what you speak from the
platform in your lectures how can
you keep the admission fees you re-
ceived?"
THAT will also. be answered in the
next installment."
"Why did you choose to make this
statement to the public for money
through the medium Of magazine
rather than to the University of Cop
enhagen, which had honored you with
a degree?"
81 wanted medium that would be