The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1910-12-20

ward trip; not until then did l tell
my declaion definitely to Mr.. Brad
ley.
Gould make one powerful dash
and achieve the things that had
haunted ME for years?" he ashs.
"Ny former failures dogged me. II
did not try now. It was question
shether ever again An opportunity
should come to me. At Annoatoa
the best hunters OF the tribes had
gathered for the winter hunt. Al
ready immense caches Of meat had
been stored. Hundreds Of dogs, In
prime condition, we're there for 80
lection. From the strong, hefty
hunters could pick the best men to
accompany me. Every condition was
auspicious for the effort. confess
the task seemed audacIous almost
to the verge Of imposslbility: yet l
want to say that l had not only the
determination to t.y, but the pre-
conceived conviction that the thing
wnmid he dnne-ysa. " hv o miracle.
I would try, I told myself; I bs-
1ieved I should succeed"
After the departure Of Mr. Brad
ley Or. Cook says he began to brood
upon the task which he Gays he set
himself, saying: my life from this
time onward was a curious combine
ticn Of outward impressions and in
prospective experiences. want you
to understand tkis thing was no cas-.
with me. All my life
hinged about 1t, my hopes were bent
upon It; the doing of 1t was part OF
me, and instead of a mere physical
Journey 1t became \ psychic expert
ence, a nightmare. My plans OF ac-
ton, want to emphasize. were not
haphazard and halrbrained. Logi-
cally and clearly now mapped out
q campaign. It was based upon
experience in know! conditions, eS'
periepce gathered after years OF dis
and failure.
3"I aimed to reach the top Of the
globe In the angle between Alaska
and Greenland, which had not been
tried. With Annoatok as base OF
operations, I planned to carry SUI
ficient supplies over schley Land and
along the west coast OF the game
lands trusting that the game along
this region would furnish sufficient
supplies en- route to the shores ol
the Polar sea. With men and dogs
living on fresh meat, 1 figured that
they would be in the best condition
for a dash over tie clrcumpolar Ice
This journey to lands end would
also afford test Of every article Of
equipment needed In the field WorH
and would enable me also to choose
from an entire tribe of Eskimo:
those most able to endure the rigors
which lay before u.s."
After telling Of his start from An
noatck in: February. 1908. with {
part7 of ten Eskimos, 103 dogs, ant
his entering Bay Fjord, where ht
encountered S3 degrees below zero
F. H., Dr.. Cook takes the occasion o
answering many widely quoted state
ments. as follows:
81 have been held responsible ant
widely criticised for citing q tenn
perature Of minus SO degrees cent?
grade, which was the misquotatiol
of a reporter who met me on tn
Hans Egede off the Shaw, the north
ernmost point Of Denmark, befor'
my arrival at Copenhagen, hav'
been quoted, by the same reporter
as declaring that I had discovered
and traversed 10000 square mile
of new land. What | did report, ant
believe, was that in my journey hat
passed through an area wherein |
was possible to declare 10000 sauar
miles-a terrestrial unknown OF waite
and ice-cleared from the blank o
our charts. I did discover what
believed to be land, on the 80 o
March, 1908. This was an trregula
mountainous line along the horizon
to the westward, extending for abou
so miles between the saith and S5tl
parallels close to the 102d merid
IAN"
After detailing the supplies takel
on his trip, DR.. Cook says: "Wer
our supplies sufficient to take us t
the pole? Much criticism has beer
expressed concerning the mea2rcnes
of food. l can only say that In TIT
final analysis, this supply barely al
lowed US to keep alive. I doubt /
any men ever suffered from hunge
SO intensely as we did and lived
Death was, on our journey north
ward and southwark, grim, per
sistent companion, and only the low
Of life. most deep-seated Of human
instincts, kept us from succHmbin:
to utter despair. Yet this privatioI
and despair had It's mental reaction
"a reaction which was fortunate
for It was the belief in my achieve
ment that kept re- alive In hours o
direst physical trial.
Dr.. Cook says that his proposed
journey was not one of scientific con
quest, but one for which he expected
only the return due a pathfinder. Ii
this part of his story occurs this re
markable statement:
"My conviction that I reached thu
pole never was based solely upon oh