Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-03-11
Icular fascination for me.

ticular fascination for me.
your iceberg is a chilly proposition,
and whenever the ship gets near one, the
mercury in the thermometers sits down
to think and the air gets as cold and
clammy as a theatre on the first night of
a punk production.
I'VE saw the aurora borealis, too, bril-
liant. impressive and mysterious. The en-
tire trip was filled with incident and never
tagged in interest from the time we
weighed anchor at Port Sidney until the
Tyrian dropped her anchor at Muddles
Island. ten miles from Battle Harbor.
SEAS RAN HIGH.
sNThere was an immense, rolling sea
running, and we had to put off in the
ships boats, having our own troubles
doing It, too. The moment we rounded
the point and entered the harbor at our
destination, the change was delightful.
The Roosevelt lay nearby at anchor IN
a sea as smooth as a mill pond. The lit
tie town nestled between high mountains,
looking, with its neat, white. red-roofed
houses, for all the world like toy town
set there to complete the picture.
''When we reached the Roosevelt we
were met as we went over the side by
Dr. GoodaI who said he was very glad
to see us Then we all got together and
cheered Commander Peary, who present.
ly came out of the deck house to greet
us.
1.-THE appearance of the explorer was
dramatic. He presented strange pic
ture. both then and at the time ne
granted us the interview a few hours
later. Appearing at the door he re-
moved his hat and said:
"T am glad to see you, gentlemen.
The ship is yours
"Of course we all hunted for Mat Hen
son, the negro who went to the pole
with Peary. Henson is a funny coon'
and looks like a Hebrew comedian black
up. He wouldn't talk. but admitted that
the first thing he wanted when the pole
was discovered was a smoke
"An hour later we assembled in the
fish loft in Battle Harbor for the public
interview with the man who had just
returned from a successful trip to the
north pole. and whose name was soon to
be sent broadcast throughout the world
A STRANGE SCENE.
HE presented a striking picture. He
wore an old. battered hat. flannel shirt,
a rusty looking old coat and his lower
extremitiesc were incased in rubber hip
boots and a pair of striped trousers. He
looked exactly like a fisherman of the
Labrador coast. The scene was one new
er to be forgotten. There was a single
window through which the yellow sun
light filtered murkily. The beams and
rafters were festooned with fishing nets
and tackle Peary himself perched upon
a barrel while we newspaper men sat
cross-legged like Turks upon the floor
The air reeked of fish.
Before the explorer had been talking
Is minutes there was not man among
us that was not convinced that here in
deed was the real discoverer, the man
who had found the pole.
"Of course the trip back to Port Sid
ney was a busy one, and by extreme
good fortune we reached there on Sum
day morning, and by 4 a. m. the story
of Peary's discovery as he told it was
being flashed over the wires of all the
world One hundred and ninety-three
thousand words were filed that day, and
the 40 operators at the cable station
were kept on the jump to get it off.
Sunday is, of course, light day, and we
were thus able to have our dispatches
handled much more promptly than II we
had returned at another time.
"Peary did not make any statement re-
garding DIR. Cook at that time, and said
that he did not wish to discuss that
gentleman's claim. 1 am firm in my be-
lief that Commander Peary reached the
north pole"