The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1910-02-16
PEARY MEETS MEYER
First Time He Saw Secretary Of
Navy Since Return From Pole

N'' MeJST Sdlu NAVY DepdTtHSH'
Could Take No Official Cognizance
OF the Expedition Proposed by the
Pesry Arctic Club and the National
Geographic Society-Will ASK Con-
gress to Finance an Expedition tc
Reoiscover Wilkes Land.
Washington, Feb. 10. - Robert E.
Peary, the Arc,ic explorer, had a con.
ference with Secretary of the Navy
Meyer. 1t was the ilrst time Mr.
Peary had met his superior officer
since he returned from his polar trip.
They discussed the plans which are
being prepared for two Antarctic ex
petitions. Secretary Meyer inform
ed MIR. Peary that the navy depart
mept could take no official cognizance
of the expedition proposed under the
joint auspices of the Peary Arctic
club and the National Geographic so.
ciety.
Mr. Meyer said he was considering
the advlsability, however, of asking
congress to make an adequate appro.
priation to cover the expenses of an
expedition to rediscover Wilkes land,
discovered in 1910 by Lieutenant
Thomas Wilkes, an American naval
officer, and named in his honor, dis-
covery on which subsequent explorers
in those. regions have cast doubt.
II the expedition is carried out,
tidal, magnetic ard meteorogical OIL
serYatiors will also be made in that
region.
To Make Addresses In Europe.
Mr.. Peary will remain here if his
standing is accorded by congress To
him as rear admiral. Since July,
1908, ne has been on special duty un-
der the coast and geodetic survey. He
will leave Washington for Europe
where he will make addresses before
several scientific societies.
If congress fails to enact law plac.
ing Mr.. Peary on the retired list as
civil engineer with the rank of rear
admiral it is probable that he will re-
sumo active duty in the civil engineer
corps of the navy on July / next.
An effort will be made to settle the
Peary row in congress when the house
committee on naval affairs meets to
decide whether or not the action of
the subcommittee reporting adverse
ly on bills introduced to elevate and
retire Civil Engineer Peary with the
rank of rear admiral will be sus.
tanned.
Meanwhile there are pouring in on
Representative Roberts Mass.) and
other members of the house many let
ters, some of them endorsing the ac-
tion of the subcommittee and others
condemning ii. The warmest thing in
the way of communication that has
been received by Representative Rob-
erts up to date is from Captain B. S.
Osbon of 1913 East 23rd street, New
York who thinks the subcommittee
did Just what ii should have done.
One of the paragraphs in this letter
reads:
Thinks Subcommittee Is Right.
"To give this (Peary) egoist the
rank of rear admiral would have been
a blot ON the records of congress and
an insult to the navy of the United
States and would have disgusted mil
lions of our citizens who have no care
in this alleged pole hunter and Arctic
fur trader and story teller, who for
nearly a quarter of a century has been
living off the people and sailing under
a naval rank to which he had no legal
right and for which he should have
been severely reprimanded by the
navy department long ago"
Captain Osbon was himself once
an explorer. Another letter to Rep
resentative Roberts is from an Off
Ger of the Maine naval reserve who
lives in Portland. He says among
other things: incidentally if Mr.. Peary
must be shown some unprecedented
and ridiculous honor, why not make
him king of the Sandwich islands
| with life tenure and a privilege to
| practice his insufferable sef-axalta-
tion on the natives. They might en-.
dure it with more grace than the aver
| age American
There are many other letters TAX.
ing an opposite view. One from Bos-
ton says: your amazing statement
about Lieutenant Peary seems ineom.
prehensible. Do you regard the navy
only for target practice, as Dewey at
Manila with men as targets? Nations
are waiting upon the United States by
courtesy before showering hpnors on
Peary. Hershel was lSnighted for
finding Uranus, one thousand million
pies further away than the North
Pole, and one thousand million times
more useless by your count,
"Peary has been the greatest naval
man in the United States since 1777.
A speech like yours may sound well
in the skuptchina in Belgrade but is
utterly obsolete in 1910"