Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-01-22

Cook on his inSt-anu uhSuc
ces5ful-Mt Mckinley expedl-
ton, was In town the other day ana
was asked what he thought of Cook IN
tho light of the verdict OF the Copen-
hagen savants. Mr.. Dunn, In "The
Shameless Diary of an Explorer, had
already given a preliminary STUDY ~
close range, of Cooks personality. Mr.
Dunn, In discussing the matter, salo.
eff this controy erSy, So-ca1led, must
he historic. its cardinal point, the germ
and handspring OF tho whole aftoir, IL
the personal character of the doctor.
Could we know that as II ls' there
would be no dispute. Even couiu II.
Cook's understanding of himself have
been spread before the cool anu un
prciudiced eve OF the man-in-the- street.
the verdict might havc allayed all
soucomishness about national dls-
rr,cc 7 am sure that the doctor would
be the first TO ronccde this, for MS
wishes are .often fathers 10 ms
thorshts. oven n the trlvianties o,
lis overy. as all VINO nave III. 'n' ''"'
-'r him arc aware.
= course. the frontier Is down upon
Il He has not the mercurial tenn,
, mont The doctors fayorltc ana
,r,, ossed maxim. is. Follow the line
II lcnst resistance That is his philos-
,phy of life. and he turned so 1nttiy
checks to those boreal rough-nccks INA.
they suspected duality OF races IN
addition. they, imagined that he owed
fbcm money for toting his outfit on
their backs s-unpardonable sin for an
eastern sdudet They sued him, ana,
following the line of least resistance,
he anne to court
come characters are translucent; all
shelr actions are the proper compile
ments of obvious qualities; your con-
coptIon of AS nature and his express
sion of II by deed fit together Ike the
adjoining parts of a Jlg-saw puzzle;
his whole life is logical. consistent.
Such. for example. were Lincoln. Glad
Stone. NAPOLEON. But some men may
he tho reverse OF this, In whom inten-
tIon and execution never seem 10
match. Your idea of 3 and BIS own
conduct are at war. Always therc
seems to be link lost somewhere
broken circuit which makes life con-
Trajectory.
THE ITCH FOR EXPLORATION.
Mon like this become mysteries:
controversies wage about them as IL
they were fated to baffle tho world
Our minds, in constructing pcrsonal-
ties from their history. pick here q
plain quality, there a distinct act. ana
the resulting men, straw may live
and breathe and be quite human, but
thew cannot be explained Fiction,
perhaps. Is the only medium In whlch
Justice NAV be done them by the hu-
nanistlc means OF manipulating iactS
in themselves conflicting, to outline 4
being rather more than less actual Tor
discrepancies IN its components. In
this category. perhaps, DR.. Cook be-
longs.
"He has the divine itch for eXplora-
tion. that lust for the thrill of first be-
holding a new. untrodden valley; the
horizon-fever OF Kipling herocs-in the
days when they Sprang into print.
There can be no doubt of this. But ne
lacks-the mere fact must be stated
and pressed no further-the traditions
OF clf-denial. of education, maybe.
which one associates with the pioneers
of Anglo-Saxon blood. To this must
be added doggedncss, q persistence that
Is more pig-hcadedness than deter
rnination: and. third, unsensitiveness.
Mix well, and add his dominant I'M
pulse. the subtle yeast that pervades
and leayens every atom. every fiber
of his being; vanity. a deep. self-con-
ccaling vanity. A person like TINT,
said a man very much and very sanely
of the world, who heard this synthesis
and he spoke slowly and seriously
may go to lengths quite beyond the
men who think they know him best
AN EYE UPON HIS TRAITS.
I'm this light, then. consider the doc
tor the man-of-Straw In az fiction, as
suggested. And keep In mind the max
i'm, which is as true OF humanity as
scientifically A single hair divides tho
false and true a Flaubert might
choose any moments In mis- career from
which to project telling portrait of
him, but for the sake OF brevity let
US select, say. about Sept 10, 1906, after
the doctor has diSSipated most of his
second Mt Mckinley party. and an
nounced that tho mountain has
stumped him again.
HE starts up Tokashitna Glacier
alone with Ed BarTill.
Keep an eye upon his traits listed
above. and put yourself in his position
He has spent some dozen years. the
best lustrum of any mans life. In fol-
lowing the bchest of his ruling pas
sion. In that time he has accomplished
nothing upon his own hook. nothing as
the leader of an expedition-and ex-
pforers of even weaker vanity than his
count subordinate Jobs with party as
hardly trial heats. Also. not only has
he failed to arouse respect for his
qualities of leadership. OF faith in his
scientific ability among most American
explorers and scientists, but they have
secuted and questioned his pretensions
in both regards. He is past middle
age. and the down grade of lifo Is be-
fore him. The first serious expedition
in which no was mogul WAS failure
to Mckinley in 1908; so. apparently, Is
the second to the same goal. Again
he has faced futility and must admit
defeat to a waiting world. The, future
Is blank and black. 1t Is now OF mover
to justify his whole existence before
that world, and-more important-to
his own sincere self But If he only
can win at the last moment, why any
exploring plum left on earth may como
tumbling to his feet next year
Never mind the details OF that little
scratch trip with B. He comes down
and out. At the first prospector's
campfire. and old sourdough walks up
to him, and says. Well, Doc, did you
make it?'
Remember that single. dividing
hair. Honest. now. good Philistine,
what would you have said? And you,
man-in-the- street who don't SEQ any
use in polar exploring but know more
about 1t than any one who does2
Cooks whole life has not been aimed
at finally perpetrating the hoax of the
ages AS to the north pole and Mt
Mckinley. one cannot Judge the acts
of character such as his-judge them