Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-12-16
COOK COMING HOME.
Writes Friends He Will Reap
pear Next Week.
EXPECTED ON WEDNESDAY
Explorer Gives Details of Expedition
in Magazine Article.
TELLS OF AWFUL SUFFERING
Hungry and Dizzy With Faintness,
His Last Marches Were
Made in Delirium.
TELLS OF AWFUL SUFFERING

NEW YORK. December 16.-Dr. Fred
erick A. Cook, the Brooklyn traveller. has
sent word to his friends here that he
will reappear next week, following his
self-imposed exile OF one year Dr. Cook
will arrive from Europe probably next
Wednesday The doctor has confessed
that he did not know whether he reached
the north pole or not. and in tomorrow S
issue of Hampton's magazine he tells
OF the mental and physical stress he
labored under on his journey northward
DR. Cook, speaking OF the trip over the
ice says:
There was little in the white waste
about me to occupy my attention Some
times a spot on the horizon or the twist
of dogs tail would fascinate me and
hold my attention for many minutes.
During this time. from the early days
of our journey. as l want to show,
everything conferred about the idea of the
laughing with silly amusement, or to NIL
one with a sense of awe there early be
gan procession of mirageS and optical
Illusions. The mental effect ! find it
aggerated transformations had the eff
feet of bringing far-off objects apparent
ly near to us. This often caused con-
fusion in estimating distances.
Fantastic Unrealities.
Just after Heiberg Land had become
a dull haze behind us these fantastic I'M
realities of the north began to manifest
themselves most. Peaks of snow were
transformed into volcanoes, belching
smoke; out of the pearly mist rose mar
velous cities with fairy castles: huge
creatures, misshapen and grotesque,
writhed along the horizon.
These spectral denizens of the north
accompanied us during the entire journey.
and when. tagged OF brain and Slapped OF
bodily strength. felt my mind swimming
i'll sea of half-cOnscfOuSneSS, they filled
me almost with horror, impressing me
the monsters one sees in a nightmare.
Travelling in wind that seemed to pet
rify the flesh, the temperature minus 40
degrees. or even minus 80 degrees F., the
laSheS of our eyes froze together as we
winked, and when we rubbed them and
drew apart the lids the icicles broke the
tender skin. Our breath froze on our
faces. Often We had to uncover our
hands and apply the warm palms to the
face before it was possible to see
Many Hairbreadths Escapes.
When l recall the many hairbreadth
and feel again that physical and mental
man would do this were he premeditating
a lie.
That 1 did travel upward of $500 miles
in some direction even my enemies credit
Whether l went directly north or was
diverted at times does not, cannot,
change the facts of my experience. We
were compelled on our journey to go
in various directions to find a way. We
made wide detours; at other times we
had to retreat and find new passages.
Perhaps in SO doing 1 did become con-
fused and overestimated my progress.
any one can settle now. Wherever 1
went, however, / maintain it was north
ward, and l did reach a spot which /
believed to be the pole.
One Day Like Another.
One day was very like another.
Beyond the eighty third parallel life is
devoid of any pleasure. The intense OBJ
jective impressions of cold and hunger
assailing the body rob the mind Of in
spiration and cxhilaration.
''At times it was impossible to perspire,
and the toxin of fatigue, generating un-
flag. When perspiratIon OOZed from our
pores 1T froze in the garments, and the
warmer portions or our bodies were ring
ed with snow. Daily, unremittingly, this
was our agony.
My boys had the advantage of sleep
envied them ANY one who has suffered
from insomnia may be able, in a small
degree, to gauge my condition when sleep
became impossible To reach the end
OF my journey became the haunting, ev-
er-present gOading thought Of my wake
full existence.
Sun Like Vase of Fire.
From the end of the polar night. late
in February, up to the sleep of April Z
l estimated by various systems of reckon
ing that we had covered a distance which
placed me somewhat over 40 miles from
my goal. The sun, because of clouded
night skies, had not been visible be-
fore, but now it was seen for the first
time at midnight, and it assumed a
strange shape. 1 have described it as
a vase of blue fire, from which rose
luminous flowers l have spoken Of the
distorted faces which leered at US over
the horizon. Sometimes in our north
ward progress these faces laughed, again
they scowied What the actual config-
urations were / do not know.
Despite physical lassitude and suf-
fering which made 1t painful to move. I
took observations In a regular mechanical
way. The much-a-dO since made about
such proofs never at that time occur
had gone on other expeditions and had
performed scientific work, such a feat as
this always meant to me the satisfaction
Of a spiritual hunger rather than q
trophy to be laid before eographers who
never stepped out Of the protected circle
of their home environment
Il never expected that my accomplish
ment Of the pole. If did it, would be re-
garded as a thing of great Importance to
science, which it is not.
''I n "a in hi
here / say that any observations I took
were taken. first of all, for my own sat
lisfaction, to check our line Of march. The
constant travelling over miles Of ice and
the enduring of pain engendered In my
mind conviction which no figures could
have evoked.
Used Silk Tent