Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1910-12-09
DR.. COOK ADMITS
IGNORANCE OF HIS
POLAR DISCOVERY
Convinced Himself That Great
Ambition Had Been Attained,
but He Now Has His
Doubts About It.

New York, Dec. 2. - DR.. Frederick
A. Cook, the Brooklyn explorer, In an
article which will be published in
Hampton's Magazine, says ne does not
know whether he reached the north
pole or not.
DR.. Cook, who has been IN hiding for
more than a year, has informed the
editors OF the magazine publishing his
story that he will return to the United
States with his wife and children De-
cember % In order to spend Christmas
here.
Dr. Cook, in his story. deals with the
psychology of his adventure and sue
cess.
'Did ! get 70 the north pole2 Per-
haps / made q mistake in thinking that
l did. Perhaps / did not make mis-
take. After mature thought confess
that / do not know absolutely whether
/ reached the pole or not. This may
come as an amazing statement, but l
am willing to startle the world, IL by
so doing, / can get al opportunity tc
present my case.
Seeks Public Confidence.
by my case / mean not my case as
a geographical d~iscoverer, but my case
as Il man. Much as the attainment of
the north pole once meant TO me, the
sympathy n confidence of my fellow
men mean more.
Fully, freely and frankly I shall tell
you everything and leave the decision
with you. If, after reading my story
you say, Cook is sincere and honest,
half crazed by months of isolation and
hunger, he believed he reached the
pole; he i5 not g fasir,' then shall! be
satisfied"
DR.. Cook tells the story of his life
and pictures what he calls the over
towering ambition for exploration that
beset him until IL finally eliminated in
his effort to reach the pole. DR.. Cook
declares that at the time he convinced
himself he had discovered the pole he
was half mad. He spent two years in
his quest and during nat time endured
hunger and privation that, he says,
would unbalanee any mind.
Is Region of insanity.
The explorer states that it would be
impossible for any man TO demonstrate
beyond question that he had been to the
north pole, He characterizes the re-
gion as a region of insanity, where one
cannot believe the evidences gathered
by ones own eyes.
He says he had always looked on the
discovery of the pole as an achievement
for his own personal satisfaction, for
Inc S"aIlSldCllOn Oh Il craving ana ueSlT6
that was greater han any other factor
in his life. When he found how tre-
mcndous a sensation his statement that
he had attained the pole created he was
overcome with bewilderment. DIR. Cook
then tells the story Of the days in
Copenhagen and later in New York,
and of the crisis in Ais life that caused
his flight from New York and his vol
untary exile from the United States
The explorer says that notwithstand-
ing the fact hat he was followed by
the s~hrewdest newspaper men in the
world day after day, and that sums
ranging upwards OF several thousands
of dollars were offered for a clew as
&c his whereabouts, he aaS sc-cr wc-a
a disguise n a never taken any
unusual precaution to conceal his iden-
tity, Part of the time, he says, his
wife mas been with MIN and part OF
the time his children.
DIR. Cook and his wife are now In
Europe and the children are i'm a con
vent in France.
An Exile in London.
Most of the time during his exile
DR.. Cook has been in London. He says
he has gone about among Americans
there with the utmost freedom, and al
times has registered under his own
name, and that only a few have
guessed his identity. Those who
guess IL, DR.. Cock says. were turned
away with ease by the remark:
Why, yes, l have been told that
before"
With the opportunities for thought
hat his exile has given him, and DIR.
Cook says he never even had time to
sleep more than three or four hours
between his arrival at Copenhagen
and his disappearance in New York,
he has found growing stronger and
stronger the desire to return TO his
own country TO be understood by his
own people. He realizes better thar
any one else the esteem in which he
was held.
Il have been called the greatest liar
in THE world, the most monumental
Il believe that in every undesirable
suspicion n vi~tuperation as have
assailed few men,"
With this realization DR.. Cook wrote
his story, and says that to him the
honor of discovering the north pole no
longer NEAR anything. The explorer
has been working on his story since
the editor Of Hampton's Magazine,
that his sole desire is TO make the
people of the United States realize
just what he wen through during his
two and a half years in the Arctic
Businesses and TO make them see what
processes OF thinking-or lack OF
t~hinking--it was that led him to d.
the thing which confirmed to the
average mind the worse suspicious
against him.