The Washington herald., 1911-08-13

There is a man travelling through the
Middle West, speaking to great crowds
daily and gathering in thousands of good,
hard-earned country dollars. who is the
physiological wonder of the age. That
man is Frederick A. (the A for Albert,
not Ananias Cook, explorer, who is liv-
ing. breathing refutation of the theory
that a nervous system is an essential
part of the human anatomy. Unless all
signs are deceptive, the doctor is devoid
of anything resembling pride, sensitive
ness or susceptibility to mental irritation
commonly attributed to the possession OF
feelings"
Since his announcement in 1909 that he
had discovered the long-sought north
pole and was entitled to the honors and
eulogies that subsequently were showered
upon him for a time, he has been figura-
lively flayed alive and drawn and quar-
tered by the public that he duped. He
has been called the worlds greatest liar.
the most monumental impostor of his
tory, a Colossus of takers. The wrath
and resentment and vengeance of an out
ragged world were of an intensity to
wither their victim to cinder. Did the
doctor curl up and expire? Not notice
ably.
Smiling and Se1f-satfsf1ed.
AS he travels about Middle Western
Chautauqua circuit to-day he is smiling.
confident assertive, self-satisfied, and
patronizing in his manner toward those
with whom he comes in contact. Gone is
all semblance of the cringing meekness
manifested in confessions" published in
Hampton's Magazine early this year. In
its stead is an aggressive, imperative pose
that demands his recognition, not as the
perpetrator of a brazen. gigantic fraud,
but as the greatest martyr that ever
lived. Equivocal and qualifying terms
have been discarded from his vocabulary,
and he now is emphatically asserting that
he is the discoverer of the great nail'-
no 'ifs" or "ands'' about it.
And the doctor is getting away with II.
Great audiences assemble to hear him,
cheer his utterances, struggle to grasp
his hand. Representative men in the
communities he visits are eager to ap-
pear in Photographic groups of which he
is the central figure. His autograph is
worth money. Instead Of branding him
a despised outcast. the hero-worshiping
public to which he appeals is restoring
him to pedestal. If Robert E. Peary.
generally accepted as the real discoverer
OF the pole, should appear at some sof
DIR. Cooks ChautauQua meetings at the
close of the doctors lecture there would
be grave danger OF mob violence-and
The doctor wouldn't be the sufferer.
Has No EIoauence.
There. is no compelling eloqhence in the
lecture tDr. Cook is using on Chautauaus
audiences-no inspiring bursts of oratory
TO sweep his hearers on their feet and
convince them In spite of their better
judgment. The doctor is not eloquent.
and he is not an orator. He merely IA
playing n a clumsy but effective fashion
on the constitutional weakness OF the
American pubiic-to be rabidly partisan
and TO set up heroes. His audiences may
he neutral or even mildly antagonistic
In sentiment when they assemble to hear
him, but they cannot remain impasslve
In the face OF his bold statements. They
either must accept him at his own gem
erous valuation or jeer him Of the plat
form. So far the doctor smilingiy asserts
he has noti been interrupted In his talks
by skepticak comments. but has been con-