Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1913-02-14

In the annals of Arctic exploration
there is nothing to compare with the
case of DR.. Cook. He has been ac-
claimed and honored: he has been
denounced and condemned. He has
been hailed as the first man to pene-
trate the frozen North to the axle
of the earth, as the first to reach the
"Big Nail' of the Eskimos. Then,
Dr. Cook has been denounced as "the
most colossal liar in history" as he
says himself.
claim to Arctic honors first thrilled
the world is too well known to need
discussion here. 1t is enough to say
that he was the center of the most
sensational conflict ever known and
that he, himself, now feels that he
must defend his achievements. 1t is
not in the province Of this article to
espOuse the cause of DR.. Cook, but
it cannot be amiss to give something
of what the explorer has to say. He
is now making lecture tour of the
United States, giving from the stage
his version of his case.
For Current Features DR.. Cook has
prepared an article which deals with
what he calls the "Polar Contro-
versy," starting with the time he and
his two Eskimo companions started
back from the top of the earth:
"On the return journey our diff
culties were even greater than on the
upward march. The ice began to
break and separate; there was open
water with continuous fogs. With
clouded skies, it was impossible to
determine the drift of the ice under
our feet. We were carried uncon.
sciously far to the west and south
of our course, and, when skies finally
cleared and we got an observation,
VIC found ourselves away down in
Crown Prince Gustav Sea. After
long and tedious journey, with starv-
alton staring us in the face, we
finally reached Jones Sound, and here,
on Cape Sparbo, we stayed through
out another long winter night. We
ate the meat of the musk-ox and
used their fat for fuel and their skins
for clothing. We spent the winter in
an old cave. Early in March we
started for the long return march to
our Greenland camp. After many de-
tours, to avoid open water, and many
narrow escapes from starvation, we
finally got back to our Greenland
camp and here we saw for the first
time in fourteen months other human
faces except our own. Here with
their people I left my two Eskimo
companions, splendid, faithful, helpful
manly fellows they had beenl They
had gone with me to the Pole and
back, had suffered all of the tortures
I had suffered, had endured all the
hardships uncomplainingly, not for
money, not for honor-for they can
not appreciate either-but simply be.
cause they wished to be useful to one
whom they choose to call a friend.
They deserve just as much credit as
I do for the result of the expedition,
and I want you to remember them,
to remember their names: Ah-we-lah
and E-tuk-i-shook.
"Now we were back to our Green
land camp; we were half starved, al
most unable to walk. We naturally
looked around for something to eat,
especially from our own school. But,
sad to say, during our absence some
one else came along and took that
camp, took everything we had in the
north world. This brings us to the
first chapter of what is known as the
Polar Controversy.
"Two months after I had reached
the Pole, two big ships started north
for the Pole They went north with
the usual press bombast. At about
the same time my companion. Ru-
dolph FRANKIE, who had been left in
Greenland to guard my supplies, was
sick. He was in desperate shape; he