V?
COOK NOT
AT POLE,
Naval Commander
Sternly Refutes
Claims Made by
the Doctor.
TESTIMONY OF THE ESKIMOS
Long and Carefully Prepared State,
ment Given to the Public Amounts
to Direct Questioning of Dr. Cook's
Veracity Is Signed by All the
Principals of the Roosevelt Party.
New York, Oct. 12 The following
statement of Commander Robert E.
Peary, which he submltted.Uogether
with the accompanying map. to the
Peary Arctic club In support of his
contention that Dr. Cook did not reach
tho north polo, is now made public for
the first time. The statement and
map have been copyrighted by the
Peary Arctic club.'
Commander Peary's Introduction.
Some of my reasons for saying that
Dr. Cook did not go to tho north pole
will be understood by those who read
the following statements of the two
Eskimo boys who went with him, and
who told me and others of my party
where ho did go. Several Eskimos
who started with Dr. Cook from An
oratok In February, 1908, were at
Etah when I arrived there In August.
1908. They told me that Dr. Cook had
with him, after they left, two Eskimo
boys, or young men, two sledges and
some twenty dogs. The boys were
I-tooka-shoo and Ah-pe-lah. I had
known thorn from their childhood.
One was about eighteen and the other
about nineteen years of age.
On my return from Cape Sheridan
and at tho very first settlement 1
touched (Xerke, near Cape Chalon) lu
'August, 1909, and nine days before
reaching Etah, the Eskimos told me.
in a general way, where Dr. Cook had
been; that he had wintered In Jones
Sound, and that he had told the white
men at Etah that he had been a long
way north, but that the boys who were
with him, I took a shoo and A-pe-lah,
said that this was not so. The Eski
mos laughed at Dr. Cook's story. On
reaching Etah, I talked with the Es
kimos there and with the two boys
and asked them to describe Dr. Cook's
journey to members of my party and
myself. This they did hi the manner
siated below.
(Signed.)
R. E. PEARY.
Signed Statement of Peary, Bartlett,
McMillan. Romp and Henson, In Re
gard to Testimony of Cook's Two
Eskimo Boys.
The two Eskimo boys, I took a shoo
and Ah-pe-lah, who accompanied Dr.
Cook while he was away from Anora
tok In 1908 and 1909, were questioned
separately and Independently, and
were corroborated by Panikpah, the
father of one of them (I took a shoo),
who was personally familiar with the
first third and the last third of their
journey, and who said that tho route
for the remaining third as shown by
them, was as described to him by his
son after his return with Dr. Cook.
Tho narrative of these Eskimos is
as follows:
They, with Dr. Cook, Francke and
nine other Eskimos, left Anoratok,
crossed Smith's Sound to Cape Sabine,
slept in Commnnder Peary's old house
in Payer Harbor, then went through
Rice strait to Buchanan bay. AJter a
few marches Francke and three Eski
mos returned to Anoratok.
Dr. Cook, with the otherB, then pro
ceeded up Flugler bay, a branch ot
Buchanan bay, and crossed Elles
mere Land through the valley pass at
tho head of Flagler bay, indicated by
Commander Peary In 1898, and utilized
by Sverdrup in 1899, to the head of
Sverdrup's "Bay Fiord" on the west
tticba of Ellesmere Land.
Their route then lay out through,
this fiord, thence north through Sver
drup's "lleuerka Sound" and Nansen
strait.
On their way they killed musk oxen
and bearand made caches, arriving
eventually at a point on the west side
of Nansen strait (shore of Axel He!
berg Land of Sverdrup), south of
Cape Thomas Hubbard.
A cache was formed hero and the
four Eskimos did not go beyond this
point. Two others, Kooloollngwah and
Inughlto, went on one more march
with Dr. Cook and tho two boys,
helped to build the snow Igloo, then
returned without sleeping.
(These two Eskimos brotight back
Electric Glue Heater.
An electric glue henterfas ' been
put upon the mnrket which is clnimcd
to melt glue In 30 minutes, and to
keep it at b temperature of 150 deg,
for several hours after the current
has been switched oft.
Leads Them All.
Teacher Who is tho greatest in
ventor? Shaggy-Haired Pupil Pat. Pending,
I guess. I see his name on more in
ventions than I do any other man's.
PEARY
a letter from Dr. Cook to Francke,
dated tho seventeenth of March. The
two men rejoined tho other four men
who had been left behind, and the six
returned to Anoratok. arriving May 7.
This information was obtained not
from the two Eskimo boys, but from
the six men who returned and from
Francke himself, and was known to
us In tho summer of 190S, when the
Roosevelt first arrived at Etah. The
Information Is Inserted here as supple
mentary to tho narrative of the two
loys.
A.Ter sleeping at the camp where
the last two Eskimos turned back, Dr.
Cook and (ho two boys went in a
northerly or northwesterly direction
with two sledges and twenty-odd dogs,
one or more march, when ttey en
countered rough Ice and a lead of open
water. They did not enter this rough
ice. nor cross the lead, but turned
westward or soulhwostward a short
distance and returned to Heiberg Land
at a point west of where they had left
the cache and where the four men had
turned back.
Hero they remained Tour or five
sleeps, and during that time I took a
shoo went back to the cache and got
his gun. which he had left there, and
a few Items of supplies.
When asked why only a few sup
plies were taken from the cache, the
boys replied that only a small amount
of provisions had been used In the
few days since they left the cache,
and that their sledges still had all
they could carry, so that they could
not take more.
After being informed of tho boys'
narrative thus far, Commander Peary
suggested a series of questions to be
put to the boys In regard to this trip
from the land out and back to it.
These questions and answers were
as follows:
Did they cross many open leads or
much open water during this time?
Ans. None.
Did they make any caches out on
the Ice? Ans. No.
Did they kill any bear or seal while
out on tho Ice north of Capo Thomas
Hubbard? Ans. No.
' THd-they" kill or lose any of their
dogs while out on the Ice? Ans. No.
With how many sledges did they
start? Ans. Two.
How many dogs did they have? Ans.
Do not remember exactly, but some
thing over twenty.
How many sledges did they have
when thoy got back to land? Ans.
Two.
Did they have any provisions left on
their sledges when they came back to
land? Ans. Yes; the sledges still had
about all they could carry, so they
were able to take but a few things
from the cache.
From here they went southwest
CHART SHOWING
The World's Cotton Spindles.
In tho number of cotton spindles,
Great Britain, with nearly 52,000,000,
and the United Stntes with 27,000,000,
are fnr ahead of other countries. Ger
many comes next, with 9,.r92,S5r., fol
lowed by France, with 7,0(W,428.
Wireless on Balloon.
Tho Aero club ot New England Is
fitting tho dirigible balloon Massachu
setts with a wireless telegraph plant
so that It can communicate with a
land station located in the city.
r
along the northwest coast of Heiberg
Land to a point indicated cn tho map
(Sverdrup's Cape Northwest).
From here they went west across
the ice, which was level uinl covered
with snow, offering pood fining, to a
low island which they lud seen from
the thore of Heiberg Land at Cape
Northwest. On this island they
camped for one sleep.
The size and position of this island,
ns drawn by the first toy, was criti
cised by the second boy as being too
large and too far to the west, tho sec
ond boy calling thu attention of the
first to the fact that tho position of
the island was more nearly in line
with the point where they had left
Heiberg Land (Capo Northwest) and
the channel between Amund Kiiignes
Land and Eilef Ringnes Land.
From this island they could see two
lands beyond (Sverdrup's Kllcf Illng
r.es and Amund Ringnes Lands). From
the Island they journeyed toward the
left-hand one of these two lands
(Amund Klngncs Land), passing a
small island which tbev did not visit.
Arriving at the shore of Amund
Ringnes Land, the Eskimos killed a
deer as indicated on the chart.
The above portion of the state
ment of tho Eskimo boys covers
the period of time in which Dr. Cook
claims to have gone to the pole and
back, and the entire time during
which ho could possibly havo made
any attempt3 to go to it.
If it is suggested that perhaps Dr.
Cook got mixed and that ho readied
the pole, or thought he did, between
the time of leaving the northwest
coast of Heiberg Land at Cape North
west, and his arrival at Klngncs Land,
where they killed the deer, we must
then add to the dato of Dr. Cook's let
ter of March 17, at or near Cape
Thomas Hubbard, the subsequent four
or five sleeps nt that point, and tho
number of days required to march
from Cape Thomas Hubbard to Cape
Northwest (a distance of some sixty
nautical miles), which would advanco
his date of departure from the land
to at least the 2oth of March, and bo
prepared to accept the claim that Dr.
Cook went from Cape Northwest
(about latitude eighty and a half de
grees north) to the polo, a distance of
five hundred and seventy geographical
miles, In twenty-seven days.
After killing the deer they then trav
eled south along the east sido of Ring
nes Land to the point indicated on tho
chart, where they killed another deer.
They then went east across the
st uth part of Crown Prince Cu6tav
sei to the south end of Heiberg Land,
then down through Norwegian bay,
where they Becured some bears, but
not until after they had killed somo of
their dogs, to the east sido of Gra
ham Island; then eastward to tho lit
WHAT PEARY CLAIMS IS ROUTE
The Philosopher of Folly.
"A young married man soon gets
used to referring to 'my wife.'" says
the Philosopher of Folly, "but It takes
him a long tlmo to bo ablo to Intro
duce unblushlngly a younft woman
ho's rather afraid of as 'my slstcr-ln
law.'"
The Philosopher of Folly.
"About the funniest thlnR," says the
Philosopher of Folly, "Is the motherly
advice a young married woman gh.a
to her old beaux."
tle bay marked "Eld's Fiord" on Svcr
ilrup's chart; then southwest to Hell's
'late and Simmon's peninsula.
Here for tho tirst tlmo during the
entire Journey, except as already
luted otY Cape Thomas II. Hubbard,
they encountered open water. l)n this
1 clit the boy j were clear, emphatic,
and unshakable. They spent a good
ileal of time in this region, and finally
abandoned their dogs and one sledge,
took to their boat, crossed Hell's Gate
to North Kent, up Into Norfolk Inlet,
hen back nloi-g the north coast of
I'olln Archer Peninsula to Cape Vera,
where they obtained fresh eider duck
TP. Mere they cut the remaining
thof.c off. that Is shortened It. as it
w;;s awkward to transport with the
1'iv.t, and near here they killed a wal-
! IIS.
The statement In regard to the fresh
ilder duck eggs penults the approxi
mate determination of the date at this
time as about the first of July. (This
statement also serves, if indeed any
thing more than the Inherent straight
forwardness and detail of their narra
tive were r ded. to substantiate the
iiccuracy ni' truthfulness of the boys'
statement. '.Is location of Cape Vera
is mentioned in Sverdrup's narrative
:is the place where during his stay In
that region ho obtained eider duck
i;gs.)
From Cape Vera they went on down
into the southwest angle of Jones
Sound, where they killed a seal;
thence cast along tho south coast of
Hie sound, killing three bears at the
point noted on tho map. to tho penin
sula known ns Capo Sparbo on the
iniip, about midway on tho south sido
of Jones Sound. Here they killed
Home musk-oxen and, continuing east,
killed four more at the place Indi
cated on the chart, and were finally
shopped by the pack Ice at the mouth
of Jones Sound. From here they
turned back to Capo Sparbo. where
they wintered.
After the sun returned In 190!) they
started, pushing their sledge, across
Jones Sound to Cape Tennyson; thence
along tho coast to Clarence Head;
(passing insldo of two small islands
not shown on the chart, but drawn on
it by the boys), where they killed a
bear; thence across the broad bight
in the coaat to Cadogan Fiord; thence
cround Cape Isabella and up to Com
mander Peary's old house in Payer
Harbor near Cape Sabine, where they
found a seal cached for them by Pan
ikpah, I-took-a-shoo's father. From
here they crossed Smith Sound on the
ice, arriving at Anoratok.
(Sinned)
It. K. PEARY. 1'. 8. N.,
JiOIiKKT A. HAUTLIiTT,
Muster 8. 8. ItooHevelL
T). H. M'MII.I.AN.
(;E)HjK HOKU1'.
MATTHEW A. HKNSON.
(MMD)
TAKEN BY DR. COOK
Daily Thought.
No one can fall to see that the con
tinuous and unswerving tendency of
human development is towards peace
nnd tho love of mankind Elihu Root.
. Germans Fond of Champagne.
Germany produces 14,000,000 bottles
of champagne a year. She imports
1,500,000 from Fiance.
In some English workhouses pau
pers have golf outfits given them and
uso of grounds for playing the game.
me Jbasr Lesson
(TOLD BY AN ALSATIAN CHILD)
(from the trench of Alphoiisc Daudct)
i.'.I niilil. by J.
I had been very lato In going to
school on this particular morning, the
morning or the last class, nnd 1 was
much afraid of being scolded, tho
more so as M. Hainel had told us he
would question us concerning the par
ticiples, about which I did not know
the first thing. For a moment I even
thought of playing truant und running
off across tho fields.
I braid the blackbirds whlstlo In tho
border of the wood, and the Prussians
drilling in the meadow down behind
the sawmill; the weather wuh so
warm, so clear, nnd all this was much
more attractive than the rulo for par
ticiples! Rut I resisted the tempta
tion and ran quickly to school.
As I passed tho olllco of the mayor,
I saw everybody collected beforo the
llttlo bulletin-board; for two years
this bulletin-board had given ub noth
ing but bad news battles lost, requi
sitions, orders of tho administration.
"Well, what in it this time?" I asked
myself without pausing to find out.
Hut ns I ran across the public square,
Wa enter, the blacksmith, who with
his apprentice was reading the plac
ard, called to nie: "Don't hurry so,
youngster! You will get to school
soon enough." Hut I thought ho was
merely making game of nie, and pant
ing I entered M. Humel's llttlo court
yard. I counted upon gnlnlng my sent un
detected In tho din that usually ac
companied Ihe opening of school tho
din of desks opening and shutting, of
the lessons, which wo repeated loudly
together with our ears stopped, the
better to comprehend them, and tho
rapping of the muster's great ruler on
the tables ns ho called: "Silence!"
On this morning, however, all was
quiet ns though It were Sunday.
Through the open window I saw my
mates seated in their places, and M.
I Saw My Mates Seated In Their
Places.
Hanicl walking up and down, carry
ing his terrible Iron-tipped ruler un
der his arm. I wus obliged to open
the door and enter in tho midst of
this dreadful calm. You may judge
if I was not mortified and afraid!
Hut M. Hamel regnrded me without
anger, and said very gently: "Take
your seat quickly, Frantz; we were
about to commence without you."
I clambered over the bench nnd sat
down at my desk Immediately. And
only then, somewhat relieved cf my
embarrassment, I observed that our
master was wearing his handsome
green redlngote, his fine plaited frill,
and the skull-cap of embroidered
black silk which he usually wore only
on inspection-days or at the distribu
tion of prizes. Furthermore, the wholo
class wus extraordinarily grave.
But what surprised nie most was to
see at the end of the room, seated
upon tho benches which usually stood
empty, the chief men of the village
old Hauser with bis three-cornered
hat, tho venerable mayor, the aged
postman, besides a number of others.
They were all as silent as ourselves,
and seemed depressed. Hauser held
wide open upon his knees, his huge
spectacles lying across the pages, an
old dog's-eared primer which he had
brought with him.
M. Hamel had taken his seat during
my astonished observation of all this,
and now said to us. in tho sunm ion!
tie nnd grave volco with which he had
received me:
"Children, this Is the Inst tlmo l
shall teach this class. The oninr h,m
come from Herlln that nothing but
German is to be taught hereafter In
tho schools of Alsace and I.orraIne.
. . The new master will rri
to morrow. Today Is your lust lesson
In French. I beg you will be very at
tentive." These vords unset me rmnnlnfniv
So that wns what the wretches hmi
posted nt the mayor's office. Mv
lesson In French! and I scarcely
Knew now to write! I would never
have u chance to It 'urn now! )inu i
longed to recall the tlmo I hud wasted,
missing scnooi to go birds nesting or
to make slides on the Saar! My books,
which I had always found so tiresome,
so clumsy to carry, my grammar, mv
sacred history, now seemed to inv old
Mai 4M
h 4. Lrt: ";
mm
il. l.ipi).ui:uii (.i. )
friends from whom It would grieve
me to part. And ns for M. Hamel as
I realized that he must depart, that
I should never see him again, tho pun
ishments, the cuts I had received from
hla ruler, were forgotten. Poor man!
It is to the honor of the class on this
last day that they were on their best
behavior.
Soon I comprehended why tho eld
ers of the village had como to fit at .
the end of the room; It was as If to
express regret ut not having visited
tho school more often; It was, too, a
way of rewarding our master for his
40 years of good service, und of pay
Ing their respects to tho fatherland
to which he wus going.
In the midst of my meditations 1
heard my name called; It wns my turn
to recite. What would I not havo glv
en to be able to repeat, loud and with
out a mistake, the whole of that fa
mous rulo for tho participles! Hut 1
bungled the first words, and stood
wriggling in my place, heavy-hearted,
not daring to raise my head. Then )
heard M. Hamel speak to mo:
"I will not reproach you, my boy;
you are sufficiently punished as it is
You see now how it is; you have sold
to yourself day by day: 'Oh, I have
plenty of time; I will learn It to-mor
row,' and then you see what to-morrow
brings when It comes. Ah, thai
has been tho great misfortune of oui
Alsnco, putting oIT Its Instruction un
til to-morrow. And soon It will bo Jusl
for them to say to us: 'What! you
pretend to bo French, when you can
neither speak nor write your own
language!'
"Hut with it nil, you are no worse
than the rest of us; wo all deserve s
full share of the blame. Your par
cuts have not been sulllclontly nnxloui
fa have you educated. They have pre
fcrred tho sous you could make bj
working In the fields or the factoriea
And for my pnrt I reproach myself;
I reproach myself for making you sc
often water my garden wheu you
should have been studying, and foi
not hesitating to glvo you a holiday
when I wanted to go fishing."
And then M. Hamel spoke to us ol
the French language, point by point
suylng that It was tho most beautiful
language in tho world, tho most ex
presslve, the most virile; that it be
hooved us to preserve it among ni
and never to forget It.
Tho lesson finished, we took up wrl
ting. For this day, M. Hamel had pre
pared entirely new copies, on which
was written in beautiful round hand.
"France, Alsace, France, AlBace;
these were made in the shape of lit
tie flags, which were hung from the
rods of our desks, nnd so floated on
all sides of the class. You should
have seen how everyono applied him
self. And such silence! one coulc
hour nothing but the scratching ol
pens upon paper. Even when cock
chafers buzzed Into the room no ont
paid any attention to them, not even
the smallest children, who applied
themselves ns Industriously as though
their pot hooks were also French.
Upon the roof of the school the pi
geons cooed softly. "Will not they
too havo to use German?" I asked my
Bclf as I listened.
When I raised my eyes from the
page in front of me from time to time,
I saw M. Hamel sitting motionless in
his seat, gazing long at the objects
ahout him, as though he would take
away In bis memory all the httle
schoolhouse. . . . Think of It! for
40 years he had been there In the
sumo place opposite his courtyard,
facing a class-room which had
changed in appearance only In that
the benches and desks had become
shiny, polished by use. Tho walnnt v
trees in the court-yard had grown, and
the hop-vine he had planted himself
hud by this time 'festooned the win
dows up to tho roof. What a heart
breaking thing it must have been for
tho poor man to turn his back on all
these things, and to hear his sister
walking to nnd fro in the room be
yond, packing their baggage, for they
must go away to-morrow forever.
Nevertheless, he had the courago to
keep the class up to the last moment.
After the writing exercise, we had our
history lesson; and then the little chil
dren sang their "ba, be, bl, bo, bu" In
concert. And old Hauser, who sat at
the end of the room, putting on his
spectacles nnd holding his primer
with both hands, repeated the letters
with them. One could see that he was
In deadly earnest; but his voice quiv
ered so with emotion, and it was so
droll to hear him, that wo hardly
knew whether to laugh or to weep.
Ah, I shall never forget that last
class.
Suddenly the church clock struck
mld-dny, then tho Angelns. At the
same moment tho trumpet-call of the '
Prussians, who wero returning from
their drill, burst through our windows.
M. Hamel raked himself, deathly
pale, In his seat. Never had he
seemed so grand.
"My friends," said he; "my friends,
1-1 "
, Hut something choked him; he
could not finish the sentence. He
turned to the blackboard, and, taking
a pleco of chalk, he wrote with all
his strength, as large us he could
"Vive lu France!"
He Blood there, his head bowed to
tho wall, and, without speaking,
signed to us with his hand: 'This Is'
the end. You may go."
