The Dominion. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1909. THE NORTH POLE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 603, 3 September 1909, Page 4

The Dominion. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1909. THE NORTH POLE.

, The. extraordinary news'' reached us 'last night,' and is published to-day, that the North Pole has 'at last been discovered. ■■;.-.lt is unnecessary to say that the• [report must be received with some 'caution, but it certainly has the air of be:ing authentic, arid'we shall'not be surprised if. later messages place beyond all ■doubt;the achievement by Dr.. Cook of the crown of all terrestrial discovery. To ;havo opinions upon' tho prospects of the centurics-lbng' attempt of Man to push forward to the top of the world has been vory easy.- Tho theme has been put to splendid uses by a multitude' of writers.' ■Nobody, howover, seems toi havo thought of what wo ought to think when tho Polo has been attained, and it is roally very difficult to know what to say. Tho truth is, no doubt, that, behind. all the optimism that each successive step forward has encouraged there has lurked in most men's.minds a feeling.that nobody would k >vet actuflJix reacfe thaPola itoelf. -Hha 1

most astonishing thing about to-day's news, assuming that the news is true, is tho fact that tho discoverer, who will be famous for all time, has not been in tho public eyo. While everybody else has been making vast preparations under the gaze of interested continents, Dr. Cook seems to have quietly strolled up to the winning post, without any .fuss or any extravagant preliminary arrangements. Dr. Cook, of whom wo give some account in another column, is an explorer of repute, and a man of endurance and determination rare oven- amongst Arctic investigators. It is unlikely that ho will bring back any notable contributions to science, but after all the main thing has been, not to please the geologists and biologists, but simply -to "get there." It never rains but it pours, and the Pole may soon be reached regularly, by hardy adventurers, but the first discoverer will ■for ages.enjoy a distinction to which no other man can ever attain. Every country has been keenly anxious that, one of its subjects'should be the'first to reach the .Pole, but there will nowhere be anything, but congratulations to America on the. success, of.one,of her citizens, ;.And it is. very fitting, indeed, that tho country which was discovered by; Columbus. should after" four hundred years exhibit its'gratitude by discovering the Pole for the benefit of the rest of the . world. Everyone, we are sure, will hope that Dr. Cook's tremendous exploit is a fac't, although there is something to regret in the dissipation of the tragic mystery of the Polar solitudes.