FIRST AT THE POLE

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 76, 31 March 1934, Page 17

FIRST AT THE POLE

THE QUARREL BETWEEN COOK AND PEARY

A sensational hoax -was perpetrated, .in 1 1909, when Dr. - Frederick Alfred Cook claimed, to have reached the North Pole in April, 1908, thus anticipating, iy twelvo -months Commander Robert- Peary's claim to be tho first man to reach the Pole, says tho Melbourne "Age." Dr. Cook made- Ms claim public 'on, September 1, 1900, at a time when the world -was expecting news of the return, of Commander Robert Peary, who in 1908 had set out in th£! steamer Roosevelt on his third at-tempt-to reach the North Pole. Cook, after spending nearly two years in the -Arctic regions, returned to civilisation in the Danish steamer Hans Egede, and when this ship arrived at tho Norwegian port of Lervick he startled the world by his claim, to have reached tho ,Xorth Pole on Adiil .21, 1908. Five days after Cook reached Lcrviek Comm.ander Peary in the Roosevelt arrived at' Indian Harbour, in Labrador, and ■announced to the world that he had "reached the Pole on April C, 1909. Ho was unaware at the time that Dr. Cook claimed to have preceded him by nearly twelve months, but as soon as he heard rof" Cook's "claim he ridiculed it. Cook arid Peary had been former colleagues in the^Arc'tic regions, Cook having •served as surgeon in Peary's Arctic expedition in 1891. Six years later Cook ;had taken part in a Belgian expedition ip the Antarctic, and in 1903^1906 ho led an exploring party to Alaska, where he claimed 'to have been tho fiist man to scale Mount McKinley. ' An angry controversy took place from •opposite sides of the world between Cook and Peary, in which each said very Hasty things about the other, and 'poured'scorn on each other's claim to have reached; the Pole. Bival American ■newspapers joined in the fray. Those iwtiich' had ; bought! for. publication 'Cook's story "of his hazardous journey 'to the BoW before Peary-Had returned "to Indian? .Harbour contended that the

only^gennitre i: North -Pole i had been ,reached byiCook;.twelve-months before '^EetfTyy who in all probability.had never •reiidhed it at.. all. i< And' the-; /papers \vhieh7 Had bought Peary's story of Ms jonrney to ' the Pole spa Ted no pains to prove Cook a fraud and a liar. The

controversy • contributed to f the gaiety of ■ illations, Jand divided scientists in several countries into rival camps. Cook .'carried' .out lecturing tours in Denmark the United States, but .so ■ much '"jvtttiWe was thrown on his' claim that eventnally he submitted'it to the coun-

cil of_ the University of Copenhagen for examination. The council lcportod that the documents he had submitted were insufficient proof that he had reached the- Pole, and that his account of his journey to that goa.l was utterly inadequate. Investigation of Cook's antecedents led to doubt concerning his previous -claim to have ascended Mount McKihlcy when he led an exploring party to Alaska in 19Q3-190G. The American Explorers' Club investigated this claim, and, after reporting against it, cancelled Cook's membership «j" tile club.

Cook wote a book, "My Attainment of the Pole," in which he lecorded his journey to the Pole, accompanied bytw Eskimos, ana discussed Peary's claims. But public sympathy was with Peary, and his claim to havo i cached the goal was accepted, whereas Cook's was ridiculed. Peary's supporteis got into communication with the two Eskimos who were supposed to have accompanied Cook to tho Pole, and they icpudiated the story. But their testi-* mony was of littlo value, as their geographical knowledge was negligible. Cook's supporters bribed Peary's negro servant, Hudson, to say that Peary did not reach the Pole; that in sliis final dash ho "rode like a tenderfoot in a fur-cushioned sledge, until they got to a place which Peaiy said was 'mi enough.'-" .This repudiation was quite as valueless as that of Cook's Eskimos.

...In. recent years Peary's claim to have reached the North Polo has 'been more seriously questioned, but not with any idea of supporting the claim .of Dr. Cook. Peary's claim was ; endorsed shortlyafter his return from the Arctic, by the American National Geographical, Society, which presented him with a special' gold medal,: and by the Naval Committee of the,, Congress of the United States, .which examined him and his records before recommending his promationto the rank of rear-admiral in the American Navy. He was presented with gold medals by tho Royal Geographical Society of Great Britain, and by similar bodies in Germany, Italy, Austria, Hungary, and Belgium. But the Rev.' ,1. Gordon Hayes in his book "Robert Edwin Peary: A Kecord of his Explorations, 1886-1909,", published four years ago, contends that the examination of Eeaiy and his records was of a very perfunctory nature, and that most of those who were entrusted with the task h;id no qualifications for , it.