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About The daily gazette-times. (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1909-1921 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 20, 1909)
1 1 Worldwide Controversy Over Discovery of North Pole Will Probably Con tinue For Years Await Cook's Book 3 J The Commander Is a Man of Wealth Owns Sixteen Islands on Maine Coast Mrs. Peary's Record Trip J J By FREDERICK R. TOOMBS. SMALL wonder that the discovery of the north pole should have precipitated a war among the mapniakers of the earth. The sensational circumstances attending the revealing of the exploits of the Cook and the Peary expeditions made cer tain a long series of disputes, differ ences of opinion, rival claims and rival charges. ' ' Each man's announcement that he reached the pole must in the light of subsequent events be accepted as true until proved false. One thing seems rfortnfn fhat tha arrival In rha TTnitfwl States of both Intrepid conquerors of the arctic drift will not bring a quick solution of the Intricate points Involv ed, nor will it end the controversy that Is spreading and flaming like a prairie flri ThAir flrrlvnl on t.hpsw Rhnrea will, on the contrary, fan the sparks still higher, and no man can foresee what the ultimate outcome will be. Peary Is expected in New York In a few days, and Dr. Cooi announces that he will arrive there about Sept. 21. That the discussion as to who really discovered the pole will extend over a Cook states that the most convincing proof of his claims will not be given lty of Dr. Cook's assertions. This at titude is probably a natural one, owing to the fact that Peary Is a popular- navy man and one who has spent considerable time in cultivating friend ships in official circles in Washington. ' In European "circles," however, Dr. Cook is credited as much as Peary, and in Denmark his story is accepted as absolutely true by the leading geo graphical ' authorities. The fact that the Royal Geographical society of Den mark presented him with a gold medal and that the council of the University of Copenhagen by a vote of '10 to 1. resolved to confer on Cook the degree of doctor of philosophy (honoris causa) is an indication of the force with which his story impressed the hard headed, unexcitable experts of the Danish nation. ,It is probable that the Danes are better qualified to Judge the merits or demerits of a north pole dis covery story than any other nation. That vital differences as to veracity should arise between two world heroes of the caliber of Cook and Peary Is a matter of poignant regret. Both men are of spartan mold, fearless, deter mined, enduring and patriotic. Each has performed a feat that will fix his. name' securely in the history of his country and his time. Therefore If v . - - - ; z ' tst f v. PEAEY IN COMMANDER AKCTIC COSTUME. out until his new book appears, and as a result the publication of the work is Awaited with keen interest on all sides. Peary's Claim That He Was First. Most of the acrimony given -ihe dis- - -cusslon, particularly during the last few days, was caused by the publica tion of a statement by Keuter's News agency, which said that Commander . Peary claimed that he was the first man to reach the pole. This report gave still another dramatic turn to the situation, and the many supporters of Dr. Cook expressed heated indignation at such action by ... Peary before he tad had a chance to look Into a detailed account of his rival's trip. ' Also 'as an indication of the fairness of Dr. Cook toward Peary the former's friends point to the message sent from Copen hagen m which the doctor said: I am , glad to hear of Peary's success. If he eays he reached the pole I know hegot J there." , . , ; ; j . An unpleasant turn was given the situation, again, by the dispatch sent ' from Greenland stating that Dr. Cook had taken for his own use dogs raised . especially for Peary and food held In reserve for him. Dr. Cook's reply to this charge is as follows:'; : "I understand that a rumor Is cur rent about my having taken some of Peary's food and dogs at Etab, ThlsV ' is founded on Eskimo gossip and mis-. . understanding. I desire no controver-" '" sy. 1 simply say in reply to any such assertion, 'No.'r Commander, Peary is a friend of mine." :' Navy's Support of Peary. Commander Peary has more sup porters in the Unite States as re gards his claims than has Dr. Cook. His friends in the navy department either is attacked in the interest of the other an injustice of no small pro portions Is done." Captain C: T. Hansen, chief of the nautical department of the Danish Me teorological institute, declares that he believes firmly Peary duplicated Cook's achievement by following the western route for the greater, part of his path north. ' . ' ; Captain Sverdrup, who commanded Nansen's boat, the Fram, says that the last telegrams received from Peary are much more convincing to him than the first, which he was inclined to doubt. But SverdruiTsays he is convinced absolutely that Cook reached the pole. Peary Tells of Hardships. Commander Peary related the fol lowing at a reunion of the Washing ton alumni of Bowdoln college: "To note briefly one of my arctic ex periences, on the 6th of January, 1899, after a "sledge journey in the very mid night of the great arctic night, a jour ney over an unknown frozen road of such roughness as you can scarcely imagine, reduced to a diet of raw dog, I stumbled into Fort Conger,' the aban doned headquarters of the Lady Frank lin bay expedition, with both feet seri ously frozen. "For six weeks I lay there on my back, a helpless cripple, through the utter darkness, living prin Mpally upon cornmeal and molasses, my companions trying to Inject a lit tle warmth . into, the . deadly cold by burning empty boxes and barrels; until the faint rays of returning daylight in the latter part of February permitted ah attempt to reach my ship, 250 miles .to the south.- Lashed down to a sledge, my feet and legs wrapped in a musk ox skin, that journey of 250 miles was made In eleven marches of from twelve fcarcstood by every word he has sent I9 eighteen hours each,; bumping and thna fur r,A rp not Pndfiavorine to pounding over the broken ice of the convince the public of the responsibU- Arctic sea- The mean minimum dally temperature during that march was 53 degrees below zero. The temper ature the day we reached the ship was 65 degrees below . zero." Mrs. Peary, who has all along insist ed that her husband would reach the pole, holds the record for the woman who has lived farthest north. She spent a .year on the northern edge of Greenland with the commander when he made the first detailed explorations there. ' ; -. ' ;-.. .; The long wimer night and the hard ships Inevitable under the circum stances produced no unfavorable' et fects upon Mrs. Peary, who battled through the dreary season of darkness with all the energy shown by the men of the party. To her doubtless the party owed much of the comparative comfort which relieved the monotony of the winter season. No -white w ' man had been so far north by several hundreds ,of miles as Mrs. Peary at that time (1892).. A Danish woman lived for a long time at Tessuisak," about forty miles above Upernavik. This is hundreds of miles south of the place where Mrs. Peary spent a year. The Eskimo women were par ticularly interested in the white ' wo man who had come among, them, and Mrs. Peary was of much service to her husband in the pursuit of his ethno logical researches. Laughs at Auto and Airship Plan. The explorer has never had any sym pathy with the various schemes ad vanced to invade the Ice locked polar regions with airships or automobiles. When Dr. Cook proposed a few years ago to dash for the south pole in an auto Commander Peary scoffed at the Idea. He said: "The roughness of the ice would prevent any such plan 'from working out successfully. Then, too, the stretches of open water could not be overcome." " . - ; '.;'"..- He also deprecated the idea of going to the north pole in an airship in the following words: " v, "I don't feel like criticising those who try the airship method of naviga tion. I tten't care for a balloon, " Let me put it in this way:' I don't believe that the airship in its present state of development can successfully : combat the conditions which will be met with in an attempt to reach the pole. When an airship has been constructed which can navigate the air independent of storms and behave in the air as one of the big liners does at sea in any kind of weather, then it is time enough to talk about reaching the pole by means of an airship, but not before. My ex periences have not impaired by belief in my own method, which is in making a dash over the ice by means of sleds. "My Most Important Work." Commander Peary has long main tained that the discovery of .the pole would not prove the most important result of arctic exploration.: He states his views on the subject in the follow ing words: .-" ' :V "The gain to the scientific world by the results of my work-in the arctic regions is of far more actual value than' the discovery of the north pole, The discovery of the north pole is merely a more -or less spectacular fact, but still one that had to be tried again and again until actually accomplished. I have traveled the most northerly laud on the globe. The departments of science' which will be benefited by my sojourn in the north are geology, meteorology, anthropology and natural history. The full result of my labors, especially in the field of meteorology, cannot be fully ascertained until the observations I have taken have been worked out by scientists. V Perhaps the most important result of my labor I am not now speaking from a scientific standpoint is the demonstrating most conclusively that the right kind of a man can carry on arctic exploration without great dan ger or suffering exceptional hardships. In fact, he can work in the far north as well as in his office in New York. "In natural' history the work I have done, I am vain enough to" think, is great. 3o, expeditions ever had the opportunity that we had of studying the musk ox. I have sent home at different times very complete speci mens of this animal, and I havfe also sent a young walrus. So far as I know, no other specimens of these anf mals are now living in captivity, and scientists have unexcelled opportunity to study them: when alive.. J i - Commander Peary is widely report ed to be a poor man, -one who has been impoverished by his arctic trips. Such is not the case, however.. Three years ago he purchased a total of sixteen islands along the Maine coast north of Portland, which are held at high prices owing to the demand for exclusive sites for cottages along the coast. Sev eral of the islands are in Casco bay. Eagle island, which he owns, has for several years been Commander Peary's stronghhold, his fortress, , where he could retire at will safe from the at tacks of interviewers and photogra phers. It is an outside Island , about fifteen mUes from Portland, partly wooded, partly open, with vegetation almost tropical in Its density- --. The commander also' owns Basket Island, In Casco bay, an ideal seashore resort.: It is a small island, probably not more than a quarter of a mile long and perhaps an eighth of a mile wide. In fact, it Is an ideal location for a big seashore. hotel of the exclusive type, and this, it is said, is just the use to which Commander Peary will eventu ally put it. He has purchased an island off Freeport called "A Pound of Tea," and away down the middle bay, off Freeport, is Shelter island, twenty miles from Portland and about the same size as Basket.' This is one of the explorer's purchases. - Within a radius of five miles from Eagle island are Great. Mark, Upper Flag and ' Horse islands. ' All these have been acquired by him 'within three years, and all are desirable. How About That Fall Suit Come and get a PRINCETON College Cut Suit ' The latest de signs in fabrics and styles. A. K. RUSS Dealer in all Men's Furnishings cheapest because we sell We sell for -cask... CORVALUS, OREGON Dr. VIRGINIA V. LEWEAUX, -Osteopathic Physician At Corvallis Hotel Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays At Albany Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays 15-1T Brenner Building GEO. W. DENMAN Attorney at Law CORVALLIS, OREGON Office in Fischer building, over Graham & Wortham drug store APPLES ! 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