\
PART TWO
DALLAS, OREGON.
FEBRUARY 1.1, 1913.
FOUR PAGES
Dr. Cook Says He Isn’t “Colossal Liar’ and Attacks Rear-Admiral Peary ThorPe Lo*es
J
Fam ous Polar C ontroversy Is O pened A gain by E xplorer W hose Claims of Discovery H ave B een D enounced as F rau d u len t by His Enem ies
“ A ccused of b ein g th e m o st colossal lia r in h is to r y ,I som e­
tim es feel t h a t m ore lies h a v e been to ld a b o u t me th a n ab o u t
anyone ev er born. I h av e b een
g u ilty of m any
m istakes.
M ost men re a lly tru e to th em selv es a d m it th a t. My claim to
th e N o rth Pole m ay alw ay s be questioned.
Y et, when I r e ­
g ard th e lies g re a t an d sm all a tta c h e d to me, I am fille d a l­
m ost w ith in d ifferen ce.
“ As a p opular illu stra tio n of th e so rt o f y a rn s th a t w ere
to ld , let me re fe r to th e fo o lish fa k e of th e gum drop.
(Someone s ta rte d the sto ry th a t I expected to reach th e P ole
b y b rib in g th e E skim os w ith gum dro p s; p erh ap s th e id ea w as
t h a t I w as to lu re them on fro m p o in t to p o in t w ith reg u larly
issued ratio n s of th ese con fectio n s.
“ W h erever I w en t on my le c tu re to u r a f t e r m y re tu rn to
th e U n ited S ta te s, much to m y ir rita tio n , I saw ‘ C ook’ gum
d ro p s conspicuously d isplayed in con fectio n ery
sto re window s.
H u n d red s of pounds of gum d ro p s w ere se n t to my hotel w ith
th e com plim ents of th e m a n u fa c tu re rs. On a ll sides I heard
th e gum -drop sto ry , and in a lm o st ev ery p a p e r read th e re­
ite r a te d ta le o f leading th e E skim os to th e P ole by d an g lin g
a gum drop on a strin g b e fo re them . I n ev er denied th is,
a s I n ev er denied an y o f th e fa k e s p rin te d ab o u t me. The
f a c t is th a t I n ev er heard t h e gum -drop y a rn u n til I cam e
to N ew Y ork.
W e took no gum drops w ith us on our P o lar
tr ip , an d , to m y know ledge, no E skim o a te a gum drop w hile
w ith m e .“ —Dr. F rederick A. Cook.
In th e a n n a ls of A rctic exploration needed help. H e s ta rte d south, aim-
th e re is n o th in g to com pare w ith th e ing to g e t some a ssista n ce from th e
case o f D r. Cook. H e h as been ac­ D anish w haleships in N o rth S ta r Buy.
W ith boat an d sled he fo u g h t an a l­
claim ed a n d honored: he h as been m ost unhum an b a ttle an d reached
denounced an d condem ned.
H e h as N o rth S tar, b u t too late. T he last
been h ailed as th e f ir s t m an to p en e­ ship had gone, th e re would n o t be a n ­
t r a te th e fro zen N o rth to th e axle o th er fo r a n o th e r y ear. H e appealed
of th e e a rth , as th e f ir s t to reach th e to those ev er k in d ly w ild people.
“ B ig N a i l “ of th e E skim os. T hen, T hey nursed him as b est th e y could
D r. Cook h a s been denounced as “ th e an d aided him to g et back n orth,
m ost colossal lia r in h is to r y ,“ as he aim in g to g e t him b ack to m y cam p
sa y s him self.
a t A nnoatok. T hey did g e t him b ack
T he c a re e r of D r. Cook since his as f a r as E ta h , only 25 m iles south of
claim to A rctic honors f ir s t th rille d m y cam p, b u t here F ra n k e w as u n ­
th e w orld is too well know n to need able to go a n o th er step. H e was
discussion h ere. I t is enough to say sic k ; lie h ad n o t had a m orsel of
th a t he w as th e ce n te r of th e m ost civilized food in tw o m onths. H e lay
sen satio n al co n flict ev er know n and down on th e rocks and exp ected to
th a t he, him self, now feels th a t he d ie .
m ost d efen d his achievem ents. I t is
“ W hile he w as ly in g on those
not in th e pro v in ce of th is a rtic le to rocks, two" b ig ships cam e in to tn a t
espouse th e cause of D r. Cook, b u t h arb o r fly in g tHe A m erican flag.
i t can n o t be am iss to give som ething F ra n k e w as g lad ; he w as happy. H e
of w h a t th e explorer h as to say. H e pulled him self to g e th e r a n d w en t out
is now m ak in g a lectu re to u r of th e and boarded th e ship “ R o o sev elt.“
U n ited S ta te s, g iv in g from th e sta g e H e w ent up to th e galley an d asked
h is v ersio n o f his case.
fo r a cup of coffee. T h a t coffee w as
F o r C u rren t F e a tu re s D r. Cook has refused, b u t th a t w asn ’t th e w orst, he
prep ared a n a rtic le w hich deals w ith w as fo rcib ly p u t o ff th a t ship in th e
w h a t h e calls th e “ P o la r C ontro­ presence of a dozen o th e r m en. H ere
v e rsy ,1 * s ta rtin g w ith th e tim e he and w as a sick, a hu n g ry , d y in g m an re ­
his tw o E skim o com panions s ta rte d fused a cup of co ffee from an A m eri­
b ack fro m th e to p o f th e e a rth :
can ship, f itte d out a t public expense!
“ On th e re tu rn jo u rn e y our d i f f i ­
“ F ra n k e w e n t back to h is rocks
cu lties w ere even g re a te r th a n on th e and pray ed th a t ho m ight die, to be
upw ard m arch.
T he ice began to reliev ed of his m isery.
Those tw o
b re a k and -»epavate; th e re w as open ships sta y ed th e re tw o days.
T hen
w ater w ith con tinuous fogs
W ith M r. P e a ry changed h e a rt.
In th e
clouded sk ies, it w as impo- ible to m eantim e he had learned from th e
♦ erm in e th e d r if t of th e
» u n d er E skim os th a t a f te r all F ra n k e w as
our ii '♦
W<* w ere c a rrie
unco n ­ not a beggar. H e had no m oney, b u t
sciously f a r to th e w est am i south he did h av e in his possession fu rs and
■>f our course, an d. w hen -i « - fin a lly iv o ry w orth te n thousand dollars. He
«deared an d we got an o b servation, h ad under his direction m y cam p
we found ourselves nwa,\ down in n o rth of th e re , w hich cam p wa9 out
Crown P rin c e G ustav Nea.
A fte r a
long an d ted io u s jo u rn ey , w ith s ta r v ­
a tio n s ta rin g us in th e face, we
fin a lly reach ed Jo n e s Sound, an d here,
on C ape S parbo, we sta y ed through
o u t a n o th e r lo n g w in te r n ig h t.
We
a te th e m eat of th e m usk-ox and
used th e ir f a t fo r fuel and th e ir skins
fo r clo th in g . W e sp e n t th e w in te r in
an old cave. E a rly in M arch we
s ta rte d fo r th e long r e tu rn inarch to
our G reen lan d cam p. A fte r m any d e ­
to u rs, to avoid open w a te r, an d m any
narrow escapes from s ta rv a tio n , we !
fin a lly g o t back to ou r G reenland
«•amp an d h ere we saw fo r th e first
tim e in fo u rte e n m onths o th e r hum an !
faces ex cep t our own.
H ere w ith
th e ir people I le ft m y tw o Eskim o ;
com panions, splendid, fa ith fu l, helpful
m an ly fellow s th e y h ad been! T hey
had gone w ith me to th e Pole and
back, had su ffere d all of tlie to rtu re s
l had su ffe re d , had en d u red all the
h ard sh ip s un co m plainingly, n ot for
m oney, n o t fo r honor—fo r th e y can
n o t a p p re c ia te e ith e r—b u t sim ply b e ­
cause th e y w ished to be useful to one
whom th e y choose to call a frien d .
They d eserv e ju s t as much c red it as
I do fo r th e re su lt of th e expedition,
and I w an t you to rem em ber them ,
to rem em ber th e ir nam es: Ah we-lah
and E -tuk-i shook.
“ Now we w ere back to our Green
land cam p ; w e w ere h a lf sta rv e d , a l­
m ost u n ab le to w alk.
W e n atu rally
looked aro u n d fo r so m eth in g to e a t, j
especially from our own school. But.
sad to sav, d u rin g our absence some
one else cam e along and to o k th a f
cam p, took e v e ry th in g w e had in th e
n o rth world.
T his b rin g s us to the
firs t c h a p te r o f w h at is know n as the
P o lar C on tro v ersy .
“ Two m onths a f te r I h ad reached
th e Pole, tw o b ig ships s ta rte d north
fo r th e Pole. T hey w en t north w ith
th e usual press bom bast.
At al>out
"th e sam e tim e m y com panion. R u­
dolph F ra n k e, who had been le ft in
G reen lan d to g u ard
supplies, w as
sick. He was in d esp e ra te shape; he
of h is reach, b u t w as w orth tw enty- p licate of m ine; th a t, because of the
fiv e th o u sa n d dollars.
H ere w as p arallel m a terial which it co n tain ed
th irty -fiv e thousand d o llars to gain th a t i t e ith e r proved m y positio n a t
and M r. P e a ry changed h e a rt.
H e th e Pole, or i t proved th a t he had
called F ra n k e a b o ard th e ship, o ffered borrow ed from th e p rev io u sly p u b ­
him a cup of coffee an d a square lished rep o rt. You a re th en asked to
m eal and gave him tw o b ig goblets ta k e th is m a n ’s re p o rt as th e tru th ,
W hy?
of w hiskey. H e th en called F ra n k e an d to ta k e m ine a s a lie.
to h is p riv a te cabin :uid th e re th e W hy w as i t necessary to p u t th is
follow ing conversation took place: leprous sp o t upon th e fa b ric of clean
M r. P e a ry said to F ra n k e, ‘ You are hum an en d eav o r? Y o u t can n o t u n d er­
a v ery sick m an. I f you sta y here
you w ill die. I f you go hom e you
m ay live. * F ra n k e knew th a t. ‘ You
m ay go home on one of th e se ships,
b u t b efo re you do so you m ust tu rn j
over e v e ry th in g th a t belongs to your
self, an d e v e ry th in g th a t belongs to j
Dr. Cook. You w ill not be a llo w e d !
to ta k e a n y records h o m e., T here
w as no a lte rn a tiv e , th e m an d id it.
B u t w h a t law o f w h a t lan d would
g ra n t i t f
“ H ere is, f irs t, a d a s ta rd ly under
h anded tr ic k to ste al th irty -fiv e thou- i
sand dollars, b u t th a t i s n ’t th e w orst, j
I t w as a d e lib erate a tte m p t a t m u r­
der. F o r in ta k in g m y cam p, all of
m y food supplies, he w as a tte m p tin g
to s ta rv e me out, to p re v e n t m y re
tu rn to civilization. H ere M r. P e a ry
did a th in g fo r which he would be
hanged, and rig h tly so, in a m ining
cam p, b u t he n e x t d id worse. T w en­
ty -fiv e m iles south of E ta h , in a
region of b leak rocks an d glaciers,
in a region of d eath -d ealin g storm s,
Mr. P e a ry d eserted tw o in nocent,
helpless children.
Two little boys,
h is own flesh an d blood, h is own
children, w ere le ft th e re to s ta rv e
and freeze in th a t cheerless w orld.
Those poor little ones are th e re to ­
day, c ry in g f o r bread an d m ilk an d
a fa th e r. T he m eanest th ie f in all
th e w orld would n ot do th a t.
M r.
P e a ry d it it. Can th a t m an be ho n est
in a n y th in g ?
T h a t is th e k in d of
m an who trie d to s tir h eaven and
e a rth an d th e o th er place, m ostly th e
o th er place, to ov erth ro w m y claim .
“ One of those ships w en t south,
c a rry in g F m n k e w ith it.
T he othei
w ent n o rth , sta y ed fo r a y ear, cam e
back on th e follow ing y e a r to th is
sam e place a t E ta h , an d th ere, from
m y E skim os, M r. P e a ry learn ed fo r
th e f i r s t tim e tjia t I had reached th e
P ole a y e a r ahead o f him . H e g a th ­
ered all th e in fo rm a tio n he could and
th e n p u t on fu ll speed and rushed to
th e w ireless s ta tio n a t L a b ra d o r. H ero
he se n t th ro u g h a b rie f m essage sa y ­
ing t h a t he also had reached th e Pole.
I h ad g o tte n to C openhagen ab o u t a
w eek p revious to
th is, and
had
p ro m p tly given to th e w orld m y com ­
p le te re p o rt. T h a t re p o rt w as public
p ro p e rty , as all of ray m aterial a l ­ sta n d th a t unless you u n d e rsta n d th is
w ays has been. T h a t re p o rt w as a t m an, an d I w a n t you to u n d erstan d
th a t w ireless sta tio n in L ab rad o r. Mr. him .
P e a ry took it from th e o p erato r, w ent
“ W e n e x t go dow n to W ashin g to n ,
beh in d th e rocks an d sta y ed fo r a th e home of th e “ S team R o ller.“
w eek, d ig este d th a t re p o rt and then H ere we h av e th e so-called N atio n al
cam e fo rth an d issued h is report. G eographical S ociety, an o rg an izatio n
E v e ry A rctic explorer a t once said w hich is no m ore n a tio n a l th a n th e
th e P e a r y re p o rt w as a scientific du N atio n al Cash R e g ister, b u t th ey
Amateur Rank
cam e fo rw ard , posing a s ex p erts
pass upon both cases, M r. P e a r y ’s and
to Professionalism of Long
m ine, to se ttle fo r all tim es a n d all
peoples th e question of d istrib u tio n
Standing an d Loses
of P o lar honors.
B u t w hence th e ir
His M edals
a u th o rity ?
W ho are its m em b ers/
Ja
m
e
s
T
horpe—
Jim T h o rp e to th o se
F or tw o d o llars p er, an y m an, wom an
or child in th is audience becom es a who follow a th le tic ev en ts— h as a d ­
g eo g rap h er in th a t society, fo r th e m itte d th a t h e is a p ro fessio n al. T h at
sam e m oney th e m an who sw eeps th e
m eans t h a t he has acce p te d m oney
s tre e ts becom es w ith equal fa c ility a
fo r his se rv ices in a th le tic com pe­
titio n . T h a t m eans th a t h e is f o r ­
ev er b a rre d from ta k in g p a r t in tra c k
m eets, fo o tb all gam es or b aseball
gam es in w hich a m a te u rs figure, and,
m ost especially , th a t h e m ay n o t
ag ain show his w o n d erfu l prow ess in
th e Olym pic gam es, th a t g re a t in te r ­
n atio n al congress of a th le te s . T horpe
is, u n d o u b ted ly , th e g r e a te s t all
aro u n d a th le te in th e w orld. H e is a
Sac an d Fox In d ia n , a stu d e n t a t th e
C arlisle school fo r In d ia n s. W ith in
a little m ore th a n h a lf a y e a r Thorpe,
a t S tockholm an d
in co m petition
a g a in s t th e w orld, estab lish ed a new
record and show ed his suprem acy. H e
w as re c e n tly ch arg ed w ith hav in g
play ed p ro fessio n al baseb all w ith th e
W inston-Salem team in N o rth C aro ­
lin a. W hen th e ch arg e w as b ro u g h t
hom e to him T horpe confessed th a t
ho h ad been a p ro fessio n al since 1910;
th a t, tech n ically , a t le a s t, he had
ta k e n O lym pic honors u n d er false
p reten ses. H is confession w as con
ta in e d in a le tte r to th e re g istra
tio n com m ittee of th e A m a te u r A th
letic U nion, w hich o rg an izatio n has
g en eral sup erv isio n o v er th e elig ib il
lty of a ll a th le te s who are not in
sp o rts fo r a livelihood. T h is board
w as in session in N ew Y ork C ity a t
th e
tim e,
co n v en in g
to
decide
T h o rp e ’s case. In e x te n u a tio h of his
conduct, T horpe said th a t he dicl not
know t h a t he had done a n y th in g
w rong, a s on th e sam e team w ith him
in 1910 w ere sev eral college men who
w ere sp en d in g th e ir v a c a tio n s p laying
b aseb all fo r pay . These, said Thorpe,
w ere reg ard ed a s am a te u rs, an d ho
could see no reason w hy he ;ilso
should n o t re ta in his sta n d in g . Also,
th e In d ia n sta te d th a t he d id n o t play
fo r th e m oney offered him , b u t b e­
cause ho loved th e gam e.
H is record is rem ark a b le . H is w in­
n in g o f th e p en tath lo n a n d d ecathlon
ev en ts a t th e Olym pic g am es in S w e­
den and la te r his w o n d erfu l p e rfo rm ­
ance in w in n in g th e all-aro u n d cham
pionship o f th e A m ateu r A th letic
Union a t C eltic P ark , N ew Y ork, last
S eptem ber, stam p ed him as th e m ost
m arvelous a th le te o f m odern tim es.
In a d d itio n , h is prow ess as a fo o tb all
geo g rap h er in t h a t society. N ow, as p lay er d u rin g th e season o f 1912
an o rg an izatio n of p o litical shrim ps, b ro u g h t to him th e h o n o r o f being
t h a t is all rig h t, b u t as a sc ie n tific given a place on th e A ll-A m erican
team
body i t is a colossal hum bug, and fo o tb all eleven, a “ p a p e r “
th o se of m y re a d e rs who are m em ­ p icked b y lead in g sp o rtin g ex p erts
b ers o f th a t so c eity a re a p a rty to front am ong th e b est in th e g re a t col
t h a t hum bug. T w o -th ird s of th e n ew s­ lege gam e.
T horpe w ill be req u ired to re tu rn
p a p e r e d ito rs o f th is co u n try a re two-
all of th e m edals an d in sig n ia of
( C o n tin u ed o n page th re e )
honor th a t h e has won in co m petition
w ith a m a te u rs since th e tim e he
played baseb all fo r h ire. F oreign
sp o rtin g m en, how ever, a re rep o rted
as b eliev in g th a t T horpe should be
allow ed to re ta in h is m edals, even if
he won them u n d er p re te n se s o f being
an am ateu r. T h is, too, m eans th a t
th e p o in ts won b y T horpe fo r A m erica
m ay n o t be counted fo r th is co u n try .
T b elr loss, how ever, does n o t ta k e
v icto ry from U ncle Sam . T he cor
rected score g ives th e U n ited S ta te s
79 poin ts, w ith F in lan d second w ith
29.
In th e p en tath lo n in S tockholm
T horpe finished first in th e ru n n in g
broad jum p, first in th e 200-m eters
ru n , first in th e 1500-m eters run,
first and th ird in th e ja v e lin event.
In th e decath lo n , w hich consisted of
th e 100-m eters dash, ru n n in g broad
jum p, sh o tp u t, ru n n in g high jum p.
400-m eters ru n , 110-m eters hurdles,
d iscu s th ro w in g , pole v a u ltin g , jav elin
th ro w in g an d 1500-m eters run, Thorpe
had a p ercen tag e o f 8412.955, ag ain st
7724.495 by W ieslan d er o f Sweden,
h is n earest opponent.
T horpe first was heard of several
y ears ago a s a fo o tb all p la y e r w ith
th e C arlisle team L n te r he special
ized irn w eig h t th ro w in g , ju m p in g and
ru n n in g . H e also becam e n oted as a
lacrosse an d baseb all p la y e r and in
th e la tte r b ran ch of sp o rt several
of th e m ajo r league team s trie d to
p rocure h is services. O nly la s t y ear
P itts b u rg an d W ash in g to n endeavored
to secure him , b u t th e In d ia n re ­
fused to sign a c o n tra c t, d eclarin g
th a t he w ished to rem ain an am ateu r.
A fte r th e Olym pic gam es in Sw e­
den last y e a r K in g G u stav e se n t fo r
T horpe to c o n g ra tu la te him on his
prowess. A t first th e In d ia n tim id ly
declined to m eet th e m onarch, b u t
later, when sev eral o f th e A m erican
com m itteem en in sisted th a t h e do so,
Thorpe w en t to th e palace. T h ere th e
k in g took th e In d ian b y th e hand
and sm ilin g ly sa id : “ You a re th e
g re a te st a th le te in th e w o rld .“