Finding the North Pole 



BY GEORGE W. MELVILLE, 

 Rear Admiral U. S. Navy, Retired 



NOT only the people of the United States of America, but the 

 whole civilized world were electrified by the announcement 

 on September I, 1909, through the public press that des- 

 patches had been received from Dr. Frederick A. Cook, claiming 

 that he had the great honor, on April 21, 1908, of reaching the long- 

 sought-for goal, the physical North Pole of the earth. 



Nor had the resulting excitement subsided before Commander 

 Robert E. Peary, U. S. N., cabled to the Associated Press on Sep- 

 tember 5, 1909, that he had planted the Stars and Stripes upon the 

 North Pole on April 6, 1909. The sensation was without parallel 

 in the history of polar discovery. Where men had for centuries 

 striven in vain it suddenly was told to the world that two Americans 

 had independently achieved the supreme goal of their ambitions. 



Those who have most keenly felt the extremities of the Arctic, 

 and who are best acquainted with the history of men's baffled at- 

 tempts to set foot upon the earth's axis, can only gasp in wonder 

 at the achievement as recorded in Dr. Cook's own story of his dis- 

 covery of the North Pole. Having, then, occasionally noted that 

 news is often later modified before it becomes history, and particu- 

 larly scientific history, I have decided to await the examination of 

 Dr. Cook's own evidence, and naturally with intense interest. If 

 the information given to the world is verified and accepted by the 

 best qualified men, how great is the honor! Not only to the man 

 but to the nation he represents this glory is all but immeasurable. 



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