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to the natural facilities of the country. Throughout America and 

 Europe the impression grew that Peary considered the North Pole 

 as his own ground and that no one else should attempt to reach it. 



Dr. Cook, under the storm of denunciation poured upon him by 

 Commander Peary, maintained throughout an extremely dignified 

 attitude, which earned for him anew the plaudits of the world. 



He was in Denmark when the first messages came from Peary 

 denying his claim to having reached the Pole. At that time he 

 entered a simple denial of the charges and reiterated his statements 

 previously made as to his success. On board his steamer when 

 leaving New York, however, he made fuller statements of his posi- 

 tion in the controversy. In a signed statement he said: 



"Commander Peary has as yet given to the world no proof of 

 his own case. My claim has been fully recognized by Denmark and 

 by the King of Sweden; the President of the United States of 

 America has wired me his confidence; my claim has been accepted 

 by the International Bureau of Polar Research at Brussels; most 

 of the geographical societies of Europe have sent me congratula- 

 tions, which mean faith and acceptance for the present, and almost 

 every explorer of note has come forward with warm and friendly 

 approval. 



"A specific record of my journey is accessible to all, and every 

 one who reads can decide for himself. When Peary publishes a 

 similar report, then our cases are parallel. Why should Peary be 

 allowed to make himself a self-appointed dictator of my affairs? 

 In justice to himself, in justice to the world and to guard the honor 

 of national prestige, he should be compelled to prove his own case; 

 he should publish at once a preliminary narrative, to be compared 

 with mine, and let fair-minded people ponder over the matter, while 

 the final records by which our case may eventually be proved are 

 being prepared. 



"I know Peary, the explorer. As such he is a hero in Arctic 



