CHAPTER XXVI. 



WHAT SCIENTISTS SAID OF THE RIVALS. 



In an earlier chapter some of the first developments of the Cook-Peary con- 

 troversy were described. On the return of the rivals to America the war broke 

 out with renewed vigor. All the living explorers of note took sides, and lengthy 

 pronouncements were made public. Most of these debaters were inclined to 

 apportion the glory in equal parts. 



Of special weight was the declaration of Capt. Roald Amundsen, who a 

 few years before had sailed through the northwest passage. Amundsen, after 

 quoting Cook's first announcement of his discovery, said : 



"Thus read the first message about the achievement of this great object, told 

 dryly and without much ado, without a flourish of trumpets. It was quite like 

 the man who sent it. For centuries the battle had been going on. Wealth and 

 intellect for many years had been struggling side by side, inch by inch; the 

 mind and energy of man had forced themselves through terrible ice deserts, great 

 and well equipped expeditions had taken up the struggle of solving the problem, 

 immense sums of money had been expended and many lives sacrificed, and for 

 a long time it seemed as if nature would win in the great battle. 



"The news from Lerwick, Shetlands, on September i, came, therefore, as a 

 thunderbolt down on the civilized world. All that scores of men and well 

 equipped expeditions had been unable to achieve was accomplished by a single 

 man. The North Pole had been reached. 



"A shiver went through the whole world. Was it true? Who was Cook? 

 You had never heard anything about him before, and I think it was right that 

 only a very few believed the news. 



"On my part, on the other hand, who knew Cook very well, the news didn't 

 come as any surprise. The man was entirely adequate to the task. Fred A. 

 Cook was born on June lO, 1864, in Callicoon, Sullivan County, N. Y. His 

 parents came from Hamburg, Germany, to America about 1850, where his 

 father settled down as a surgeon. In 189 1 Cook became himself a surgeon. The 

 same year he went on Peary's expedition to Greenland. As surgeon in this 

 expedition he showed brilliant capacity as a polar explorer. 



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