256 WHAT SCIENTISTS SAID 



talk of records of observations, that will support them beyond jperadventure, is 

 the sheerest nonsense. Any man competent to take such observations would 

 be equally competent to coin them. There are no pelf-recording instruments 

 to automatically, mechanically uphold him or give him the lie. The statement 

 credited to astronomers that an eclipse, occurring at the time that Cook was 

 beyond the 8oth degree of latitude, must have been observed by him and 

 would be contributory evidence, likewise means nothing. Those acquainted 

 with atmospheric and hydrographic conditions in the far north know that this 

 is buncombe. Then, too, were Cook the sort of man to manufacture records, 

 and we who know him believe him to be far above it, it would have been the 

 easiest possible thing to acquaint himself with future astronomic conditions 

 and be prepared to incorporate such observations among his other manufac- 

 tured data. 



"No, not until some one has firmly established an aerial stage line to the 

 north pole will we be in a position to contravert the claims of those hardy men 

 who find a certain delight in the frozen solitudes of the Arctic sea. As a 

 matter of fact, there is nothing inherently more difiicult in reaching the upper 

 stretches of the final dash than have to be coped with in the preparatory 

 marches; perhaps nothing as terrible as Cook must have undergone in his 

 winter quarters in EUesmereland, on his homeward journey." 



"Can you state in a few words the practical value of the discovery or attain- 

 ment of the pole?" the doctor was asked. 



"By 'practical value' I understand you to take the usual utilitarian Amer- 

 ican view, and that you would shut out the gratification to American pride 

 and the possibility that this achievement will lead to our letting the north pole 

 rest in peace, which we will not. Then, with those rather doubtful advantages 

 set aside, it is possible to answer your question in four letters — none. That 

 certain observations could be taken at the pole, which, if repeated at the equator, 

 would enable us to very nearly arrive at the weight of our earth and to settle 

 some other certainties desired by physiographers, is well known. But these are 

 not possible on any dash to that region, and it is very unlikely that conditions 

 will ever allow either the transportation of cumbersome paraphernalia or the 

 prolonged sojourn necessary." 



To the question as to whether some recent interviews were accurate in con- 

 sidering Cook and Peary the greatest explorers of all times, the doctor quoted 

 a long list from the roster of famed explorers, any one of which he regarded as 

 of greater eminence. Among these the names of Magellan, Von Humboldt, 



