HUDSON HONORED IN NEW YORK 421 



"I do not believe that either Dr. Cook or Commander Peary, if placed 

 in my position, would have done any differently than I did, nor would they, 

 havine started south for civilization, have turned back. I had never seen 

 Dr. Cook until I met him in the Arctic. He told me he had been to the 

 North Pole, and I was pledged not to reveal this fact to Commander Peary, 

 but I could say that he had gone further north than Peary in 1906. 



"Commander Peary, to my knowledge, knew absolutely nothing about 

 what had been left with me by Dr. Cook, except that I mentioned instru- 

 ments, clothes and furs and also a narwhal horn. Dr. Cook's belongings left 

 in my charge were placed in boxes, which were nailed up. Then I saw the 

 Eskimos cover them with rocks. 



"No one could have been kinder to me or shown me more consideration 

 than Commander Peary did while I was on the Roosevelt, and he said he 

 would be very glad to have me remain aboard and return with him, instead 

 of joining the Jeanie. HARRY WHITNEY." 



While this phase of the matter was being aired, the directors of the Ex- 

 plorers' Club of New York voted to order an investigation of Dr. Cook's 

 assertion that he ascended Mount McKinley in 1906, the truthfulness of 

 which had been repeatedly and publicly called into question. The decision 

 was reached after a warm debate among the members of the board, the vote 

 which finally passed the resolution standing 5 to 3. The temper of the 

 dominant faction was suggested by the comment of Professor Marshall H. 

 Saville, who, as acting president, in the absence of Commander Peary, was 

 to appoint the investigating committee. When asked whether the polar con- 

 troversy was also discussed. Professor Saville said : 



"There is no polar controversy. It takes two to make a controversy. As 

 matters stand to-day Commander Peary has made charges against Dr. Cook 

 and Dr. Cook has not answered them. When Peary has taken final and 

 formal action and Cook has made a reply, then there may be a polar contro- 

 versy." 



The directors had already made extensive inquiries relative to Dr. Cook's 

 Mount ]\IcKinley trip by correspondence and personal interview, and it was 

 said that they had obtained information concerning it which had not hitherto 

 been made public. All the afifairs of the club excepting the election of officers 

 are managed by the directors, and the action of the board in any matter is 

 final as an expression of the stand of the organization. 



The resolution which was passed first rehearses the fact that questions 



