THE DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH POLE 



73 



the Light Brigade" that ended success- 

 fully a campaign comparable with those 

 of Alexander, Napoleon, or Grant. Long 

 after all of us have passed away, Peary's 

 name will be emblazoned on the scroll of 

 fame as one of the great commanders of 

 the world. 



THE TOASTMASTER 



It is certain that in all the history of 

 our Arctic exploration there is one com- 

 manding figure that stands out preemi- 

 nent. It is fitting that now at this time 

 I should give a brief recount of what will 

 not be celebrated here tonight, but what 

 is essential as we are step by step leading 

 up to the honor of this great American. 



He was born in Cresson, Pa., in 1856; 

 was graduated from Bowdoin College in 

 1877 ; entered the LTnited States Navy as 

 civil engineer in 1881 ; was assistant engi- 

 neer in the Nicaraguan Ship Canal under 

 Government orders in 1884-85 ; was 

 engineer in charge of the Nicaraguan 

 Canal survey in 1887-88; in 1886 made 

 a reconnaisance of the Greenland icecap ; 

 was chief of the Arctic expedition sent 

 by the Academy of Natural Science of 

 Philadelphia in 1891-92 to the northeast 

 angle of Greenland ; discovered and 

 named Melville and Heilprin Land lying 

 beyond Greenland ; received the Patron's 

 gold medal of the Royal Geographical 

 Society of London and the medal of the 

 Royal Geographical Society of Edinburg 

 for determining the insularity of Green- 

 land ; made a study of the little Arctic 

 islanders; in 1894 discovered three mete- 

 orites, one of which, the largest known 

 to exist, weighed ninety tons ; in 1896—97 

 brought these meteorites from Cape York 

 to the United States. Commanded the. 

 Arctic expeditions under the auspices of 

 the Peary Arctic Club of New York in 

 1898 to 1906, on which expeditions he 

 rounded the northern extremity of 

 Greenland Archipelago, the last of the 

 great land groups, naming the most 

 northerly land in the world, which is 

 situated at 83° 39' north latitude, and 

 attaining the highest north at 87° 6'. for 

 which he was awarded the Kane gold 

 medal by the Philadelphia Geographical 



Society, the Daly gold medal of the 

 American Geographical Society of New 

 York, and the Hubbard medal of the 

 National Geographic Society. 



In 1908, under the auspices of the 

 Peary Arctic Club of New York, in the 

 good ship Roosevelt, commanded by that 

 indomitable commander, Captain Bart- 

 lett, he again sailed for the north. No 

 expedition ever was more perfectly 

 planned or efficiently manned and offi- 

 cered. Why, it was the result of twenty 

 years of a master mind, and the North 

 Pole was reached on April 6, 1909. This 

 was accomplished not only by the ex- 

 penditure of tremendous physical energy, 

 but by the employment of a high degree 

 of intellect in planning to conserve this 

 energy and to expend it so as to gain the 

 greatest possible efficiency. In no other 

 way could the North Pole ever be at- 

 tained over land and over ice and water. 

 The time may come — I believe it will 

 come within a decade — when we shall fly 

 over these regions that have seen so much 

 heroic endeavor by the hardy men of 

 nations whose representatives are gath- 

 ered with us tonight, and I am of the 

 opinion that this is the last great struggle 

 to accomplish the pole overland. 



But now, Commander Robert E.Peary, 

 in presenting to you the special medal 

 of the National Geographic Society, in 

 recognition of an achievement that has 

 brought honor to the American people, I 

 wish to add that in all of your twenty 

 years of heroic endeavor there has never 

 been a time when any man associated 

 with you, or any other person, has ever 

 doubted your manly integrity or ques- 

 tioned for one moment your veracity. 

 The American people were willing to be- 

 lieve that you had attained the pole by 

 your simple statement. But science is 

 critical. It accepts no word. It renders 

 no decision without the proof. 



And again I compliment you on the 

 fact that before you received honors from 

 any other source you diligently sought to 

 present your credentials and to have 

 them received and certified to by a com- 

 petent tribunal. Those records were sub- 

 mitted — records made in the Arctic, not 



